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Ask DN: Best Prototyping Software for Desktop Web Apps?

7 years ago from , Solutions Designer/Developer

Hi everyone, I'm wondering what your opinions are on the best prototype software out there for demonstrating user flows on web apps for larger screens? Most of those I've come across either focus on native or mobile apps, or else lack the fine grain control to design interesting interactions.

Is there anything you are using for this that you'd recommend?

8 comments

  • Petr VlkPetr Vlk, 7 years ago (edited 7 years ago )

    I'm using Marvel and couldn't be happier with it (our desktop webapp prototype has about 130 screens), for designing fancy interactions I used Atomic couple times, illustrating just the feature/animation.

    2 points
  • Dan V PetersonDan V Peterson, 7 years ago (edited 7 years ago )

    Hype from Tumult is fantastic and actually builds everything with html and css. Super powerful and fairly intuitive. http://tumult.com/hype/

    Works really well for advanced interaction animation prototyping as well as just setting up general flows. etc. And since it's building everything with standard web technologies you're not limited to testing on specific platforms. The app makes it simple to export to a Dropbox folder for easy sharing of links that can be viewed on pretty much any web browser as well as exporting as GIFs and other options. That's one of the problems with apps like Principle, no support for any mobile platforms except iOS.

    2 points
  • Bryce HowitsonBryce Howitson, 7 years ago

    What do you mean by "interesting interactions"? That's usually something I'd suggest avoiding for a web app.

    Things like Invision will work just fine for testable flows. Drop me a note @howitson on Twitter, I think I have 3 free months to share.

    1 point
    • ian marquetteian marquette, 7 years ago

      I'm using InVision currently but it still doesn't support animations. Thanks for the offer though!

      In terms of "interesting interactions" I'm not talking about anything too wild, I'd just like to be able to add the odd slide to my dropdown menus etc.

      0 points
  • Michael McLaughlinMichael McLaughlin, 7 years ago (edited 7 years ago )

    I've always been frustrated by prototyping tools not fully embracing this for desktop interactions. The latest release principle put out sealed the deal for me. Art boards have always been easy to make any dimension, it imports layers intact from sketch, tweens changes between states, and now supports hover as an interaction trigger.

    0 points
  • David Holman, 7 years ago

    ... crickets ...

    A front-end dev and a good framework

    0 points