Picking the right wireframing tool

For the past few months I have been looking for a good tool to create wireframes. The main reason I am looking for it is to be able to note ideas and sketch site maps, interfaces, flow charts. Many people seem to recommend paper and pencil, but in my experience paper and pencil do the job only in part. Reworking a wireframe and researching different options has been always difficult for me without copy & paste and undo. In the very initial stage of a design I may use paper and pencil, but soon after that comes the need for some kind of software.

Illustrator

Since I already know Illustrator very well I selected it as the first candidate to fullfill my wireframing needs. The problem with Illustrator is that it is a far too advanced drawing tool to quickly create wireframes. Having a visual designer’s background does not help either, because working in Illustrator I spend far too much time refining the designs, which is not really the primary goal.

Axure

Axure RP Pro is a software that makes it possible to design wireframes, create prototypes and generate specifications. It brings so much functionality in one package that I had to try it. The first steps in the application were not that easy. I had to spend time learning how to use it. The software turned out to be overloaded with features for my basic needs. The main turndown however was that the resulting wireframes look very generic & clunky. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong about generic looks of a wireframe, but Axure pushes it a little bit too far, which unfortunately made me loose a lot of enthusiasm for working with the package that I had in the beginning.

Omnigraffle

Omnigraffle has a lot of followers among Mac users. I downloaded a trial version and found out it is in fact very good. Equipped with user interface stencils by Konigi it is highly functional and I could work in Omnigraffle faster than in Illustrator. I was quite satsified, but then I stumbled upon…

Balsamiq Mockups

This is a tool that was specifically designed to create mockups and nothing else. With this software I experienced no learning curve. I could open it and instantly start drawing. The visual quality of the mockups is rough but eye pleasing. It is obvious to anyone who sees them that mockups are not the same as half-baked designs – something that Axure RP wireframes were failing to communicate. The set of features is limited, but in this case it can be treated as an advantage.

A lot more information is available on Balsamiq website:
http://www.balsamiq.com/

User submitted stencils can be grabbed at:
http://mockupstogo.net/

At this point I am considering to use Balsamiq Mockups to create wireframes and Illustrator for any tasks that require a higher level of visual refinement.