How to tame a user interface using a spreadsheet
blog.gingerbeardman.com
How to tame a user interface using a spreadsheet
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Re: How to tame a user interface using a spreadsheet
#2Nothing wrong with something that works... I used Balsamiq for years for this type of thing, but to each their own.
Note: not a fan of Balsamiq's current rent model... I bought a long time ago when it was < $100 for a regular license/download. Been a while since I used it.
Re: How to tame a user interface using a spreadsheet
#3As an appellate attorney, when I'm dealing with my own legal writing or someone else's, I similarly break it down into the mental models of layout, structure, content, style, and the tools/software used to work with the documents.
Re: How to tame a user interface using a spreadsheet
#4I love to use spreadsheets for prototyping too!
1) moving around a spreadsheet is very fast and lightweight
2) it forces you to think about layout first, before getting into imagery, colors and design
Re: How to tame a user interface using a spreadsheet
#5The overall effect of Figma is probably net-negative because people start futzing with the visual/aesthetic aspects of an interface instead of working out the functional aspect as you would in a low-fidelity/paper/wireframe prototype.
Re: How to tame a user interface using a spreadsheet
#6Nothing wrong with something that works... I used Balsamiq for years for this type of thing, but to each their own. Note: not a fan of Balsamiq's current rent model... I bought a long time ago when it was < $100 for a regular license/download. Been a while since I used it.
> Note: not a fan of Balsamiq's current rent model... I bought a long time ago when it was Me too, which is a shame, since I've found nothing that beats it's simplicity and speed of idea-to-wireframe.
Re: How to tame a user interface using a spreadsheet
#7Nothing wrong with something that works... I used Balsamiq for years for this type of thing, but to each their own. Note: not a fan of Balsamiq's current rent model... I bought a long time ago when it was < $100 for a regular license/download. Been a while since I used it.
I have a balsamiq license, too. But I just bought a whiteboard, and in addition to helping me with diagrams, I’m hoping to create wireframe on it too. I will snapshot iterations with the phone camera.
Re: How to tame a user interface using a spreadsheet
#8The overall effect of Figma is probably net-negative because people start futzing with the visual/aesthetic aspects of an interface instead of working out the functional aspect as you would in a low-fidelity/paper/wireframe prototype.
Figma can work, but you have to restrict yourself to not embellish the wireframe. Choose one font only and use basic shapes only. Use colors only if you must (warning states, primary actions, …)
Re: How to tame a user interface using a spreadsheet
#9i admire the people who are able to bend the spreadsheets to their will while i struggle with creating simple charts with it! i even created my own tool to create charts from it because i found spreadsheet interface overwhelming.
Re: How to tame a user interface using a spreadsheet
#10I have used spreadsheets for designing floor plans and building elevation etc. I used each cell to represent 3 inch by 3 inch area. In more detail views I used each cell for a square inch area.
Spreadsheets (specifically Excel) are the most general-purpose end-user software I have ever seen. I saw people using it for art/painting. Someone used it for demonstrating graphics shaders and ray-tracing.