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Michael replied on March 19, 2010 17:42 to the problem "MyBalsamiq does not work with Flash 10.0.45.2" in Balsamiq:
I taught a rather large class on using Balsamiq with MyBalsamiq and many people ran into this issue.
Do we know how to fix it?-
Michael reported a problem in Balsamiq on March 19, 2010 13:10:
In full screen mode my tabs are disappearing.In full screen mode my tabs are disappearing. This is a linkable mockup, each time I click the tab the tab disappears...
I am using the tab without border, and latest version of Balsamiq. -
Michael started following the idea "rounded corner radius for geometric shapes" in Balsamiq.
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Michael replied on March 14, 2010 20:58 to the question "Usability of MyBalsamiq..." in Balsamiq:
I think we should practice the 80/20 rule. 80% of the most common UI interaction should be upfront and easy to use. The other 20% (what I call "just in case UI") should be hidden or parked away from user distraction.
I believe that when it comes to building an app, you need to do one or two things exceptional well. Mockups for Desktop has this now - and it is why it is so popular.
Anything else is icing on the cake. But too many times I have seen developers add more and more features to an app, and in the process they destroy what once used to be really really good.
We cannot let that happen here. There are too many distractions with the UI of MyBalsamiq right now. It's destroying the usability of it's whole purpose in life is - which is to create mockups and prototypes. -
Michael replied on March 14, 2010 20:03 to the question "Usability of MyBalsamiq..." in Balsamiq:
BTW - I am sharing all of these screens from MyBalsamiq page. It's cool because I can update the mockup, and the image here is reflected right away. -
Michael replied on March 14, 2010 20:01 to the question "Usability of MyBalsamiq..." in Balsamiq:
Michael,
I like that design a lot. I took my original design and changed it to your style.
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Michael replied on March 14, 2010 19:37 to the question "Usability of MyBalsamiq..." in Balsamiq:
Michael,
Yes - those are nice and clean layouts and so similar to the design. Why not step away and stop making small tweaks to the app. Start over and prototype the entire experience, then implement.
You have great design sense - let's put it to use! -
Michael replied on March 14, 2010 18:08 to the question "Usability of MyBalsamiq..." in Balsamiq:
Here is what the Add New Project screen might look like:
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Michael replied on March 14, 2010 17:32 to the question "Usability of MyBalsamiq..." in Balsamiq:
I have taken the liberty to redesign the MyBalsamiq user interface.
Home Screen
In this design you can see that it is simple and what you need most has center focus. Other things like tools and account controls are kept away from user distraction.
Project Page
In this design you have a list of mockups for the project front and center. Perhaps you can rollover the mockup link for a preview or just click to open. I also moved history to a link as its not needed all the time. You can still get the latest my looking at the Modified column.
This was just 15 minutes of design work, but I think its a good start. Does anyone think this is a good approach? -
Michael replied on March 14, 2010 16:29 to the question "Usability of MyBalsamiq..." in Balsamiq:
Michael,
Thanks for good response.
However when you say "...the guts around accounts and access control..." I hope your meaning the back end code is well architected.
I find the user management, accounts, and access control to be in terrible shape from a usability and design point of view. I am still not able to manage my team, and the notifications don't always go out. -
Michael asked a question in Balsamiq on March 14, 2010 14:01:
Missing charactersMore than once and in many places I have seen this in the MyBalsmaiq tool.
The mockup is named "Home" but it comes out as "Hom".
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Michael replied on March 14, 2010 13:33 to the question "Usability of MyBalsamiq..." in Balsamiq:
Ok - So were having some good discussions here.
But I think what you need here is to watch someone for an entire day trying to use the tool. Like an all-day usability test. You sit on the sidelines and take notes. You watch us use the tool, see our work-arounds, our behaviors, and frustrations. Take many notes.
There are so many things wrong, it's going to take a long time to wait for feedback on this forum. If you could have just watched our team using it for the day, you would know what needs to be fixed/reworked/etc.
Then - repeat.
For me, its just about unusable in it's current state. It's hard enough to do design, but when you have to fight the tools, then it makes it really really hard.
How about a Usability roadshow? -
Michael started following the idea "Really simple usability improvement" in Napkee.
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Michael marked one of David Beckham's replies in PTC University as useful. David Beckham replied to the problem "search accuracy".
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Michael replied on March 10, 2010 13:32 to the problem "search accuracy" in PTC University:
I want to make it simple, and if people enter "assem" it should find "Assembly".
One of the reasons we went with IT's recommendation of using FAST search system was for stuff like this. We should ask Erik from IT to tweak it. I must imagine it is possible. -
Michael asked a question in Balsamiq on March 10, 2010 12:02:
Usability of MyBalsamiq...First you should all know I am huge fan. In fact - I was there at the start of it all when Peldi released Balsamiq desktop - we were one of the first users.
Balsamiq Mockups has transformed the way I do my work and it has drastically improved the usability of the applications I work on. I have suggested many of the features that were introduced into the product. In fact if Peldi will allow me, I think it may have been me that originally suggested a MyBalsamiq-like application. I love how transparent Balsamiq has been as a business and I think it's a model we should all strive for...
With that said...
I am one of the Beta testers of MyBalsamiq. I am a big believer in this ability to have online instant access to your mockups put into shareable projects, with the ability to run balsmaiq mockups in the browser. This is crucial for us as we have a community of people all working together to move the designs along.
I've had trouble trying to adopt the new MyBalsmiq over the past six months. However this week, I committed my team to stop using the desktop version and only work on the MyBalsamiq instance.
While I can say that there has been good improvements from the last time we tried this, the app still is not where it needs to be from a UI, Usability, and workflow perspective.
The MyBalsamiq site needs to be as-good (if not better) experience than the desktop version.
About half way through day one, all of us went back to desktop and just used the export/import feature when we were done to get the mockups on the MyBalsmiq site.
I am just sharing honest non-filtered feedback here. You have a long way to go to make the site appealing enough to get me off the desktop version. In fact, I would prefer the ability to work on Desktop version with a connection to the MyBalsamiq master repository.
Anyone else feeling this way? For me it boils down to these things:
- Overall usability and flow through the pages. It needs to fit like a glove. Somehow with Desktop you got it just right. I don't need a manual, and I don't need to think about it. It works the way I would expect. This is just not true with MyBalsamiq.
- Clutter, some items are just in a bad place or are not really needed at the time. They take up valuable space when I don't need it.
- Aesthetics, the site does not look as professional and polished as it should like some other tools.
- Speed, with all of the above I just cannot work as fast and as freely as I used to.
Love to hear everyone's thoughts. -
Michael replied on February 15, 2010 12:19 to the question "upward/downward triangles in the Data Grid / Table" in Balsamiq:
Peldi,
Sure that's fine - I agree. I was just trying to break it and test it for you. -
Michael replied on February 15, 2010 04:38 to the question "upward/downward triangles in the Data Grid / Table" in Balsamiq:
Some problems with short columns and you cannot have more than one at a time?
Try it with this:
>>>
Name\r(job title), vic v, Nickname\r(tet) v, Employee
Giacomo Guilizzoni\rFounder & CEO, 34, Peldi, [x]
Guido Jack Guilizzoni, 4, The Guids, []
Marco Botton\rTuttofare, 31, , [x]
Mariah Maclachlan\rBetter Half, 35, Patata, [x]
Valerie Liberty\rCOO\, WOW! Division, :), Val, [x]
<<<
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A comment on the idea "Enhancement: Selecting items on layers" in Balsamiq:
Hey - thats a pretty good idea too. However it gets implemented, I think you agree how frustrating it is NOT to have this kind of control. – Michael, on January 26, 2010 11:01 -
Michael replied on January 26, 2010 10:05 to the idea "Enhancement: Selecting items on layers" in Balsamiq:
I want to bump this to the top, as I think this is the next great feature to add to the product...
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