Today we continue the deep research of wireframing, mockup and prototyping tools for your design needs and here is the next post in this series that features the list of desktop tools that you may need for planning your designs. You all know the real value of such tools which help you to unite your client’s needs and your own creative ideas into a cohesive whole in one sketch. These tools are must-have components of your designer’s lab and it is necessary to have several of them (online and desktop) at your disposal in order to have an opportunity to create professional and clean wireframes, prototypes, sketches etc. So, you are welcome to browse these 15 desktop wireframing, mockup and prototyping tools. Several of them are free, the others are not, but still all of them will become handy for you.
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Axure
This simple and fast tool (available for PC and Mac) is ideal for creating wireframes, prototypes and specifications for applications and web sites. You have a great chance to learn all tips and tricks about this tool from Axure RP community.
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Balsamiq Mockups
Welcome the next rapid wireframing tool – Balsamiq Mockups. Clean and effective sketches created with the help of this tool will help you to put the right accents and focus the viewer’s attention on the most important parts of your work. It is available for download, or as a plugin for Confluence, JIRA, FogBugz & XWiki.
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DENIM
Completely free desktop application that runs on Windows, Unix, and Mac OS X. As you can see from its official site, the team of developers describes this tool as “an Informal Tool For Early Stage Web Site and UI Design”.
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DesignerVista
Here is a professional GUI mockup software for a desktop, web and mobile. It is known as powerful, intuitive and easy to use tool than runs on Windows 7, Vista and XP. It offers 20-days free trial version.
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EasyPrototype
With the help of this tool you are able to create applications or website prototypes in minutes. It makes it simple to put the storyboard together and add all the necessary features in no time. It definitely saves your time and money.
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FlairBuilder
Rich prototyping features, flexible project pages hierarchy, iPhone apps prototyping, a set of interactive widgets – you can easily get this under one package when you use FlairBuilder, the cross-platform prototyping tool for creating wireframes and prototypes.
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FluidIA
If you need the open source desktop-based application for creating professional prototypes, this one can be a great solution for you. It features several important points: ability to change the content quickly, speed sharing of the created materials with others, highly interactive prototypes, design alternatives.
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ForeUI
This easy to use prototyping tool is a powerful solution for creating static or interactive prototypes for software or websites. It works on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and Solaris. New versions of this tool are released every new week.
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GUI Design Studio
With the help of this powerful tool you will be able to create effective user interface designs and interactive prototypes without writing a single line of code. This tool is developed for desktop, mobile and web applications.
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Justinmind Prototyper
The following tool helps you to create rich website wireframes and provides you with data simulation, HTML and doc export, usability tests, ease of use. More information you can get at its official site.
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MockApp
This free desktop application is ideal for designing mockups for iPhone apps. You can use it for brainstorming, refining new app ideas and presenting your creative app ideas to everyone effectively.
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MockupScreens
This tool helps you to create effective and improved presentations, avoid misunderstanding with the clients, get successful results that satisfy your clients. MockupScreens is available for both Mac and Windows and offers 30-day free trial.
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OmniGraffle
This powerful tool will become useful, when you need to create diagram, process chart, quick page-layout, website wireframe or even a graphic design. With its help you will get the eye-catching graphic documents in no time. Here you will find powerful styling tools, will be able to import and export Microsoft Visio files and organize diagrams in one click.
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OverSite
We should also mention this powerful easy-to-use tool for web and software designers in this list. Oversite provides special menu of widgets for creating wireframes or mockups for your web site or software prototype. All of its components can be easily customized and it takes no time to do it.
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WireframeSketcher
The next item is a software tool that helps you to create wireframes, mockups, and prototypes for the desktop. It runs on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, helps to organize the created mockups into projects and store them under version control.
