Faranello Scott - Balsamiq Wireframes Quickstart Guide

Scott Faranello 's work in the field of user experience design and architecture has led him on an impressive journey. From Graphic Designer and Consultant to award-winning User Experience Designer, Director of UX, and now Customer Experience Architect and Marketing Product Manager, Scott has created an extensive list of credentials having worked for some of the largest companies in the U.S. and the world. His extensive portfolio includes working with GM (U.S. and Europe), GE, Ford Motors, United Airlines, and most recently with one of the world's largest healthcare organizations where he is helping to shape the future of customer experience within the industry. Scott's work has been seen and used by literally millions of end users around the world and in a multitude of industries including corporate, security, finance, entertainment, travel, telecommunication, software development, B2B, e-commerce, and healthcare. A native New Yorker, Scott currently resides in Connecticut and holds a Bachelor's degree in Human Computer Interaction and History from DePaul University, Chicago, IL.

I would like to thank, first and foremost, my beautiful wife and two boys. You inspire me to be my best. I would also like to thank the great folks at Packt Publishing for making my first book such a fun and professional experience. Your dedication and care towards quality makes me proud to be a part of the team. Last, but not least, thanks to the folks who took the time to review my work and helped me to make it the best book possible. I am grateful.

Paul Daly is a User Experience Designer who has worked with companies including USAA, Texas Instruments, and Emerson Process Management on the usability of services/work processes, multi-platform desktop software and systems, websites, and mobile devices. He uses whatever he can get his hands on to mockup or prototype paper, HyperCard, Authorware, HTML, Photoshop, PowerPoint, Axure, Expression Blend, and now Balsamiqwhatever it takes to get the point across and get feedback from users.

Anthony Moffa is an Information Architect and User Experience Analyst. He has practiced professionally for over 15 years for clients such as Oracle, SAP, and most recently the Patient Marketing Group of inVentiv Co. Anthony enjoys creating wireframes and prototypes for user interfaces, and routinely searches for new tools for producing these artifacts. Several years ago, he discovered Balsamiq Mockups and has used it regularly ever since. Anthony also likes to write and edit, and is thrilled to have reviewed this book about Balsamiq Mockups. Anthony holds an M.S. degree in Engineering Psychology from the Florida Institute of Technology.

Rob Mousley has a passion for creating software solutions. He's been doing it on and off for nearly 25 years and still gets a buzz from user feedback. He believes that the essence of user experience design is making users love the software.

www.PacktPub.com

Support files, eBooks, discount offers and more

You might want to visit www.PacktPub.com for support files and downloads related to your book.

Did you know that Packt offers eBook versions of every book published, with PDF and ePub files available? You can upgrade to the eBook version at > for more details.

At www.PacktPub.com, you can also read a collection of free technical articles, sign up for a range of free newsletters and receive exclusive discounts and offers on Packt books and eBooks.

http://PacktLib.PacktPub.com

Do you need instant solutions to your IT questions? PacktLib is Packt's online digital book library. Here, you can access, read, and search across Packt's entire library of books.

Why Subscribe?

• Fully searchable across every book published by Packt
• Copy and paste, print and bookmark content
• On demand and accessible via web browser

Free Access for Packt account holders

If you have an account with Packt at www.PacktPub.com, you can use this to access PacktLib today and view nine entirely free books. Simply use your login credentials for immediate access.

Preface

I was first introduced to Balsamiq while working as the Director of User Experience for a software company in Chicago. Until that point in my career, I had been designing user interfaces and clickable prototypes using Photoshop, handcoding layouts in HTML and CSS, and spending a lot of time learning prototype software like iRise and Axure.

Now, these are all great tools and should be explored fully. But, my role with this company was different. I was working as a user-experience architect alongside a large agile team of developers. In an environment such as this, it meant that I no longer had the luxury of time to transform my ideas into hi-fidelity layouts and complex clickable prototypes. Instead, I now had to work faster, more efficiently, and deliver creative concepts that were clear and concise, but in a fraction of time. There was simply no time to wireframe in Photoshop or code HTML, and to be honest, Axure was just too cumbersome, personally speaking, for doing quick and dirty designs that my development team demanded. Then, I discovered Balsamiq.

I was first introduced to Balsamiq by a developer on my team. He had been using it to sketch rough ideas to share with his development colleagues. Of course, I was immediately impressed. After all, developers are not known as the visual folks on the team, as much as working with detailed, text heavy requirements, and raw programming code. So, when I learned that a developer was already using the tool effectively, I knew I had to learn more.