Agreed. I don’t even talk about a project until I have a mockup to illustrate. I’ve found iWeb to be so simple to do a basic mockup. No HTML yet, no fancy graphics. Upload and share the link. Then you have something to talk about.

Couldn’t agree more. Putting something in front of people as soon as possible that looks and acts like a real site is a must.

In fact, I believe so completely in the idea of functional mockups I’ve built a webapp around it: Mocksup (http://mocksup.com). “90% of the benefits of a prototype in 10% of the time.”

No doubt. A picture can clear many things up very quickly. The old adage that one is worth a thousand words resonates here.

Is that really an insight?

Some nitpicking: Not all user interfaces are graphical. Think traditional voicemail for instance.

However, your claim still stands: something to look at helps discuss even a non-graphical UI. And, as stated, a functional mockup is even better.

Thanks for the insight!

I find Balsamiq to be great for doing mockups. Just need to get a license so I can review it. ;-)

What about when you are not debating, is a picture still useful?

I’ve found that sometimes, “a picture paints a thousand words, and that’s the problem” (citation anyone?)

And prototypes, as a standalone medium, can be even worse in the ways people can read the wrong thing into what they are seeing and make assumptions.

I came up with a concept called ‘ProtoTour’ duing my research, published in 1999. The idea was to pull together a directed walkthrough and explanation to accompany a prototype. These days though, that all seems a bit slow!

@carl check out voicethread.com

@RichardR Balsamiq is lame…

I haven’t tried Balsamiq, but I’ve been playing with Mockingbird (gomockingbird.com) and find it great for quick and easily shareable wireframes. Sometimes it’s nice to have that in a browser so you don’t have to worry about what machine you’re on and what software is installed.