up vote 3 down vote favorite
share [g+] share [fb]

I am searching for a tool which helps me to create a basic UI mockup for a consumer product. When I am searching online I only find tools that are aimed on website design and computer software ui design. It has to be very simple however it would be nice if I could have some sort of interaction.

link|improve this question
Does the UI have physical as well as software components ? – PhillipW Jun 21 '11 at 8:58
Why is "aimed on website design and computer software ui design" not what you need? Are you trying to prototype a physical product? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_printing#Home_3D_printers – peterchen Jun 21 '11 at 9:25
2  
Please provide more details. Typically, for physical objects, you'd build a model. The 'tool' would be foam, clay, knives, 3-D printers, 3-D modeling software, wood, plastic, molds, etc, etc. – DA01 Jun 21 '11 at 14:17
1  
Call me crazy but I do my best work (that isn't drawn out by hand) on Keynote, and that's nowhere near being designed for a UI tool. – Nic Jun 21 '11 at 23:49
2  
He's clearly looking for a tool for a physical product. Are we all so blind to the "real world" here that no one can get that? – Charles Boyung Jun 24 '11 at 5:48
show 2 more comments
feedback

5 Answers

up vote 1 down vote

AutoCAD or any 3D modelling software should give you what you are looking for. I haven't dealt with CAD in many years, so I wouldn't be able to tell you if there's anything free or cheap out there that does decent 3D modelling.

link|improve this answer
feedback
up vote -1 down vote

Here's a collection 11 free and very good tools for wireframing and prototyping: 10 FREE TOOLS

  1. Pencil Project
  2. Web Site Wireframe Tool
  3. Hot Gloo
  4. DUB - DENIM
  5. Mockingbird
  6. MockFlow
  7. Prototype Composer
  8. fluidIA
  9. Cacoo
  10. Lumzy
  11. iPhone Mockup Web App

However, I often use Adobe Fireworks for prototyping and it actually works, take a look at that too.

link|improve this answer
1  
Read the question - he's looking for a design tool for a physical product, not a computer UI – Charles Boyung Jun 24 '11 at 5:51
oh you're right, thanx – Emiliano Horcada Jun 25 '11 at 23:30
feedback
up vote -2 down vote

I would think there would be some stencils/widgets available for visio/omingraffle/axure. Do none of these offer the elements you require? It's hard to say without further information.

link|improve this answer
Read the question - he's looking for a design tool for a physical product, not a computer UI – Charles Boyung Jun 24 '11 at 5:50
feedback
up vote -2 down vote

If you are more of a front-end dev UI type, and prefer to build interactive prototypes - here is the stack that I recommend:

  • Haml -> Short hand markup language
  • Sass -> CSS short-hand that adds mixins, variable, etc
  • Compass => CSS Framework that uses Sass, comes with prebuilt Sass mixins and plugins
  • jQuery => JS framework for creating interactions
  • StaticMatic, Nanoc, Middleman => Static site generators that use the above technologies
link|improve this answer
Read the question - he's looking for a design tool for a physical product, not a computer UI. And your answer doesn't even work if he was looking for a computer UI modelling tool. – Charles Boyung Jun 24 '11 at 5:50
Ha! You are totally right @charles-boyung. Derrkaderr. Disregard the above. – adc Jun 24 '11 at 14:31
feedback
up vote -3 down vote

You should try Magneto Admin, basic design and every thing is there like

  1. grids
  2. widgets
  3. alert boxes
  4. typography
  5. forms
  6. tabs
  7. stats
  8. messages
  9. Graphs

[10]. Gallery

[11]. Comments

[12]. Settings

[13]. Accounts

And most important is user interaction (resizing,dragging) is included in Magneto Admin.

So just take an idea and implement it according to your requirements.

View the following links for sketch flows and mockups

Prototyping Sketch Flow

Magneto Admin

Balsmiq

Or you can get an idea from consumer site http://www.perfectonline.com/

link|improve this answer
2  
Read the question - he's looking for a design tool for a physical product, not a computer UI – Charles Boyung Jun 24 '11 at 5:49
feedback

Your Answer

 
or
required, but never shown
discard

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.