Can someone point me to a winforms prototyping tool?

Question

I don’t know if such a thing exists, but suppose you are in a meeting with a client and you are developing gui screens together. Is there any kind of program that allows you to simply draw a winforms screen image and, possibly, add small notes to the picture? I do not want to use a constructor for such a thing. I hope if this is really good, then my clients can design screens for me.

Does anyone know about such a tool?

-Isaac

Answer 1

This is a fantastic tool for this: - http://balsamiq.com/products/mockups

there is also a plugin for converting to winforms, but I think it’s better to just mock this tool, and then design using layouts as a guide

Answer 2

I found Pencil to be really nice and easy to use. It can work offline or in Firefox. It is free, open source and light weight!

Answer 3

There are many such tools: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/156937/balsamiq-mockups-alternative-for-building-wireframes

And for the difference between the IDE and specialized layout tools, check this out: What is the best way to prototype interactive applications?

Answer 4

There are tools for this, but again, the current generation of IDEs, such as Visual Studio, are just as quickly building a design as a graphical tool.

If you insist on using software other than the IDE, try Microsoft Visio. It comes with some built-in stencils for the “basic” window controls (a bit dated with traditional menus, toolbars, etc. Without a ribbon interface or even Vista), but you can also load more stencils on the Internet and create your own stencils for frequently used pieces of work. In one area of ​​Visio, the ability to add annotations, notes, arrows, and symbols to your drawing is highlighted.

Many developers take a hybrid approach by taking a screenshot of your user interface from your development application and pasting it into Visio. Now you can decorate the screenshot with all of the small annotations and explanations as you discuss this. (This is also a good way to document your user interface).