which tools is good to design a ASP.NET User interface to show it to client?

Question

which tools is good to design a ASP.NET User interface to show it to client?

Answer 1

If you're good with graphics, Photoshop or Illustrator, if you're not so good or it is to promote discussion of content and structure rather than just visuals, Balsamiq is fast and easy to use.

Answer 2

I'm generally a fan of Balsamiq for UI mock-ups. There's a free version online (bugs you once in a while to buy) and there's an affordable paid version for your local computer. It's pretty good on features and export formats and such. The main things I like about it are:

1. It's extremely quick and easy to mock up a UI.
2. It's obvious that the mock-up is just that... a mock-up. Often users will see what looks like a UI and get the wrong impression that the product is anywhere close to done. And/or they'll get into nit-picky details about what they want changed in the UI (can we make this button blue? wait, how about green?) instead of focusing on the meat of the project, etc.
3. It can be used to mock-up all kinds of things quickly and easily, not just UIs. I have some basic little flowcharts and diagrams in this as well. It's not meant for that, but in a pinch it works just fine.

Answer 3

pencil and paper makes it pretty obvious this is just a mock up and there is no actual program/page built.

Answer 4

For initial stages of discussion, yes, a pencil and paper, or an easy-to-use graphics program, will get the design off the ground. I've even seen early screen layouts done in Excel (the spreadsheet functionality makes it easy to lay out a form).

As an intermediate, I like wireframes, both from the perspective of the client and the developer. A wireframe is a basic HTML mockup of the proposed design, with all the images, styles, labels and form elements, and possibly with basic interaction like page navigation. It should look like the finished product without any of the business functionality built in yet. The go-to tool of web designers seems to be Dreamweaver, but there are plenty of good platforms to choose from. From the client's perspective, this gives them a real view of what the product is going to look like in the browser. For the developer, the HTML markup can be chopped up and copy-pasted into .NET Web controls, and made to do the real job from there, without wasting time rebuilding the markup from scratch. When he's done, he can pull up the wireframe, pull up his developed page on the site, and verify that what he did looks like the wireframe.

Answer 5

I've seen some impressive mockups done in Powerpoint, suprisingly enough. You can make buttons that take you to other pages of the presentation, and there are mock buttons you can place inside the presentation.