what's the best app to draw UI wireframes on the mac? (And why)

Question

I want to draw user interfaces for web and desktop applications.

I need something less print-oriented than omnigraffle. think pixels!

Also, need good building blocks (aka stencils). Form elements, tableviews, etc.

Answer 1

I'll be honest - I find Interface Builder just as fast as using Omnigraffle with (the aforementioned) stencils for prototyping desktop application UIs.

Plus the bonus is you get all of the available controls to look at.

Answer 2

Try Skitch. It seems to be one of the best kept secrets for simple drawing and image manipulation on the Mac. I heard about it recently on TMO Geek Gab podcast.

Answer 3

I've been playing around with Balsamiq Mockups and it's OK for basic wireframes. I still prefer pen and paper sketches that are later refined in Photoshop when working on my own, but Balsamiq is useful when working in a team.

Answer 4

With anything except Interface Builder you're going to have to get the standard UI control templates from somewhere else or make them yourself.

I've been using Lineform, which turns out to be pretty good at specifying dimensions in Pixels (just select "Points / Pixels" as the Measurement Unit in Lineform Preferences). That was something I had trouble doing in older versions of OmniGraffle (haven't used it lately though).

Answer 5

All these answers, and nobody has mentioned the grandaddy of them all?

Use Adobe Illustrator!

Create your own stencils / reusable components in layers and share those between documents.

Answer 6

How about Pencil? Not sure if it would have all the features you are looking for. It's a firefox addon. Real simple.

Answer 7

Speaking of Illustrator, InDesign is actually better because you can do multipage layouts and use master pages for constants like headers/nav etc...

Answer 8

Axure just released Axure RP 5.6 for mac in Alpha. Great for websites and apps. http://axure.com/CS/blogs/axure/archive/2009/12/22/6104.aspx

You can also pair OmniGraffle with the free Web UX Template from Konigi.com

Answer 9

Sharpie and paper first.

Then MAYBE illustrator to show detail close-ups if necessary.