Win 5 Free Licenses for PowerMockup
by Andreas Wulf on 03/06/12 at 9:08 am
[Note: This giveaway has ended!]
Wulfsoft is giving away five free PowerMockup licenses (worth $39.95 each) to the readers of UX Movement. PowerMockup is an add-on for creating wireframes in Microsoft PowerPoint. It provides a handy library of common UI elements to help you quickly sketch out the layout of a website or software application.
Why use PowerPoint for Wireframing?
Before exploring the details of PowerMockup, let me explain why I think PowerPoint is a good choice for creating wireframes:
- PowerPoint encourages non-UX people to take part in the design process. By using simple, widely used software, nobody gets left out and everyone can instantly contribute to a design. This makes it an effective communication tool among designers, business analysts, developers and business users.
- PowerPoint is great for telling a story. Its presentation features make it easy to create storyboards that present the flow of an application or website. To create non-linear presentations (prototypes, if you will), you can add basic interactivity via custom hyperlinks.
- PowerPoint has all the design features required to create wireframes. It’s vector-based, offers a range of import/export formats, has (basic) layer support, supports grouping and ungrouping of shapes, and comes with good printing capabilities. Of course, PowerPoint falls short when compared to expert design tools like Adobe Illustrator or OmniGraffle, but that doesn’t mean it’s an inferior choice. It can actually be a good thing if wireframes look a bit rough and unpolished, so that nobody mistakes them for the final design.
- PowerPoint plays nicely with other Office applications. For instance, it’s possible to embed a PowerPoint slide into a Word document so that you can directly edit your wireframes within Word. This feature is especially useful when writing specs.
However, one aspect PowerPoint is missing is ready-to-use wireframe templates. This is where PowerMockup steps in.
PowerMockup: Wireframing Add-on for PowerPoint
PowerMockup integrates itself into PowerPoint as an additional panel from which you can drag and drop UI elements onto a slide. The current version lets you pick from a collection of 89 fully editable UI stencils and 104 icons.
Finding the right element is easy using PowerMockup’s quick search function, which not only finds exact name matches but also takes tags into account. This means that a search for “Input” will lead to results that include a “Text Box” and a “Text Area” stencil.
One of PowerMockup’s most useful features is the ability to add custom stencils and categories. Simply select a shape on a PowerPoint slide, click on “Add Stencil,” and a new stencil will be created. Stencils can also be imported and exported, making it easy to exchange them with co-workers or clients.
If you would like to give PowerMockup a try, feel free to download the demo version from the PowerMockup website. The tool requires PowerPoint 2007 or 2010 (for Windows) installed on your computer. A version for Mac OS X is currently not available.
5 PowerMockup Licenses Up for Grabs
For a chance to win one of five PowerMockup licenses, simply leave a comment below (with your name and a valid email address) telling us why you would like to win this wireframe tool. We will pick the winners randomly from all comments received.
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Andreas Wulf is the founder and owner of Wulfsoft, a software company located in the beautiful city of Münster, Germany. He holds a Master's Degree in Information Systems and has a background in designing and developing large software systems for the financial industry. |
Nick
Mar 6th, 2012
I’d love to save time and money with my mockups.
Rob
Mar 6th, 2012
PowerMockup is EXACTLY what I need for my new UX business!
Michael Damatov
Mar 6th, 2012
Can be a valuable alternative to Visio.
s. my question on stackoverflow.com: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/862603/visio-stencils-for-lookless-user-interface-wireframes
Lihua Zhu
Mar 6th, 2012
A few days ago, I read an article published at UX magazine http://uxmag.com/articles/wireframing-in-powerpoint-it-works introducing PowerMockup. I normally use Illustrator for hi-fi wireframes and It is really time consuming even though I have built my own symbols. I downloaded the demo version of PowerMockup yesterday and found that it’s really easy to use and these UI are very stylish. I hope I will be lucky enough to be picked.
Eddie James
Mar 6th, 2012
I’m always looking to evaluate new wireframing tools and the idea of using powerpoint for wireframing is an interesting idea that I’d like to try out.
Mathieu Brault
Mar 6th, 2012
I usually use Balsamiq Mockups to create all my wireframes. Unfortunately I cannot animate transitions between mockups, nor can I simulate mouse trails and animations. I revert to PowerPoint when it comes to true animations to demonstrate specific features. If I had PowerMockup stencil inside PowerPoint, I could use both techniques to present my features. PowerMockup would help bring more consistency and credibility to our design process.
Eric Merz
Mar 6th, 2012
I’m definitely interested in a license of this. It would dramatically help me with designing stuff for my clients to see, so they know how something will look when coding and won’t feel like they’re being left in the dark, as they do now.
Azeroth
Mar 6th, 2012
Hmm, why not, I should at least compare it to the ones I’m using.
Chris B. Behrens
Mar 6th, 2012
There used to be a tool we used for this…I think we called it – Visual Basic! But this looks to be a much better suited tool.
Mahmut Çanga
Mar 6th, 2012
Lovely!
Marc
Mar 6th, 2012
I’d love a copy of this! My bosses insist on the dreaded Powerpoint, so this would definitely be a great compromise.
travis terry
Mar 6th, 2012
I think this is awesome and i want to WIN!!!!
Travis Terry
travisjterry@gmail.com
Loc
Mar 6th, 2012
This is very cool, I love the idea that you can use this with PowerPoint.
Mehdi Sheikh
Mar 6th, 2012
I wanna use it and give some copies to my web designer friends.
Corey Stup
Mar 6th, 2012
PowerPoint for the WIN!
Catalina
Mar 6th, 2012
I’ve been using a different functional ptototyping tool for over a year and I am open (and ready) to test a new, and hopefully better one.
Karl Mayer
Mar 6th, 2012
Looks like a useful product. I like its integration with PowerPoint.
Evan Stoner
Mar 6th, 2012
I’m not a UX professional — I’m a student trying to learn about UX in a time when most universities don’t understand the importance of experience design. Having PowerMockup would give me the chance to toy with wireframing on my personal projects so I have the skills I need when I graduate.
Yann
Mar 6th, 2012
Looks like an awesome tool!
Benjamin Fulton
Mar 6th, 2012
PowerMockup would come in very handy when pitching new product design/interface ideas to clients.
Paul
Mar 6th, 2012
I love to the win a free license to Power Mockup. Oftentimes, I have to rely on the design team to mockup/wireframe product and service ideas and I have surpassed my Photoshop threshold. This will help me communicate & vet ideas more quickly.
November
Mar 6th, 2012
Not being a real IA, I’ve used powerpoint to mock up designs before, but having this would make my mock ups look that much more professional!
vish
Mar 6th, 2012
Hi,
I am looking to get away from using plain powerpoint for my wireframing
Thank You,
Vish
Oli Olsen
Mar 7th, 2012
When will a version for Mac OS X be available?
Oli Olsen
Mar 7th, 2012
I would like to win a license because I belive it is a great way to make mockups by bozos like me
Mike Hamer
Mar 7th, 2012
I’ve only used Balsamiq for wireframing before. Using PowerPoint makes a lot of sense – so you can storyboard progression through using the UI. Can’t do it without having useful templates – so will give PowerMockup a go.
Jorge
Mar 7th, 2012
I will like to apply to a Free License for PowerMockup. Thank you!
Pertti Pitsinki
Mar 7th, 2012
My clients have no Omnigraffle.
grafika
Mar 7th, 2012
The second time I hear about the existence of this tool. I want to win because I have no tools of this type. It will be useful when creating web pages of sketches.
Stephane
Mar 7th, 2012
I begin wireframing with PowerPoint more than 10 years ago… And I ‘m still doing so. I would love trying this tool
Frederick
Mar 7th, 2012
I’d like one because my actual solution is lack of functionnalities !!
K20
Mar 7th, 2012
It would be great to win this license !
Thanks for the giveaway !!!
JohnGraham
Mar 7th, 2012
I currently work with a team of system and software engineers and the use of mockups will best benefit our team in development and illustrating ideas. We have been experimenting with many mockup tools but we are still using powerpoint and visio at this point.
Thanks,
John
Philippe
Mar 7th, 2012
Give a chance for non UX designer to learn with an usual interface all the coponents of webdesign !
Tom van der Valk
Mar 7th, 2012
I’d like to have a copy of PowerMockup, just to see how it measures up to Balsamiq Mockups.
Thomas Krahne
Mar 7th, 2012
Sounds like a great tool. I would use it to design the user interface of a software we are currently developing.
Noémie Lemaitre
Mar 8th, 2012
Hello,
I’d like to win a PowerMockup license because I generate wireframes daily. I’m a User Experience Designer and I provide wireframes and prototypes for two categories of people:
- my developer colleagues, who implement the designs I’ve created;
- our bosses, who like to have a range of designs to choose from.
Still, I’m not the only one who should have the possibility to use a wireframing tool.
Wireframing for developers
The wireframes I provide are saved in our project management tool, they’re always available for developers. As development goes on, we sometimes need to modify “the specs” (aka: the wireframe document) because of technical findings, improvements, etc. The result should also be visible for the testing department, who use the same specs to verify the features. That’s why a sketch on the original printed document won’t work.
For small changes, ideally, the developer in charge would modify the specs himself. This has to be very easy and quick, because he won’t spend lots of time trying to learn how to master a complex prototyping tool. PowerMockup for PowerPoint would be the answer!
Wireframing for management
Managing people are almost always in a hurry, so, like developers, they won’t want to dwell with graphic software at all. They tend to be out of the office most of the time, and the communication with them is reduced to eMails. They should be able to react quickly to my proposals once I sent them, and I think a PowerPoint integration is exactly how they would like to do it. They’re used to Microsoft software and PowerPoint is their program of choice when it comes to customer presentations. If they feel at home, they’ll use the tool.
Making prototyping reachable for both UX professionals and non-UX people is a goal I support. It’s the future!
Best regards,
Noémie
Lawrence
Mar 8th, 2012
Interesting concept as a way to allow non-designer team members to become a bit more hands-on in the process. PowerPoint is the de facto standard visual communication tool in my company.
Jacky Fong
Mar 8th, 2012
This is a really useful tool for non-technical users.
Mike Sobotta
Mar 8th, 2012
What great way for a person new to UX to try out some new software before I get stuck in a rut of using the same software for everything *cough* Visio. I shake my fist at you Microsoft.
Andy
Mar 8th, 2012
This look like the best option out there.
Michelle Knight
Mar 9th, 2012
I’m the manager of our web systems design team and I LOVE this software concept. My company is constantly expanding our product options which requires lots of web page mock-ups in our design documents. I believe this tool would facilitate our screen design process based on your overview. I especially like the fact that you can add custom components that you create to the library for future use. That’s insane.
Please choose me!
Julien Saulnier
Mar 9th, 2012
Hey,
I’m a Business Analyst trying to learn more about the field of UX and incorporating the new things I learn in my day to day tasks. One of which is creating wireframes for the different products to represent what the user experience should/could be. Since we’re a startup, I’m stuck having to do these in various creative ways since the budget for a wireframe tool is next to none, hehehehe.
Please choose me so I can create nice wireframes in a more productive timeframe.
Thanks,
Evaldas
Mar 10th, 2012
Count me in
eRIZ
Mar 10th, 2012
I want to try something new in UX.
sagi
Mar 10th, 2012
i would really like to win a license.
it will really improve my work quality as a junior UX consultant
Andrea
Mar 11th, 2012
I’d love to get one. Thanks.
Jeroen
Mar 13th, 2012
This would come in very handy, especially to communicate my desires to our designers.
Alexandre
Mar 13th, 2012
I want to win because it’s look very usefull to save time
Luiz Severo
Mar 13th, 2012
Its looks like a very good wireframe tool.
Can I use it in PowerPoint for Mac?
Rob Iver
Mar 13th, 2012
I would absolutely LOVE this tool. It would make my life easier, as nothing says “ugghh…” like having to make mockups using one tool, then present them to business users, only to have 50% of the mockup be changed on the next go round.
With this tool, I can collaborate with them in realtime and they can edit the mockup themselves if need be. VERY slick!
George Petsagourakis
Mar 13th, 2012
Yes, I’d love to have one of those
Diogo
Mar 15th, 2012
That’s a great giveway!
Jin
Mar 15th, 2012
I always enjoy working with better product and show up great result to my customers
Wish I have chance to use yours!
Shep McKee
Mar 17th, 2012
I’ll throw my name in the pot – appears to be a nice approach
Shai
Mar 18th, 2012
I`m working with free version for a over a month
and it just fabulous!! i`ve always worked with powerpoint and if have to design a tool to help all of the UX people out there i would think of better application than PowerMockup! this tool took all the things needed and execute them perfectly!!
Way to go!!
Just love to get my hands on the full version!
Jessica
Mar 19th, 2012
i’d love to win because Power Point is something anyone at any level of my product team can quickly use and ramp up on. This would be a great tool!
Marta
Mar 21st, 2012
I just need this kind of a tool – simple but powerfull
Rana M
Mar 25th, 2012
As an open-source enthusiast and an UI/UX designer cum adviser, I would like to research on its simplicity & usability myself before advising to other designing firms.
Mike Jongbloet
Mar 25th, 2012
Wireframing in AI or FW can be time consuming, would like to see how this measures up
Matti
Jun 4th, 2012
I used to be Microsoft Student Partner and therefore I am now addicted to MS products and would love that PowerMockup extention to enhance my productivity for Wireframes / Prototyping. Thanks.
kang
Jun 11th, 2012
this is a good soft for presentations also. Thanks for this opportunity
Britt Stephens
Aug 10th, 2012
I am evaluating wireframing tools for our entire company to use and always have used Powerpoint myself. I have always had to create certain elements myself and it would sure be nice to be able to pick them from a list rather draw my own. Plus, you may get to sell quite a few licenses of this if I can show them how good it is.