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Design

Posted by katherinepoulter
katherinepoulter
1,575 Points

Balsamiq vs. Sketch 3

Hi all!

I've been using Balsamiq predominately for wireframing and lo-fi prototypes. I just recently heard about Sketch 3 and it looks awesome! (Although more geared towards hi-fi prototyping). I especially love the ability to connect to iDevices with real-time updates.

I'm thinking about purchasing Sketch 3 and was hoping to get input from someone who's used both apps to share differences between the two, what you use each for, and which you would purchase if you could only buy one.

If you are someone who has predominately used Sketch 3 and hasn't worked a ton with Balsamiq, I'd still love your input :).

Thanks in advance!

6 Answers

Tim Knight
Tim Knight
28,888 Points
Tim Knight
Tim Knight
28,888 Points

Hi Katherine, I've used both apps and have actually used a lot of prototyping software in the past (I'm a professional UX designer). I find Balsamiq frustrating... it's great for lo-fi things, sure... but I find the "sketchiness" of it to get old after awhile. I'll typically just start things on paper and bypass Balsamiq nowadays. I've been using Sketch 3 for about 2 months I think now. I love it. It's not just for prototyping either, it's a full graphics platform with the ability to generate all of your visual assets as SVG true vector graphics. I love it's ability to manage multiple pages (like Fireworks which I use to love) and the exporting tools are just great. I highly recommend it for UI in general.

Tim Knight
Tim Knight
28,888 Points
Tim Knight
Tim Knight
28,888 Points

Congratulations on the new job. The UX world is exciting and I'm sure you'll have a great time in it. I've been doing in the field for about 15 years and I wouldn't give it up. I'll try to collect a few thoughts here for you...

Applications

  • OmniGraffle: I use this nearly everyday. It's great for paper prototyping, but what I really enjoy doing with it is writing user flows and process flow charts. (remember UX is about designing an experience, not just an interface).
  • Sketch 3
  • xSort
  • Scrutiny (http://peacockmedia.co.uk/scrutiny/)

Books

Websites

Other

  • https://github.com/timknight/middleman-ethos - This is a project I've just started. If you're familiar with Ruby, it's a prototyping system based on the Serve gem using Bootstrap. As it grows the purpose will be to build out prototyped applications quickly with real HTML, CSS/Sass, and jQuery.

It's not a perfect list... but it's a start.

Tim Knight
Tim Knight
28,888 Points
Tim Knight
Tim Knight
28,888 Points

Hi Jitendra,

I would say that the primary difference you're going to find between Sketch and Balsamiq is stencils. Remember that Balsamiq first is made as a low-fidelity wireframing tool so it has stencils built in for common UI components. If you decide to start using Sketch you'd just need to either create a UI component document that you could use for your components or download one for the various Sketch resource websites. http://www.sketchappsources.com/free-source/838-bootflat-ui-kit-sketch-freebie-resource.html would be just one example of what that document would look like.

As far as Omnigraffle is concerned I don't really use that for actually sketching UI interfaces. I typically use it for outlining workflow between screens where Omnigraffle is especially useful using the Garrett IA stencil kit. Read more about that at http://www.jjg.net/ia/visvocab/.

katherinepoulter
katherinepoulter
1,575 Points
katherinepoulter
katherinepoulter
1,575 Points

Hi Tim,

Thank you for your quick and helpful reply.

I share your sentiments of Balsamiq. I actually have the "sketch" skin turned off and changed the font in the config file to Helvetica. I then create symbols that are quasi-hi-fi and then build things that way, but I know it's not the most efficient way, so I've been looking for a better tool.

Sounds like an excellent tool. From all of your experience, is there any other software you recommend using?

That's awesome that you're a UX designer. I'm a recent grad and have accepted a position as a UX designer. What other software or resources do you suggest for me?

katherinepoulter
katherinepoulter
1,575 Points
katherinepoulter
katherinepoulter
1,575 Points

Thank you for this great list of resources! I'm familiar with some of the items you listed and will be sure to look into the others. Thanks for sharing your project too. Best of luck to you!

Jitendra Vyas
Jitendra Vyas
2,349 Points
Jitendra Vyas
Jitendra Vyas
2,349 Points

Tim Knight Is rapid prototyping as easy with Sketch as it is with Balsamiq ?

And if I already have Sketch, Would purchasing Omni Graffle be still helpful in UX Design workflow?

or Sketch is = OmniGraffle + Balsamiq ?