{"id":3676,"date":"2019-01-24T13:24:33","date_gmt":"2019-01-24T11:24:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/?p=3676"},"modified":"2020-01-22T12:15:42","modified_gmt":"2020-01-22T10:15:42","slug":"validation-tools-for-prototyping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/2019\/01\/validation-tools-for-prototyping.html","title":{"rendered":"Validation: tools for prototyping"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In recent articles I talked about <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/2018\/09\/mvps-a-confusing-name-for-a-needed-tool-concepts.html\">MVPs<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/2018\/10\/mvps-a-confusing-name-for-a-needed-tool-examples-and-real-cases.html\">prototyping<\/a><\/strong>, explaining <strong>What<\/strong> to do. But we will need to know\u00a0<strong>How\u00a0<\/strong>to do it, and we will need some tools.<\/p>\n<p>The good news is that no technical skills are required and that many of them are free or really affordable.<\/p>\n<p>I consider a good investment of time learning how to use these tools because it will speed up our tests and validations.<\/p>\n<p>Here is a list covering different areas and usual needs:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-3677\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tools-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100%\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tools-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tools-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tools-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Mockups<\/strong><strong>:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>To create the screens and show them. It&#8217;s needed if we don\u2019t have a product and to tell designers and programmers what we have in mind. It&#8217;s the first step before talking with designers or coders.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/office.live.com\/start\/PowerPoint.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Powerpoint<\/strong><\/a>: very simple, but probably enough, as well as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/slides\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google Slides<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.genial.ly\/en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Genially<\/a>: <\/strong>presentations enriched with interactive content. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.genial.ly\/en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.genial.ly\/en<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.photoshop.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Photoshop<\/strong><\/a>: to draw the screens. You can use any other design program you&#8217;re familiar wiht.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/balsamiq.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Balsamiq<\/strong><\/a>: lets interaction with the prototype. <u><a href=\"https:\/\/balsamiq.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/balsamiq.com<\/a><\/u>, Price: 89$<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sketchapp.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Sketch<\/strong><\/a>: o<em>nly Mac<\/em>. Graphic design very easy to use. It allows the creation of libraries <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sketchapp.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.sketchapp.com\/<\/a> 99$<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flinto.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Flinto<\/strong><\/a>: <em>only Mac<\/em>. App designer app. It\u2019s possible to import from sketch <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flinto.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.flinto.com\/<\/a>\u00a0 Price: 99$<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.figma.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Figma<\/strong><\/a>: interface design tool. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.figma.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.figma.com\/<\/a> (similar to sketch, but online)\u00a0Price: 0$-12$\/month<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.adobe.com\/products\/xd.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Adobe XD<\/strong>:<\/a> UX\/UI design from Adobe suite. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.adobe.com\/products\/xd.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/www.adobe.com\/products\/xd.html<\/a>\u00a0 Price 9,99$\/month<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/marvelapp.com\/pop\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Pop<\/strong><\/a>: converts drawings into mobile apps with interactions (the buttons work and let you move from one screen to another). <u><a href=\"https:\/\/marvelapp.com\/pop\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/marvelapp.com\/pop\/<\/a><\/u>, Price: 0$-48$ per month<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Web<\/strong><strong>:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Creating a web is still today a challenge for many no techie entrepreneurs, but no technical skills are needed for a simple one.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>Static<\/em><\/strong><strong>:<\/strong> No server or hosting is needed. They are based on a template and you can simply edit them. They are perfect for basic info, contact data, in premium versions you can even create a simple e-commerce:\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.weebly.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Weebly<\/strong><\/a>: <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.weebly.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.weebly.com<\/a><\/u>, Price: 0\u20ac-33\u20ac per month<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/wix.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Wix<\/strong><\/a>: <u><a href=\"http:\/\/wix.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/wix.com\/<\/a><\/u>, Price: 0\u20ac-4,08\u20ac-24,50\u20ac per month<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Landing pages:<\/em><\/strong> focused on showing specific information \u2013 text, video, photo \u2013 and get data from visitors (leads). These data can be connected with other services like MailChimp. Based on templates are easy to use. Usually, you need a premium version to use your own domain:\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/unbounce.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Unbounce<\/strong><\/a>: test A\/B are simple to create. There is a free version, quite hidden in the prices list. <u><a href=\"http:\/\/unbounce.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/unbounce.com\/<\/a><\/u>, Price: 0$-49$-499$ per month<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/instapage.com\/,\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Instapage<\/strong><\/a>: <u><a href=\"https:\/\/instapage.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/instapage.com\/<\/a><\/u>, Price: 29$-127$ per month<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.launchrock.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Launchrock<\/strong><\/a>:<u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.launchrock.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> https:\/\/www.launchrock.com\/<\/a><\/u>, Price: 0\u20ac<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Dynamic<\/em><\/strong>: you can easily manage the contents and create information whenever you want.\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WordPress<\/a><em>:<\/em><\/strong> server and setup are needed. It\u2019s based on templates form the design and look and feel. It was originally designed for blogs, but it\u2019s possible to do anything by adding plugins. <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/wordpress.com<\/a> , Price: 0\u20ac-24,92\u20ac per month. In the future you can use the version for your server\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wordpress.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/en.wordpress.org\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/frontity.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Frontity<\/a><em>:<\/em><\/strong> converts your WordPress into a mobile app. Startup from EOI Madrid Coworking. <a href=\"https:\/\/frontity.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/frontity.com\/<\/a><u><\/u>, Price: free<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.drupal.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Drupal<\/a><em>:<\/em><\/strong> it\u2019s similar to WordPress but more complex. If you\u2019re going to use any data it\u2019s a real CMS with many options. <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.drupal.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.drupal.org\/<\/a><\/u>, Price: free<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/moodle.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Moodle<\/strong><\/a>: to create online courses. Similar to WordPress or Drupal, but for e-learning. It\u2019s perfect to create an online course <u><a href=\"https:\/\/moodle.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/moodle.org<\/a><\/u>, Price: free<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>Forms<\/em><\/strong>: many times we only need to get data and save them in a spreadsheet:\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/intl\/en\/forms\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google forms<\/a><em>:<\/em><\/strong> very simple, now with a nice design, the data are saved in a google spreadsheet.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/intl\/en\/forms\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u00a0https:\/\/www.google.com\/intl\/en\/forms\/about\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jotform.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jotform<\/a><em>:<\/em><\/strong> very complete, many options and easy to set up. One of the few that allows attaching files (that are saved in a Dropbox, google drive o similar). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jotform.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.jotform.com\/<\/a>, Price: 0$-99$ per month<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.typeform.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Typeform<\/a>: <\/strong>another tool for forms and surveys<strong>. <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.typeform.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.typeform.com\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocketforms.io\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Rocketforms<\/strong><\/a>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocketforms.io\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.rocketforms.io<\/a> Spanish company giving many options in forms and easy way to integrate on your website with tailored design. Freemium then from 15\u20ac\/month<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>E-commerce:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Many online businesses are a shop. There are many services to do it easily. Use the basic format is easy, personalize it could be more complicated.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shopify.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Shopify<\/a><em>:<\/em><\/strong> e-commerce as a service. Create your shop in 4 minutes. From 29$\/month and 2% of the sales. <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shopify.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.shopify.com\/<\/a><\/u><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/woocommerce.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Woocommerce<\/strong><\/a>: WordPress plugin for e-commerce. <u><a href=\"https:\/\/woocommerce.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/woocommerce.com\/<\/a><\/u>,\u00a0 Price: 49$-249$<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.prestashop.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Prestashop<\/a>:<\/strong> free software for e-commerce. server and setup are needed. <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.prestashop.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.prestashop.com<\/a><\/u><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/magento.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Magento<\/a>:<\/strong> free software for e-commerce. server and setup are needed. <u><a href=\"https:\/\/magento.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/magento.com\/<\/a><\/u><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Tools to interact with your customers:<\/h2>\n<p><strong><u>Processes automatization:<\/u><\/strong> they allow you to automatize processes, connecting different web services. For example you can send an email when someone fills-in a form:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ifttt.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">IFTTT<\/a><em>:<\/em><\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/ifttt.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/ifttt.com<\/a> Free and connecting many services, also IoT devices with services<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/zapier.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Zapier<\/a><em>:<\/em><\/strong> many options, it allows to post on twitter. 0$-13.75$-90.75$ <u><a href=\"https:\/\/zapier.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/zapier.com\/<\/a><\/u><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><u>Emailing<\/u><\/strong>: an MVP can be a newsletter. And it\u2019s always a good idea to contact to the leads you generate in the landing page:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mailchimp.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>MailChimp<\/strong><\/a>: great tool, easy to use and with many options to manage contacts, campaigns, and metrics: <u><a href=\"https:\/\/mailchimp.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/mailchimp.com\/<\/a><\/u> 0\u20ac-10\u20ac-199\u20ac per month<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/acumbamail.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Acumbamail<\/strong><\/a>: Spanish version of MailChimp. It\u2019s also very useful with similar options and probably better prices. <u><a href=\"https:\/\/acumbamail.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/acumbamail.com\/<\/a><\/u> 0\u20ac-15\u20ac-250\u20ac per month<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Tech design:<\/h2>\n<p><strong><u>Database structure design<\/u><\/strong>: a good tool to think about your data structure. (Not only for coders). Old users of Access will be familiar with it:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/db.lewagon.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Le Wagon tool<\/strong><\/a>. <a href=\"http:\/\/db.lewagon.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/db.lewagon.com\/<\/a> Price: free. <em>Based on <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/ondras\/wwwsqldesigner\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>https<\/em><em>:\/\/github.com\/ondras\/wwwsqldesigner<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/dbdesigner.net\/pricing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Db Designer<\/strong><\/a>: <a href=\"https:\/\/dbdesigner.net\/pricing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/dbdesigner.net\/pricing<\/a> Price 0-50$\/year<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>If you need more there is a very complete list of Prototyping Tools: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cooper.com\/prototyping-tools\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.cooper.com\/prototyping-tools<\/a> Very focused on mockups and design, great comparative between tools.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In recent articles I talked about MVPs and prototyping, explaining What to do. But we will need to know\u00a0How\u00a0to do it, and we will need some tools. The good news is that no technical skills are required and that many of them are free or really affordable. I consider a good investment of time learning [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3677,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[121,128],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insights","category-lean-startup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3676"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3682,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3676\/revisions\/3682"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlappe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}