Home InVision Looks Like a Web Designer’s Dream Come True

InVision Looks Like a Web Designer’s Dream Come True

Creation of an attractive and compelling web app prototype is no small task, but a new startup called InVision offers a framework to do so that looks easy, fast and like a real pleasure to use.

The service lets designers drop image files into its web interface, then create clickable hot-spots on each page. The next page each spot links-to is chosen from a drop down menu of images uploaded and the end result is a stitched-together series of pages that can be shared publicly with a single URL and commented on. It looks really nice and is priced from free for a single small project through $75 per month for up to 25 simultaneous projects with unlimited collaborators. I saw one error in the account creation flow (which the company has now fixed), but otherwise the service appears to work well as promised.

It looks like a lot of hot designers are already excited about the service and the company says it’s got thousands of signups already, despite getting very little press coverage in the week since it’s launched.

Trying to create a free account resulted in an error message each time I tried to do so, but my account was in fact being created and I got verification emails each time I tried. (Update: This has been fixed and account creation is remarkably fast now.) Otherwise it appeared to work really well and was very fast and easy to get started with. Check out the demo video below.

Building to Learn

As Tom Hulme, Design Director at IDEO (designers of Apple’s first mouse, Microsoft’s second, the Palm PDA and much more), told BoingBoing in an interview today, “Building to learn is a really important part of our approach – it’s the idea that we should prototype as quickly as possible to test ideas. Building stuff forces decisions, centers everyone on the idea at hand, enables valuable feedback from users.”

A service like InVision seems likely to be useful in that kind of strategy.

InVision was created by

Epicenter Consulting

, an 8 year old firm in New York. There are already many app wireframing apps available on the market (see

Balsamiq

,

MockFlow

and

iPlotz

, for example) but InVision appears to be winning hearts early with its ease of use.

Smashing Magazine’s

Editor in Chief Vitaly Friedman

called it

“very promising.”

UX designer Rachel Anna Lehmansaid this morning that she’s excited to do some wireframes with InVision and then user testing of them using Silverback. That does sound like fun.

“You can do a similar thing in Fireworks, but this makes it a lot easier,” mobile UX designer Brianne Baker told me after looking at the service. “The service’s resources section is cool too, they offer links to various wireframe kits and UI kits all in one place. Of course it depends on your workflow, not everybody prototypes like this. But it looks pretty awesome.”

About ReadWrite’s Editorial Process

The ReadWrite Editorial policy involves closely monitoring the tech industry for major developments, new product launches, AI breakthroughs, video game releases and other newsworthy events. Editors assign relevant stories to staff writers or freelance contributors with expertise in each particular topic area. Before publication, articles go through a rigorous round of editing for accuracy, clarity, and to ensure adherence to ReadWrite's style guidelines.

Get the biggest tech headlines of the day delivered to your inbox

    By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Unsubscribe anytime.

    Tech News

    Explore the latest in tech with our Tech News. We cut through the noise for concise, relevant updates, keeping you informed about the rapidly evolving tech landscape with curated content that separates signal from noise.

    In-Depth Tech Stories

    Explore tech impact in In-Depth Stories. Narrative data journalism offers comprehensive analyses, revealing stories behind data. Understand industry trends for a deeper perspective on tech's intricate relationships with society.

    Expert Reviews

    Empower decisions with Expert Reviews, merging industry expertise and insightful analysis. Delve into tech intricacies, get the best deals, and stay ahead with our trustworthy guide to navigating the ever-changing tech market.