Denim - An Informal Tool For Early Stage Web Site and UI Design

[nudone]

i'm in the process of working out a new website - not something i'm in the habit of doing, so it didn't take long before i become overwhelmed by what i'm trying to do.

so, i thought, there must be a good way of web prototyping.

i came across 'Denim'. it tries to mimic what you'd do with paper - but has the advantage of being able to create links between the pages.

i've not tried it yet but i will give it a go. only real dissadvantage i see is that i'll be sat at the computer whilst using it - i'd rather be sat elsewhere whilst trying to be inventive/creative.

here's the link to the Denim homepage if you want to look further: http://dub.washington.edu/projects/denim/

[mouser]

somefun ideas regarding drawing links and zooming, and some bad ideas (some weird gestures and general clunkiness).
(video is from 2000, i wonder if they have advanced it any?).
personally i wouldn't like to use such a pen/sketch-centric tool, but it would be nice to have a similarly-quick way to outline a larger website and connect links.

[nudone]

well, to be honest, i think i'll end up using pencil and paper.

no matter how many times i try to use a graphics pen and tablet i just revert back to good old pen and paper - and i'm sure this applies to 'designing' a lot of things with a pc compared with more basic tools.

there's an immediate barrier there with the pc. it's just not right. i hate it.

[mouser]

we're all looking forward to your web pages nudone!

[JavaJones]

Very interesting project. It actually strikes me as potentially more useful for novices or non-designers who want input into the process though. A designer can usually visualize things and understand their hand-drawn diagrams much more easily. If the program can be made easy to use I could see it being used by for example my marketing department, who are currently working on their vision of how our website should be organized. This could be a great help to them. I'll keep an eye on it.

- Oshyan