Application Prototyping and Simulation - iRise

How would you convey captured requirements to stakeholders?  Do prototyping and or simulating make sense?  And what tools would you use?  There are so many options in gathering requirements and documenting them for stakeholder review:  from static documents and spreadsheets for displaying use cases and list of requirements; diagrams and images for displaying screen mockups, wireframes, process flows; to prototyping and or simulating.  Application projects will use some or all of these options. 

Because most stakeholders don’t know what they want until they see and interact with the application; and because they often have difficulty with interpreting text specifications, use cases, diagrams, and screen shots; and depending on the project budget and the size of the application you may want to consider prototyping and or simulating your application, or even parts of your application.  This will help:

·         build what the targeted audience expects with no surprises

·         test drive functionality, concepts and complex navigations

·         reduce rework

·         get requirements right the first time

·         capture all required functionality

·         save on total project time and costs

·         get the right Look and Feel

·         envision a future state

It is always a challenge to get the right look and feel and capture all the required functionality in your application.  That is why it is important to include prototyping and or simulations as part of the analysis and requirements gathering process, where it makes sense.  Engage your stakeholders earlier in the design process having them review prototypes and or run simulations, and provide feedback. 

There are many techniques and tools that can be used to prototype and simulate your application.  From mockups and storyboards drawn up or created with graphic programs, to more sophisticated applications that create workable simulations attached to requirements with the ability to add comments for feedback.  

Below is a short list of popular options for prototyping and simulating applications:

Product	Price Range	Description	Features	Map Require-ments	Version-ing	Simul-ation	Capture Feedback
Paper	$0	Storyboard and prototype on paper	Poor	No	Poor	No	No
Paint Programs	$0	Edit images or create images manually	Poor	No	Poor	No	No
Snagit	$20-$40	Screen capture and editing tool	Good	No	Poor	No	No
PowerPoint	Comes with MS Office	Presentation Tool.  Storyboard shapes with Visual Studio (Requires VS)	Poor	No	Poor	Poor	Poor
Balsamiq Mockups	$80	Prototyping tool	Good	Yes	Poor	No	Yes
Azure RP	$300	Prototyping and simulation tool	Good	Yes	Good	Yes	Yes
Serena Prototype Composer	$350	Prototyping and simulation tool	Great	Yes	Good	Yes	Yes
Justinmind Prototyper	$500	Prototyping and simulation tool	Great	Yes	Good	Yes	Yes
iRise Studio MX	$0 (Limited)	Prototyping and Simulation tool for iPhone and iPads, limited to 3 active projects and 10 screens	Excellent	Yes	Good	Yes	Yes
iRise Studio	$5000+	Professional Prototyping and Simulation tool	Excellent	Yes	Good	Yes	Yes
IBM Rational DOORS	$1,000-$10,000	Professional Requirements Management tool	Excellent	Yes	Excellent	No	Yes

My personal best has been iRise for projects that make sense for prototyping and or simulating, it has a robust set of features, and very intuitive to work with.  For smaller projects or small enhancements I always use Snagit for creating screen mockups.   It took me no time at all to learn and start using the iRise software.  However, building more complex prototypes and simulations took some time to master.  The end results are simulations that can feel like a working application, depending on how much detail you put into it.

A little information on the iRise software

iRise simulations are interactive previews that “Look”, “Act”, and “Feel” like real software. 

iRise Studio (MX) software features:

•      creating prototypes and simulations for web, desktop, and mobile applications
•           building templates and master objects
•            tons of downloadable widgets from iRise.com, iBlocs
•      create reusable widgets
•           create data tables to use in your simulation
•          map prototypes and simulations to requirements, and quickly create a document of all screens, requirements, and comments
•     document screen flows
•          MX supports templates for iPad and iPhone applications
•          secure and real-time collaboration, differentiating authors and reviewers
•          and more…

iRise Definition Center is the hub for collaboration and allows a group of users to securely collaborate on the design and for stakeholders to review prototypes and simulations over the internet, from anywhere.

If you have any questions about iRise, please give me a shout!

An iRise Expert,

Ray