Prototyping for the Holidays

Gary Bartos
2 min readDec 21, 2021
Screenshot from the UXTools.co website list of prototyping tools. Virtually all tools are intended for visual prototyping.
Screenshot from the list of prototyping tools at UXTools.co

In October 2020 I wrote about Prototyping Accessible Apps with ProtoPie. Today I’d like to refer you once again to the UX Tools website, a great resource for choosing a prototyping app that meets your needs.

Filtering the List of Tools

On the left side of the page you can scroll down to the Filter Columns section to show/hide columns of interest. Not interested in gamepad support? Uncheck the “Gamepad” option and the column will be hidden.

Then click a column title to sort by that feature. For example, click on the Cost column to sort from high cost to low cost. Click the Cost column again to sort from low cost to high cost.

In the screenshot below, I sorted by clicking the Sensors column, which is on the far right side. Only two prototyping tools, ProtoPie and Origami Studio, show a green check indicating access to device hardware.

Another screenshot of the UXTools.co list of prototyping tools, this time with columns hidden. For example, the columns labeled “Free” and “Gamepad” are hidden.
UX Tools list with columns such as Usage, Free, and Design unchecked

ProtoPie: My Go-To Prototyping Tool

For me the deciding feature remains access to mobile device hardware: accelerometers to detect motion or device tilt, haptic motors to trigger vibrations, the microphone to trigger behaviors or generated text from speech. ProtoPie remains the best prototyping tool for me.

https://www.protopie.io/

ProtoPie’s homepage

Prototyping . . . for the Holidays?

If you’re a developer and have time off, yet feel compelled to do some work during the holidays, consider doing a bit of no-code prototyping. Scratch that itch to create — but scratch gently.

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Gary Bartos

Founder of Echobatix, developing assistive technology for the blind. echobatix@gmail.com