4 ms·

I can definitely see how .xibs and storyboards might be useful for prototyping or quickly mocking up and iterating on a design that is changing rapidly. Whether

by jgrall 13y ago

I can definitely see how .xibs and storyboards might be useful for prototyping or quickly mocking up and iterating on a design that is changing rapidly. Whether or not you ship the app with the .xibs intact I think depends on whether you can tolerate the problems I mentioned, or whether your app is simple enough that it's NBD. Btw, for rapidly prototyping iOS apps I highly recommend Balsamiq - it's amazing what you can do with that tool :)

bennyg 13y ago
The things is, I've just never had those problems you mention in the 7 apps I've shipped, and I always use .xibs. Some apps of mine are simple, and some are fairly complex. As a side note, I also hate, hate, hate using things like Balsamiq and other wireframing/mockup tools that you use a computer for. I'm a designer first and foremost (Art degree), and if I have to see something before beginning any coding/visual design work I'll draw it out on paper first. Most of the time though, I can keep the whole visual design process of which screens go to where and how they should look in my head. I think you're also underestimating how much visual design work has to happen, including after iterating a few times on the design, after doing your mockups. A few pixel shift here and there or bumping up/down a font-size, or even changing a gray from 65% black to 63% is fairly common. So, I just skip that mockup phase and start making the thing - iterating the design all the way through.
- jgrall 13y ago
  I think you misunderstand what I mean by "prototyping or quickly mocking up a design that is changing rapidly". It has nothing to do with achieving a pixel-perfect design, finding the perfect shade of gray, or the right font size. It has a lot more to do with quickly testing ideas and iterating, rather than committing to a design and trying to get a finished look. Paper does work well for this, and you're free to not like Balsamiq.

by jgrall 13y ago

bennyg 13y ago

The things is, I've just never had those problems you mention in the 7 apps I've shipped, and I always use .xibs. Some apps of mine are simple, and some are fairly complex. As a side note, I also hate, hate, hate using things like Balsamiq and other wireframing/mockup tools that you use a computer for. I'm a designer first and foremost (Art degree), and if I have to see something before beginning any coding/visual design work I'll draw it out on paper first. Most of the time though, I can keep the whole visual design process of which screens go to where and how they should look in my head. I think you're also underestimating how much visual design work has to happen, including after iterating a few times on the design, after doing your mockups. A few pixel shift here and there or bumping up/down a font-size, or even changing a gray from 65% black to 63% is fairly common. So, I just skip that mockup phase and start making the thing - iterating the design all the way through.

jgrall 13y ago
I think you misunderstand what I mean by "prototyping or quickly mocking up a design that is changing rapidly". It has nothing to do with achieving a pixel-perfect design, finding the perfect shade of gray, or the right font size. It has a lot more to do with quickly testing ideas and iterating, rather than committing to a design and trying to get a finished look. Paper does work well for this, and you're free to not like Balsamiq.