The Best POP (Prototyping on Paper) Alternatives for Streamlined UI/UX Design
POP (Prototyping on Paper) offers a wonderfully intuitive approach to app prototyping, allowing designers to transform hand-drawn wireframes into interactive experiences with remarkable ease. Its core appeal lies in its simplicity: design on paper, snap pictures, link them, and play on your iPhone. However, as design needs evolve or teams grow, you might find yourself seeking tools with more robust features, collaborative capabilities, or broader platform support. Thankfully, the market is rich with excellent POP (Prototyping on Paper) alternative solutions that cater to a variety of prototyping and wireframing requirements.
Top POP (Prototyping on Paper) Alternatives
Whether you're looking for advanced collaboration, comprehensive UI design features, or cross-platform compatibility, these alternatives to POP (Prototyping on Paper) offer compelling solutions to elevate your design workflow.
Balsamiq Wireframes
Balsamiq Wireframes is a rapid low-fidelity UI wireframing tool that mirrors the experience of sketching on a notepad, but digitally. It's a commercial solution available on Mac, Windows, and Web, offering strong features like drawing, real-time collaboration, and wireframing, making it an excellent alternative for those who appreciate the 'sketchy' feel of POP but need more structured digital tools.
Marvel
Marvel is a comprehensive collaborative design platform that goes beyond simple prototyping. It allows you to wireframe, prototype, design online, and create design specs all in one place. As a freemium SaaS solution, it supports Android, iPhone, iPad, and various other platforms, featuring powerful prototyping capabilities, anonymous commenting, and a built-in commenting system, making it a robust POP (Prototyping on Paper) alternative for team-oriented projects.
quickMockup
quickMockup is a convenient online tool for creating mockups directly in your browser. It's a free and open-source solution available on Mac, Windows, Linux, Web, and Self-Hosted environments. With features for prototyping, UI design, sketching, and wireframing, quickMockup offers a lightweight yet capable alternative to POP (Prototyping on Paper) for those who prefer web-based or self-hosted options and open-source flexibility.
Composite
Composite automatically connects to your Photoshop document, converting your mockups into interactive prototypes using layer comps to organize screens. It's a commercial tool available for iPhone and iPad, focusing on UI design and prototyping. If your workflow heavily relies on Photoshop, Composite offers a seamless transition from static mockups to interactive prototypes, providing a powerful POP (Prototyping on Paper) alternative for Photoshop users.
MockFlow.com
MockFlow.com provides a comprehensive one-stop solution for UI planning, including UI design mockups, sitemaps, documentation, and design approvals. This commercial platform supports Mac, Windows, and Web, integrating with tools like Trello and Slack. Its extensive feature set, covering developer tools, UI/UX design, and wireframing, makes it a robust and versatile POP (Prototyping on Paper) alternative for professional design teams.
Form
Form allows you to build custom native prototypes directly on the device, offering instant native prototypes. It's a free tool available on Mac, focusing on developer tools. For designers and developers who need to create high-fidelity, native-feeling prototypes quickly and directly on the target device, Form stands out as a powerful and free POP (Prototyping on Paper) alternative.
Briefs
Briefs is an essential app design tool built for a professional design workflow, enabling the creation of detailed interactive prototypes. It's a commercial solution available on Mac, offering features for developer tools, UI design, and prototyping. Briefs is an excellent POP (Prototyping on Paper) alternative for those who need to move beyond simple mockups to create more comprehensive and lifelike app simulations.
BluePrint (UI design)
Blueprint is a dedicated UI design application for iPad and iPhone. As a commercial tool, it focuses solely on UI design. For designers who work primarily on iOS devices and prefer an on-device design experience for user interfaces, Blueprint offers a focused and capable POP (Prototyping on Paper) alternative, streamlining the UI creation process directly on Apple's mobile platforms.
App Cooker
App Cooker allows you to create stunning mockups or wireframes specifically for iPhone and iPad apps, with the ability to export clickable prototypes and share them via AppTaster. It's a commercial tool available on iPad, featuring brainstorming, interface design, prototyping, and sketching. App Cooker is a robust POP (Prototyping on Paper) alternative for iOS-centric designers looking for an all-in-one solution for their mobile app projects.
AppTaster
AppTaster revolutionizes client feedback by allowing you to share mockups and wireframes directly on their iPhone or iPad. It's a free tool available on iPhone and iPad, primarily focusing on prototyping and sketching, and serving as a sharing platform for designs created in tools like App Cooker. For designers who need an effective way to present and gather feedback on their mobile prototypes, AppTaster provides a crucial piece of the workflow, making it a valuable complement or alternative for the sharing aspect of POP (Prototyping on Paper).
Each of these POP (Prototyping on Paper) alternative tools offers unique strengths, from highly collaborative platforms to specialized iOS design environments. Carefully consider your project scope, team size, desired fidelity, and platform preferences to select the best fit for your UI/UX design needs.