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February 17, 2010

Mockingbird – Mockups Made Easy

Mockingbird is a wireframing tool that simplifies the process of creating and distributing website web application designs. Instead of tirelessly working on a custom design only to find out later that your client isn’t happy with the approach, use Mockingbird to put together a quick and simple website mockup that clients can view—and give their feedback on—in just a matter of minutes.

New Mockingbird projects start with a blank canvas, on which you can drag and drop any number of Mockingbird’s widgets to add text, links, images, buttons, drop down boxes, navigation bars, search boxes, and more. Place a widget wherever you’d like on the page, then change its size to accurately reflect how the final design might look. For larger projects, create multiple pages and link them together—Mockingbird lets you create as many pages as you want, so project size shouldn’t be an issue.

Once you’ve created a design you’re proud of, begin distributing it to clients by saving the project and clicking “share.” Your collaborators will receive a link to the site, where they can view the mockup without any software downloads or file attachments. Mockingbird also allows you to export any design and save it on your desktop as a PDF or PNG–perfect for use in presentations. Overall, Mockingbird is a quick, intuitive system that makes it easy to mockup designs in just a matter of minutes.

Practical Uses:

  • Give your website designer a better idea of what you’re looking for
  • Make a rough draft of a project before committing yourself to a design
  • Send a mockup to coworkers for feedback and approval
  • Give a client a better idea of what his or her webapp is going to look like

Insider Tips:

  • Use keyboard shortcuts to add multiple widgets at once
  • Export pages as PDF or PNG
  • Link multiple mockups together

What we liked:

  • Sharing mockups with clients is painless
  • Widget search box speeds up the process of placing items
  • Mockingbird works quickly and doesn’t take long to load
  • No requirement to sign up until you save your first project

What we didn’t like:

  • Without any demo videos or instructions, Mockingbird can be slightly confusing to use at first

Alternatives:

Company Info:

  • Launched: November 2009
  • Privately Held
  • Headquarters: San Francisco, California
  • Founded by: Saikat Chakrabarti and Sheena Pakanati
  • Web site: http://gomockingbird.com

Costs:

  • Free

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