Member Avatar for Sebastian82

Hi,

I want to prototype an online business-application which will probably be implemented using Adobe Flex or .NET WPF.
The application will make use of drag&drop and other functionalities which are typically known from desktop-applications.

I am searching for way to prototype these RIA-features. Best would be if there would be also templates available, e.g. for this frequently seen Web 2.0 calendar which enables you to choose a specific date or a date range and things like that.

I myself don't know very much about what the application will look like yet, that is why I can't go into the details.

Can anybody give me a hint what could be used in this case?

greetings from germany,
Sebastian

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Dani AI

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For an RIA that needs desktop-like interactions (drag/drop, resizable panels, calendar/date-range selection) and where the visual design is still loose, use a staged approach: pick the small set of interactions that are risky or essential, validate flows with low-fidelity sketches, then build focused interactive prototypes for the highest-risk behaviors, and finally make a tiny runnable prototype in the target runtime to check performance and edge cases.

Choose the right tool for each stage rather than one tool for everything. Quick validation: paper, whiteboard or plain digital wireframes. Interactive mockups (clickable states, simulated drag, animated transitions): tools that support dynamic panels and conditional logic work best. If the final product will be WPF or Flex, plan a final prototype that runs in the same runtime (XAML/Blend for WPF, the Flex toolset for Flex) so you can validate native drag/drop, keyboard focus, and rendering. Complement prototypes with UI kits or pattern libraries for calendars/date-pickers so you don’t rebuild the widget from scratch.

When prototyping drag/drop and date-range UX, test and specify these details explicitly: visual affordances and ghost previews during drag; clear drop-target acceptance and snap/revert behavior; multi-select dragging; keyboard equivalents and accessibility; touch gestures and pointer capture; performance with large lists (use virtualization). For date ranges, validate whether end dates are inclusive, how time zones and locales impact selection, keyboard navigation, preset ranges, and mobile-friendly selection gestures.

Deliverables for developers matter: annotated screens, a short screencast/GIF of the interaction, a concise interaction spec (events, accepted types, animation timing), and sample data. Build small, test early with representative users, and iterate. This balances speed with the fidelity you need to prove the interaction concepts. (Building on ’s point about quick wireframes and ’s idea of a runnable prototype will save time and reduce surprises in development.)

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Member Avatar for zuchri

simply saying, try balsamiq :)

Member Avatar for Member #334542

Try Adobe AIR

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