Recently I’ve been playing around with Balsamiq Mockups. This is an application that lets you chuck screen designs (for web pages, desktop applications or iPhone applications) together very simply and quickly.

Balsamiq Mockups

The UI is pretty straightforward – create a screen, select some controls (via drag/drop or by typing in a name) and place them where you want them. Each control can then be roughly edited (for example, the table control lets you put comma-separated values in) so that you can make it look something like the expected data.

I have to say that it’s a pretty good application. It’s the first thing I’ve found that comes anywhere near the convenience of a whiteboard (or even better a piece of A3 and a 6B pencil). Even more amazing is that it’s also the first Adobe AIR application that doesn’t want to make me gouge my own eyes out in frustration at its non-standard user interface.

So, overall I have to recommend it (and if you ask nicely, they may even give you a free copy).

Is it better than a piece of paper? No.

Is it better than everything else I’ve tried on a computer? Yes.