Use Sharpies to keep your wireframes messy

You may know that I'm a fan of using Sharpies for wireframing layouts instead of specialty wireframing apps like Balsamiq or Mockingbird. I stated several reasons for my Sharpie affections a couple weeks ago in a post called Cheap, powerful desktop and mobile wireframing tools.

This time I want to hone in on one major benefit to using Sharpies for your initial wireframes. Messiness.

Cheap, powerful desktop and mobile wireframe tools

There are a lot of wireframe tools floating around. Just Google "top wireframe tools list" and you'll see what I mean.

Most wireframe tools have taken a simple concept (illustrating the general layout and flow of an application or website) and made it a complicated mess. This is a perfect example of features getting in the way of a simple job to be done.

I've tried a dozen or so wireframe tools, from Keynote to Balsamiq, and the best tool I've found for making wireframes on the desktop is still my trusted Sharpie. It's cheap, powerful, mobile, and comes in many colors. Here's what you can do with a Sharpie: