We don't all agree about Visio WAS RE: [Sigia-l] Sitemapping and Macs

[Todd R.Warfel]

Okay, here's my 2¢...

First of all, my primary environment is Mac (OS X). However, since I do 
work for clients across the US and Canada, I do use Win (2K, XP) as 
well. That being said, I've had the "pleasure" of using a variety of 
tools for IA work: Visio, Illustrator, Freehand, OmniGraffle, and 
Inspiration. I've used Flash quite a bit, but not for IA work. Perhaps 
I'll give it a run when I come up with some spare time.

Overall, I'd have to say that Illustrator (with HotDoor's Multi-Page 
plug-in http://hotdoor.com) or Freehand is the best overall tool. Each 
of the previously mentioned tools has pros/cons, but the main reason 
I'd have to say that Illustrator or Freehand is the best tool is:

• Both tools are cross platform compatible
• Their learning curve is equal or less than that of Visio
• Tons of keyboard shortcuts for things like changing tools, zooming, 
etc.
• They can export to PDF, a standard format
• When files are saved as EPS, they transfer between either program 
rather seamlessly
• Both of these applications were meant for drawing in the first place
• Both allow for multiple pages - in a much more intuitive way than 
Visio's borrowed from Excel way (disclaimer: this only applies if you 
use the multi-page plug-in from HotDoor for Illustrator)
• You can define global elements to appear throughout your documents 
(huge time saver)
• You can share libraries
• Illustrator works w/WebDav for versioning

Now, the biggest advantage that Freehand has over Illustrator is that 
it has a connection tool. That comes in handy when doing traditional 
site maps. But since we've developed a newer method for sitemaps and 
flow diagrams that aren't traditional and in our experience work better 
for our clients, this isn't a concern for us.

On OmniGraffle - Mac geeks love it. It's like Visio w/o all the crap. 
OmniGraffle would be Visio if it was made by Apple - strip away the 90% 
of extra stuff that you use less than .01% of the time.
Pros:
• It's very affordable - around $40-60 a license
• It's very easy to use
• It's great for diagramming
• It has connection tools
• You can share/save/import/export libraries
• Can import/export Visio XML format (nice if you work in a mixed 
environment and you're using Visio/PC and OG/Mac)
Cons:
• Only available for the Mac
• Not so good for wireframes - it works, but not as well as 
Illustrator/Freehand/Quark/InDesign

On Visio - of course it dominates the PC market, for whatever reason I 
still can't figure out other than traction, or some IT person thought 
it would be a good idea to use since it comes from Microsoft.
Pros:
• It's widely used
• It does a decent job at diagramming
• It does a decent job at wireframes (although in my opinion it's 
better at diagraming/flows than wireframes)
• You can share libraries
• It can support multiple pages
• You can define global elements to appear throughout your documents (I 
just haven't figured out how to do that yet)
Cons:
• It's only available for Windows
• It's just plain awkward to use. The interface is rather unintuitive. 
It's a typical case of MS trying to overload the screen, but not really 
quite sure of where to put everything or how to handle it. Illustrator, 
Freehand, and Flash are able to fit more on the screen w/o making it 
feel overcrowded.
• Paging in Visio is shite.
• Few or non-existent keyboard shortcuts for most things you can do in 
Illustrator, Freehand, and Flash. (I keep hitting the space bar to get 
the hand, or the T key for text tool, or M for Marquee (box) - you get 
the idea)
• Expensive - anywhere from a few hundred dollars to over $1k per seat.
• It was never meant for this type of work in the first place and it 
shows. They just keep packing stuff on top of it.

Cheers!

Todd R. Warfel
User Experience Architect
MessageFirst | making products easier to use
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Contact Info
voice: 	(607) 339-9640
email: 	twarfel at messagefirst.com
web: 	www.messagefirst.com
aim: 	twarfel at mac.com
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In theory, theory and practice are the same.
In practice, they are not.
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