I think we're mixing up the conversation here. A prototype and an IA diagrams (site flow) are two very different things with different purposes. The IA diagrams would be worked out before the prototype and shows the logical relationship between pages (the IF THENS). It's a planning tool. On the other hand, if you've got a prototype then that would mean all of your planning is completed, it's a working version of the site, before it goes live. But, yes, I would agree that a prototype can be done using CSS and should through iteration turn into the final site.
What is useful, in my opinion, for showing how the click throughs on a site works is what I would consider a true "wireframe". That isn't the site mockups that look like a site made up of black lines. It's a navigable version of a site without *any* design or layout. Its purpose is to determine what should be accomplished on each page, what messaging should appear on each page and who is it written for, as well as what inbound and outbound links there are and how each page fits into the various user paths on the site. Example and more details: http://www.grokdotcom.com/wireframing.htm Careful visiting the link above you may learn way more than you expect to. :) Chris -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Iva Koberg Sent: Friday, February 25, 2005 12:19 PM To: wsg@webstandardsgroup.org Subject: Re: [WSG] [on-topic]wireframes David R wrote: >> /Should lead to yet another tool, Visio or OmniGraffle, if so what is >> recommended on the MAC OS side? > > What's stopping you from creating the prototype boxes in XHTML + CSS? > It has the added advantage of meaning that once you've got your > layout, you've also got your document structure. Just add the content > and remove the "border: 1px solid black;" properties and you're done. Agree with David completely. Additional benefits of the XHTML/CSS prototype approach: - you end up with a fully navigable prototype that IMO is more effective in getting clients to understand and approve the deliverable - a functional prototype is also more effective in figuring out the most appropriate navigation schemes - if you are the ia and are working with a designer, you will provide clearer design input - once you are done, you don't have to throw away your work and move on to creating the site, the site is a living prototype, like David said - add content and CSS and you're done - prototypes are meant to change and be refined in iterations - it certainly is much easier, faster and reliable if you are using XHTML/CSS, preferably with a templating system or ideally a CMS (see http://www.livestoryboard.com/Tour/storyboarding-prototyping-for-the-web .html for example), which would update all navigation, links, etc. Take a look at this presentation - slide 44 specifically discusses "the ideal process" - First Things First: IA and CSS http://natek.typepad.com/blog/2004/07/web_visions_pre.html best, Iva ****************************************************** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list & getting help ******************************************************
