Checkin 3: Draw Pictures Before Writing Code

Today I'm starting a new process of sharing ideas before coding them up. The idea is to communicate the vision for Paperize and get feedback from the community on the drawings now instead of on the running code at the end of the cycle. Changes will be easier to make this way and the whole project will move faster, pinky swear.

I made a document for patrons to see (that's you!) that lays out the different features I'm targeting for the next beta, the terminology I'm using to refer to different parts of the process, and some gorgeous sketches from my dinner table, like this:

Again, here's the document, please give it a read through and comment on anything that stands out to you!

Disclaimer: I Am Not An Artist

No duh, right? But this point really is important for a couple of reasons:

• Paperize is a dedicated team of exactly ONE (plus a community!)
• low fidelity mockups are important early on

The first point is about the project in general and the person-power available. In terms of full-time effort, it's just me, Loren, a long-time coder, but not so much a graphic designer, artist, or user experience expert. So I'm leaning on the community to get these tasks done in a way that lives up to my standards for modern software.

Secondly, the low fidelity thing is important. I tried to steer clear of too detailed a design for the moment. Don't worry, we'll get there, but for now I want to make sure the major parts are in place and the flow around the application makes sense. Ideally it can be coded this way, too, roughing in the major pages and transitions without fretting over the tiny details of the full template editor just yet.

To prepare, I watched a Youtube video about making wireframes and sharing them for feedback:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMjozqJS44M

I learned a good bit from this video, and it definitely inspired me to apply ink to index card and share it with patrons today. But it also got me thinking...

What if you could use Paperize to rapidly create and iterate paper prototypes for software?

Kind of meta to use Paperize to paper prototype Paperize, yeah? I think it's an awesome idea, though, and just one more obvious use case for this tool in the fullness of time.

What do you think about all this? Don't forget to comment on the design doc!