Mockups – A waste of time or an Investment?
What is a mockup? We’ve often seen mockups explained all over the internet but at some level, there is confusion among the masses. The textbook definition of a mockup in design refers to a model of a design that provides an overall look of the design. It’s only design-based though, functionalities come at a later stage in prototyping or functional mockups. However, we’re narrowing down our discussion today to just mockups that are not functional.
Human nature is such that before jumping into something, we like to know the consequences. The positives as well as the negatives. Let’s say you have an idea for a mobile application. You decide to go to a software development company, they make an estimate of your entire project (Which is a lot). This is where you start to think whether your idea can be transformed effectively into a mobile application? We can provide an alternative, which is the reason why you need to know what is a mockup and how it can be an investment.
What is a Mockup? It’s an Investment
What if we were to say that you can transform your mobile app’s idea into a mockup? Spending several thousand dollars on the development of your mobile application and having no idea how it’ll turn out is like getting yourself trapped in quicksand. It’s a quicksand because you actually don’t have an idea of how the app will be transformed in terms of its UI. Also, what often happens is that once an app is transformed in its developed form, deviations from your idea will occur.
This will further transform into additional costs in the form of revisions. Overall, jumping straight into a mobile application’s development will prove to be much costlier as compared to getting a mockup developed first.
Mockups Explained in light of Advantages
There are plenty of advantages of developing mockups first and then going for its development. The first and foremost is relevant to the question, what is a mockup? The basic idea behind a mockup itself is to transform your thoughts into something that you can visualize.
Transformation of Thoughts
There are many tools out there that can help you design mockups. However, if you don’t want to go for a design, then we can suggest opting for Mockup Machine as they can design the mockup for you. Mockup’s primary purpose is to see whether your idea is transformable into a mobile app or not. Of course, you might have a mental image of what the app might look like once it’s developed. However, the developers don’t know that.
This is why we consider mockups a vital tool in terms of aligning not just your thoughts but also the developers. At the end of the day, the developers are working on the development aspect and it’s essential that they are on the same page as you. If you invest in mockups for your mobile applications, the developers will know to the exact point of what is required. Any form of deviation isn’t even possible anymore as they have the guidelines and requirements to the dot.
It actually Saves Money
If you think going for mockups is a waste of time or money, then you’re wrong. Mockups is an investment because it will help you in numerous ways to develop the final product. There can be a wide range of issues that come into development and you don’t want to burden the development team with deviations. Also, change in design will cost additional charges and can make things even more problematic. What is a mockup you ask? Well, it’s an investment in your idea.
In a Nutshell
What is a mockup? It’s not just a design that provides an overall outlook of how your mobile app will appear. It actually is an investment because it will change the way the development teams will work and will align your idea as well.
By the way, if you have an idea for a mobile app then let Mockup Machine help with the transformation into some amazing Mockups! Give us a call today and make the right decision!
