[bobdole3]

Your website is cool, but If all you are doing is setting up some basic widgets like (tables and buttons) why don't you just use interface builder. It's way faster and cuts down on the use of these jerryatric noob tools. Who needs to show someone a prototype of a basic table view anyway? Moreover, creating stuff like this in graphics gives you the resulting assets and similarly creating in interface builder gives you the actual foundation for the app. What a horrible waste of time.

[javajosh]

First, don't believe the claim about just being a "prototyping tool". That's what any tool or library says when it's trying to be humble. This toolkit's sweet spot is PhoneGap & friends, clearly.

See, the need this fills (and apparently does a good job at) is to give front-end web devs resources to write UIs in PhoneGap that look just like Interface Builder apps. Why would you want to do this? Possibly because you don't have iOS coders. Or perhaps your coders are already familiar with the web, so why not re-use their skillz?

The assumption here is that a front-end web dev can get a native-looking iOS app together faster in PhoneGap than a native developer can get a real iOS app together. While that's not always going to be true, it is probably usually true. And for some apps (like, virtually anything that's just business-oriented and doesn't require crazy stuff), the difference will not be noticeable by end-users (although it might trigger an uncanny valley feeling).

[markdotto]

That's an understandable point of view, save for the waste of time part, but it's not the use case they're targeting (I think). Ratchet I feel is primarily for folks who don't use Interface Builder, who aren't engineers, and who just want to test stuff out really quickly and efficiently (with HTML and CSS). Great for designers like myself who aren't as tech saavy but know the ins and outs of simple code like HTML and CSS.

As is the case with just about every other application, project, framework, and sexual intercourse: there are many ways to do the same thing and not all of them work for everyone.

[davidlumley]

I think you completely misunderstand the audience for Rachet.

It's a HTML/JS/CSS prototyping tool, so if you're building a web application for iPhone it makes it so much easier to get a basic prototype together and start hallway testing. Interface builder is _not_ the tool for doing this.

Additionally, just because you're not 'creating stuff like this in graphics' doesn't mean that you'll never create a proper interface for the application, it just means you can get a __prototype__ together quickly. Spending time creating a well designed interface takes away from what a prototype should be.

[gurkendoktor]

> Interface builder is _not_ the tool for doing this.

The Ratchet website talks about "iPhone apps" in general (not just web applications). And for non-web apps, storyboarding (in Interface Builder) is a great prototyping tool. And it has the advantage that it has all the common iOS UI concepts (and only them) and can be fleshed out into the real app afterwards.

[bobdole3]

How is this better than pencil and paper. You don't have to see the button depress to know what the button does, right?

[skyhook_mockups]

It's a lot harder to email paper? there aren't many good paper VCS? Paper is great for quick sketches and has its place. Digital is good for lots of other use cases. Maybe use what suits on a case by case basis?

[bobdole3]

I'd like to see a designer speak up about using stuff like this more than one time. I find I'd hard to believe that you would sit down, after already playing around with this once, and say "this time I'm going to add a chevron to each cell, put the button on the left side, and go test it in the hallway". If your app is a table with a stock navigation system do you really ever need to build a second version of the same thing?

[skyhook_mockups]

Every project/team is different. Sometimes a designer wants to communicate with another designer, sometimes with a developer and sometimes with a client. Each of these stakeholders will react differently to:

'...this screen looks like.. well you know a stock tableview'

And sometimes these people aren't in the same room/building/country

Simply dismissing the tool because you cant think of a use-case is a bit short sighted.

PS: also when designing for the iphone, elements have a surprisingly different feel when shown on a device.

[benihana]

You can't copy/paste pencil marks.

Users can't interact with paper mock ups.

You have to re-draw the menu on every page you mock up or tell the people you're showing the mock up to imagine it. Both of these suck.