The type of resources you'll need when creating prototypes
varies dramatically depending upon which type of prototype you're building.
For building paper prototypes, you'll need to
have the basic materials that we discussed earlier.
In addition to those, however, there are a few resources that I
want to point you to that can help you build more effective paper prototypes.
Uistencils is a great site for finding
sketching pads, stencils, and other paper prototyping accessories.
Sneak peak it, in addition to being a great name, has a
great collection of sketch pads for
browsers, ipads, mobile devices, and wire frames.
The best part is they're all free to download and print out.
Appsketchbook.com has a fantastic collection of UX sketchbooks that you
can use as a starting point for building paper prototypes.
Now, while not technically a paper prototyping
tool, I am really crazy about this cohdoo phone
doo, which is fun to say and really, really interesting.
Now, these are a collection of iPhone
sized white board templates that have magnetic backing,
and give you the ability to sketch out app ideas in a quick And fun way.
Drawing the multiple UI elements that you'll need
to create for your paper prototypes can be tedious.
So much so, that I really recommend
creating templates of UI elements in programs like Illustrator.
And then printing them out to give you a starting point.
Now if you don't feel like doing that yourself, there are a bunch of UI element
templates out there that you can download and I want to share a few of my favorites.
Chris Tanner has this really nice set of iPad
UI elements that you can download and open in Illustrator.
If they look familiar, it's because these are the
ones that I used when I was demonstrating paper prototyping
techniques earlier.
Pixeden has this neutral webpage wireframe stencil that provides
you with dozens of common UI elements and icons.
Webalys has a nice collection of UI
elements that are saved as illustrator symbols,
allowing you to build a nice collection
of custom UI symbols within your illustrator files.
Dessky has a web design wireframing kit that contains common UI elements
as well as custom elements like maps and social media icons.
The download is free but you will need to register.
I really like this ultimate wireframe UI kit from MediaLoot.
The elements are all neutral colors but they're refined
enough to give your paper prototypes a more polished look.
Georgio Ventiri has created an illustrator template for designing iPhone
apps that is perfect for paper prototypes of iPhone screens.
You can visit his blog for a free download.
That is, of course, not even close to being all
of the templates, stencils and sketchbooks that are available to you.
A quick search online will bring up dozens of
resources that you can purchase or download and use.
Just keep in mind for paper prototyping, the goal is speed and ease of use, so.
Make sure whatever resources you choose actually helps you
with that and doesn't make the process needlessly complicated.