Marg Axure RP

I have been using Axure RP for couple of years now. Although it is not my main wireframing or prototyping tool, I still like it power and what it can provide (if you want to create a complex prototypes.

The main features I like in Axure is libraries (although there are not much. Easy drag and drop elements is another nice feature. Also, ability to create a clickable prototypes right in the same software.

Although Axure is pretty powerful tool, it has a lack of good UI and UX.

I've been in design and technology industry for more than 20 years and I can say I can use any I literally mean any type of software with any type of navigation and interface, but even for me sometimes it was difficult to follow my workflow with this tool.

I have been using Axure RP to create wireframes and simple clickable prototypes. Basically architecting products.

The best part about Axure is that you are able to organize it effectively when you are creating an information architecture of the flow. You are also able to add in comments that help when it comes to design review sessions.

The complexity and how it lags and memory it takes up. It can be confusing at sometimes when there are way too many things that are happening at once and on the interface as well. I also don't like how it doesn't keep up to date on the user-experience and updates its interface.

I am solving a user experience interaction flow using Axure RP. The benefits is that it is well organized.

Axure RP offer a layer based stacking for the designs components which makes it much easier to create interactions with different elements of the design. Also, what is great about Axure RP is that it publishes the prototype as a clickable web based HTML prototype which can be opened up in any browser.

There are quite a few things that I feel to be missing out in Axure RP-

1. If you are prototyping for mobile devices, there is no way one can view the prototype live on the mobile device itself. It lags behind most of the other prototyping softwares that have this feature.

2. Secondly, the learning curve associated with Axure RP is a bit steep for beginners as one has to learn how to make cases to perform specific interactions and animations.

3. No user testing options available within the product itself. Only way to do that is to host the prototype on your server and share it with users.

4. No collaboration or commenting features available.

I would only recommend this if you want to click HTML based web prototypes quickly. But then to share it with others you would have to host it on your website.

I have been using it mainly for creating wireframes and prototypes for self projects as a student. The only reason I often use it is that it enhances me to create wireframes there itself in a matter of few minutes. But due to no collaboration and sharing options, I use it only when I need to make things for myself.

I like that you are able to create a high functioning, almost real website. There is a ton of functionality and endless things you can do with Axure. It takes a while to figure out how to do things, but once you get into a habit and repetition it gets easier.

I think that while you can do a lot of things with the program, it takes a while to learn the system. Sometimes I learn things just because I happened to stumble across them. Often, things break in your prototype and you can't figure out why and end up redoing your work. And to my comment above, it is only easy to use with a lot of repetition. It would make my day to day work a lot easier if it didn't take as long to remember how to do things within the program.

We are able to show high fidelity prototypes to clients using Axure.

Some people like to use Azure RP for design and collaboration. I do not. I don't think it comes close to matching what an application like Sketch can do. As for prototyping, I do think you can achieve a level of interaction using Axure RP that you can't achieve on other platforms, notably Invision.

As I mentioned previously, Axure RP gives you the ability to create prototypes with more realistic interactions (can click on drop down menus, enter content into input fields etc., but the tradeoff to that is that it is tediously cumbersome to use. I can export my Sketch designs into Invision and string together a clickable prototype in a matter of minutes. Axure RP would take me all day to replicate my design, create all my click points and dynamic components. As a result, it's just not a practical tool to use on a day to day basic.

To each their own...if you are somebody who likes to prototype (and even design in Axure RP, more power to you. It has a few nice features. But I would say if cost is a consideration, there are other tools out there that are cheaper and more useful on a day to day basis.

Like I said, it would appear to have a very niche function, to create more robust prototypes than can be achieved in some other competitive software, but those use cases are few and far between in my opinion. I have a license for it, just on the off chance I need it for one such instance, or so I can open files that others have created in Axure RP, but I don't use it as part of my day to day workflow. The benefits from Axure RP have been negligible and, as I explore other prototyping tools (Proto.io stands out in my mind I'm noticing that gap in functionality is getting slimmer and slimmer.