I found the perfect solution for UI mock-ups namely PowerMockup.There is a whole bunch of offline and online tools to create UI mock-ups. Using these tools are great, but clients are not always happy with these tools. Clients usually consider its something new they have to learn.

With PowerMockup everything happens inside Microsoft PowerPoint. Client is happy because its a tool they know. You design inside PowerPoint and then just send the slides to clients and then they can view your designs. The clients can also move the elements around with or without having PowerMockup installed, but if they don’t have PowerMockup they cannot add new element.

The Toolset

Let me show you a couple of screenshots of PowerMockup. Firstly you need to go and download PowerMockup. You do get a trial period and the cost as of 27 August 2011 to buy is:

• 1 User = $39.95
• 5 Users = $119.95
• 10 Users = $199.90

When you install PowerMockup you will see a new menu option in PowerPoint.

The Show Stencil Library button you have to click to view all the stencil items you can use for your UI mock-ups. The stencil library will appear on your right hand side of PowerPoint.

The stencil library contains various items to use. The items are grouped as Custom Shapes, Containers, Graphics, Icons, Markup, Navigation and Text. You can create your own item and add it to the stencil library which you can export and import. PowerMockup also provides a nifty little search box at the top to quickly search for a specific item.

Here is an rough example design I did to show some of PowerMockup items.

If you have a change, take a look at this great add on. You will definitely enjoy it and I had clients that enjoyed the experience of viewing their UI designs inside PowerPoint.

Cheerio!