In chatting with customers, often times I see all types of quick ways to prototype application UIs – everything from white boarding, napkin sketches and the most favorite I’ve seen to date…PowerPoint.
Well one of the lesser known features that’s included in Blend 3’s SketchFlow, is basic PowerPoint import.
Let me show you how easy it is.
Take your PowerPoint mockup.
Open Blend, Create a new SketchFlow App.
File > Import Microsoft PowerPoint File…
Select your PowerPoint, and SketchFlow will start importing your presentation.
An voila! You now have the start of your SketchFlow app with a screen per PowerPoint slide in your presentation. Hit F5 and you’ll see the start of your quick prototype you can now publish to a web server and let your users start seeing your concept and give you direct feedback.
Hey, it’s the simple things that make it easier to get that quick user feedback on your new app your building. Way better than waiting until you’ve piped so much code into your UI that it’s too late to make huge changes.
Here’s the official documentation on importing PowerPoint in SketchFlow:
- http://expression.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee341371(Expression.30).aspx
- http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee341419(Expression.30).aspx
James
09/12/2009 at 8:09 am Permalink
In Preview of Expression Blen for .Net 4 , There is no SketchFlow application.
Is there a way to have it ?
09/12/2009 at 8:27 am Permalink
Blend 3 has SketchFlow built into it, and Blend for .NET 4 doesn’t have this feature included since it’s a trial build of Blend.
10/12/2009 at 1:14 pm Permalink
Would be perfect if it would work with other things then pictures in the powerpoint!
10/12/2009 at 1:21 pm Permalink
Importing PowerPoint slides is definitely just a starting point, although, if you want true layer-by-layer support, native Importing of Illustrator and Photoshop files are a much better solution.
22/02/2010 at 11:55 am Permalink
Hey Shai,
Yeah, Expression Blend for .NET 4 doesn’t have SketchFlow built in (mainly since it’s a premium feature), but if you have Blend 3 you’ll have it!
James
18/04/2010 at 7:46 pm Permalink
Hey Shai,
Yeah, Expression Blend for .NET 4 doesn’t have SketchFlow built in (mainly since it’s a premium feature), but if you have Blend 3 you’ll have it!
James
19/04/2010 at 5:44 pm Permalink
Importing PowerPoint slides is definitely just a starting point, although, if you want true layer-by-layer support, native Importing of Illustrator and Photoshop files are a much better solution.