How to Convert a SketchFlow Prototype into a Production Application… And why you shouldn’t!

Posted on | April 28, 2010 | 3 Comments

One of the first questions I’m getting asked after my SketchFlow presentation is about converting a SketchFlow prototype to a production application.

Now before I answer this question, I know some of you may have arrived here from a search engine, so if you want a solution check out the MSDN article on converting into a production project in 16 steps but just because you can it doesn’t mean you should!

One of the problems with prototyping tools like SketchFlow is they can sometimes leave your client with the impression that all the work is done the and product is in some way releasable or production ready.

Now I’m not saying nothing can be shared between the two solutions (e.g. resources) because that depends on the design and project you are working on.

What is clear however are the aims and mindsets used to create a SketchFlow prototype are different from how you would go about creating a real world production solution.

From a design perspective the layout of controls in SketchFlow are done using a single grid and their margin property. In a real world application you would pay more consideration into the layout of the design and think about things like how the page would scale.

From a developer perspective a SketchFlow prototype doesn’t easily lend itself to good development practices such as SOLID design principles, code reusability and testing.

And in any case would you really deploy files called something like Screen_1.xaml to a production server?

Even if these things don’t matter to you, I still don’t recommend using Microsoft’s solution because

• there are still references to the Microsoft.Expression.Protyping libraries in a supposedly production ready solution. Having libraries in your application that you not sure are being used before you launch will only get worse as time goes on.
• Microsoft’s solution is not 100% successful, lots of people are having problems with navigation not working properly.

So what should I do?

• Focus on creating designs that satisfy the customers’ requirements and not about the final design. You can think what resources could be reused later in the prototyping cycle.
• Deliver prototypes to your customers early and often. This will allow your customer to give feedback early so you can inspect and adapt.
• Keep your screen designs simple and lightweight so changes can be done quickly and with the knowledge that you won’t be breaking anything.
• Keep an eye on how many events and behaviors are used on a control or screen. It’s too easy to get carried away remember it’s only supposed to be a prototype.
• Take advantage of the sample data resources available and not bind to databases or web services.
• Keep code behind to a minimum, ideally having none at all.

Jag Reehal’s Final Thought on ‘Converting a SketchFlow Prototype into a Production Application’

I can understand why people are looking for a solution where they can use a prototype and a production application interchangeably because like documentation prototypes can easily get out of date and no longer reflect the design used in the production version. Unfortunately the only answer is to adhere to good practices and always start by prototyping and not by retrospectively making your prototype match your production design.

Prototypes are extremely useful… as prototypes and nothing more!

Have fun using SketchFlow I love it, and it’s definitely my prototyping tool of choice.

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