Using Sketchflow to create iPhone UX Prototypes

 

I’ve been using Expression Sketchflow for many things over the past few weeks for both prototyping Winforms, mobile, web and sometimes even Silverlight applications.

Once you give up on the idea of reusing your prototype it’s amazing what it can be used for.

I’ve found the creation of an iPhone usercontrol useful in prototyping.  Simply add iPhone.xaml to your project and drop this onto your screens.

To create iPhone.xaml, create a blank usercontrol, then use the following xaml (remember to change MyProject to the name of your project):

 

<UserControl
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
    xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
    mc:Ignorable="d"
    xmlns:ps="clr-namespace:Microsoft.Expression.Prototyping.SketchControls;assembly=Microsoft.Expression.Prototyping.SketchControls"
    x:Class="MyProject.iPhone"
    d:DesignWidth="341" d:DesignHeight="685" Width="341" Height="685">

    <Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot">
        <Rectangle Fill="#FF0A0000" Stroke="Black" RadiusX="21" RadiusY="21"/>
        <ps:SketchRectangleSL Margin="11,103,10,102" Style="{StaticResource Rectangle-Sketch}" Height="480" Width="320"/>
        <Ellipse Fill="White" Stroke="Black" Height="59" Margin="139,0,139,20" VerticalAlignment="Bottom"/>
        <Rectangle Fill="White" Stroke="Black" Height="26" Margin="157,0,157,36" VerticalAlignment="Bottom" RadiusX="2.75" RadiusY="2.75"/>
        <Rectangle Stroke="Black" RadiusX="3.5" RadiusY="3.5" Height="7" Margin="139,51,139,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Fill="White"/>
        <ps:SketchRectangleSL Height="24" Margin="11,103,10,0" Style="{StaticResource Rectangle-Sketch}" VerticalAlignment="Top" Background="#FF020000"/>
        <ps:SketchRectangleSL Height="13" HorizontalAlignment="Right" Margin="0,109,23,0" Style="{StaticResource Rectangle-Sketch}" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="27" Background="#FFFCFCFC"/>
        <ps:SketchRectangleSL Height="7" HorizontalAlignment="Right" Margin="0,112,20,0" Style="{StaticResource Rectangle-Sketch}" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="5"/>
        <TextBlock Margin="41,107,0,0" Style="{StaticResource BasicTextBlock-Sketch}" VerticalAlignment="Top" Text="Carrier" TextWrapping="Wrap" Foreground="#FFFCFCFC" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Width="41"/>
        <ps:SketchRectangleSL Height="10" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="33,111,0,0" Style="{StaticResource Rectangle-Sketch}" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="4" BorderBrush="#FFFFFDFD"/>
        <ps:SketchRectangleSL Height="8" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="29,113,0,0" Style="{StaticResource Rectangle-Sketch}" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="4" BorderBrush="#FFFFFDFD"/>
        <ps:SketchRectangleSL Height="6" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="25,115,0,0" Style="{StaticResource Rectangle-Sketch}" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="4" BorderBrush="#FFFFFDFD"/>
        <ps:SketchRectangleSL Height="5" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="21,116,0,0" Style="{StaticResource Rectangle-Sketch}" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="4" BorderBrush="#FFFFFDFD"/>
        <ps:SketchRectangleSL Height="3" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="17,118,0,0" Style="{StaticResource Rectangle-Sketch}" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="4" BorderBrush="#FFFFFDFD"/>
        <TextBlock Margin="141,107,121,0" Style="{StaticResource BasicTextBlock-Sketch}" VerticalAlignment="Top" Foreground="#FFFCFCFC" Text="12:00 PM" TextWrapping="Wrap"/>
    </Grid>
</UserControl>

Sketchflow – “Duplicate” Bug

 

 

The Problem

At the moment I’m trialling Sketchflow for Expression Blend.  There’s an annoying bug that happens when you use the “Duplicate” action on a node:

If you use this action, sooner or later you’ll end up with this error:

‘InitializeComponent’ is not a member of ‘xxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxxxxxxxxxx’

This can be very frustrating if you are trying to advocate Sketchflow as a prototyping tool for non wpf savvy analysts.

The Workaround

The simplest workaround is to delete the code-behind file.  To do this, go to the project pane and choose “Delete”.

 

At first I tried hard to ensure that the xaml filenames and classnames were correct.  This just causes a cascading comedy of errors.

Upgrading Sketchflow prototype projects to real code is a pipe-dream at the moment.

If you know of a better way of handling this situation (and fixing the errors) more quickly, feel free to comment.  I just want get on with the prototyping.