I’ve been using Notable for a current website redesign project and I thought I’d share a few thoughts about it. Notable is a web-based service for sharing and providing feedback on design comps.
Like other, similar, services, its purpose is to speed up and organize the review process and make it easier to collect feedback from teams.
I am using the free version of Notable, which allows you to post up to 10 designs and lacks any of the organizational features that come with paid plans such as grouping designs into sets and managing multiple projects.
Most importantly (for me at least, when it comes to a web app), the UI is elegantly implemented, which makes using Notable intuitive and enjoyable to use. There are two main views for reviewing web page designs:
- ‘Feedback post-view’ which serves as an overview of all the feedback on the comp along with any additional commentary.
- ‘Interactive view’ which displays the full-size comp and is where feedback boxes can be added, edited and commented on.
It’s extremely easy to add comps via a variety of methods (there is even a Photoshop plug-in); from there you just start drawing boxes and adding feedback in the form of notes. Comments can easily be added to notes as well as to the page as a whole. Sharing comps with other team members works as expected, with the option to send an email or copy a link.
The app is very responsive and I have had no problems with lag when adding feedback and moving around the application’s screens.
Previously I have mainly used Basecamp for reviewing designs, which works well enough but lacks the ability to add your feedback exactly to the area in question. Notable is certainly a better tool in this respect.
The one area of disappointment for me with Notable is in its pricing. In order to unlock all of its functionality, including sets (arranging comps into groups) and workspaces (managing multiple projects) you must subscribe to the Premium plan, which at $49 per month is on the expensive side.
I would much prefer it if the cheaper, Basic plan gave you access to all of Notable’s functionality but limited you in other ways — say, in terms of storage or number of users (which is how Basecamp works).
Overall, I am very impressed by the functionality and utility of Notable — I only wish it were a little more lenient in terms of its pricing options.
$49 is very pricey for this type of service. Besides Basecamp (which you mentioned), have you tried any other services?
Have you tried invisionapp.com – it blew me completely away and I haven’t used anything else ever since…
Hello,
I have used base camp and it is very efficient. If you are not to pay much you can also use free dot project as well if you do not need many complex features.
Dot project is very good with the features it provides.
Thanks and Regards,
Nishant Desai
Kinsh Technologies
As other people have mentioned, this software might be useful but how many people are willing to pay for it as opposed to cheaper or free alternatives?
if there would be other alternative, i would like to know about it
I have tried out a couple of other services, including “redmark”:http://www.redmark.com/. I preferred Notable, but redmark is certainly cheaper. “InvisionApp”:http://www.invisionapp.com/ is worth a look too.
This is an interesting and helpful review. I took a look at the features on Notable and it does look really user friendly and like something that would be helpful for the design firm I work for (switch with Bop Design?). We currently use Basecamp, but having a feature in which you can open projects and make comments would be great as we all work remotely. Thanks for the helpful review!
It was great to know that your reviews were good enough for us who’s hoping to get the best useful tips in web design.
I found exactly the same issue with regards to pricing. I think you need to be a design agency that works with clients remotely to justify the cost.
The tool is pretty much useless without the ability to send sets of designs to individuals to review. Having said that, there are some really nice features and it is a dream to pick up from a usability perspective.
I am having to look for a cheaper alternative, which is a shame.