Layout grids for Axure

In the seventies, IBM engineer Frederick Brooks wrote an influential book on software management called, “The Mythical Man-Month”. The book contains a great quotation that we like to share with clients who appear disinterested in prototyping and want to go straight to development:

“In most projects, the first system build is barely usable… The only question is whether to plan in advance to build a throwaway or promise to deliver the throwaway to customers.”

Brook's quotation captures nicely the value of prototyping as part of the design process. We're great advocates of prototyping and develop paper prototypes and electronic mock-ups for our clients to test out early designs with their customers. Recently, we've been impressed with Axure as a tool for quickly putting together interactive electronic prototypes, but we found ourselves spending a lot of time at the beginning of projects developing layout grids to place items on the page.

So we bit the bullet and put together a series of grids for Axure based on the 960-grid system. This grid system works well for web pages that assume a target monitor of 1024 x 768. The file contains grids for 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 12 and 16-column layouts as well as a thirds (and a reverse-thirds) grid. If you use Axure and would like a copy, download the file (zipped file, 216 Kb). (The file will only open in Axure RP Pro 5. If you don't use Axure but do want grids, visit the 960-grid system home page).

Download the file (zipped file, 216 Kb).

Using the grids

To import the grids so that you can use them in your own project, follow these instructions:

• Unzip the file.
• In Axure RP Pro 5, choose "File > Import from RP file".
• Locate and open the downloaded file ("960 Grid System").
• In the import wizard, choose the "Masters" radio button, then click "Next".
• Click the "Check All" button, then click "Next".
• Click "Finish" and the grids appear in the "Masters" pane.

To use the grid on a page, just drag and drop it from the "Masters" pane onto your page.