To be honest, prior to this the last time I used Fireworks was 10+ years ago and that was to make an animated gif.  The learning curve to Fireworks (and all its new features in the 10+ years) is pretty low if you know your way around Photoshop and Dreamweaver.  This prototype works by creating graphics (layered pages) in Fireworks and adding hotspots to them.  Then you use the iPrototype code package to help you get your Fireworks prototype working on your device.

What I really liked about this is that I didn’t have to completely learn a new tool (read: spend precious hours that could be used toward interaction and interface design).  I took a shot at Appcelerator’s Titanium and threw my hands in the air fairly quickly since I didn’t have that much time to devote to learning it well.

Complete instructions on using Fireworks and iPrototype with video can be found on Adobe Developer Connection’s site.

Here are some bits of info I came across when building my prototype that may help you in your prototyping adventure:

• Plan… a lot.  Although I was only testing four smallish features, my prototype was complicated and I created storyboards on paper (with pencil and a fat eraser) to help sort all the screens out.  Make sure you use a naming convention for each screen that’s easy to decipher.  (I’m a fan of a numbering convention.)  The better you plan up front, the easier it will be to create.
• Web space. You need web space to host the files somewhere and you need web access to load the pages on your phone when you run through the prototype.  My web service died on my phone when testing and that was pretty lame (ok, mortifying).  Also, because your prototype is hosted on the web some where, you can view that URL in a web browser and iPrototype displays your prototype framed in a mock iPhone.
• This goes to 11, no 42 actually. The tutorial says it’s been tested for 30 pages, but I was able to max mine out pretty well at 42 pages.
• Functionality isn’t completely accurate. When testing I had to brief my participants that the typing function didn’t actually work or the date picker wasn’t really available and there wasn’t a real blinking cursor.  Once they got past that, things went fine.  I had a bottom navigation bar so I couldn’t let my pages scroll, but people were instinctively trying to scroll to make sure they didn’t miss anything.
• Score one for non-coders! This method is great for graphic designers, who are non-coders or don’t have time to full-on code.

If this is too much and you want to create a simpler prototype, there’s MockApp.  I actually liked using that.  It was free at the time I used it (looks like they’re creating a fancy paid version), but it essentially was a PowerPoint toolkit where you could create an app and then save it out as an interactive PDF and run it from your iPhone using the GoodReader app.  It works well for really rapid prototyping and for smaller-scale prototypes.

Anyway, stay warm and stay tuned for more stuff from me.