I’ve enthused about Balsamiq Mockups before, but there’s another tool - Napkee - that promises to make it even more useful. It takes Balsamiq’s wireframe models and exports them as fully interactive clickable HTML/Javascript or Flex mockups.

Well, nearly. The product has been around since last August, but some of the support for some Balsamiq elements has been a little idiosyncratic until recently, so I have held off blogging about it. While there are still the occasional glitches, development is continuing apace and I reckon it is ready to be used in anger. The best place to get a feel for its quirks is on the company’s GetSatisfaction page.

In use it is simplicity itself. First make sure that your Mockup layout elements are all nicely linked to each other. Make sure that drop-down elements and menus are fully populated with options. Then import the Mockup’s .bmml xml file into Napkee and export. If you have both applications open simultaneous, changes to a Mockup are reflected in Napkee’s display every time a save occurs.

Development, pricing and support model is self-consciously modelled on Balsamiq’s: It’s an Adobe Air application, pricing is low - starting at $45 for Web or Flex export, $79 for both options. Like Balsamiq, Napkee is churning out application updates at an impressive rate.

The obvious thought is that Napkee’s lunch is likely to be eaten by Balsamiq implementing a similar feature itself. The addition of an “Export to PDF’ function including support for internal links in Balsamiq last November added basic support for exportable clickable models. The company is also putting the finishing touches to the MyBalsamiq online Web app which will allow collaborative commenting of clickable wireframes - taking it into Protoshare territory.

However Balsamiq founder and CEO Giacomo 'Peldi' Guilizzoni says he is leaving the field clear for Napkee in terms of standalone clickable prototypes to Napkee, - he has other fish to fry.

Indeed the two outfits are working closely together. Back in November Balsamiq added custom control ids to mock-up elements specifically so Napkee could hide, show and toggle visibility of a page elements in response to mouse clicks (although it has to be said that this feature will undoubtedly be useful for the MyBalsamiq effort). Balsamiq seems to intuitively like the idea of being an open platform on which others can build tools.

I suspect it won’t be long until some enterprising tools manufacturer decides it would like to buy both Balsamiq and Napkee as a package and put them together. At the moment, however both owners seem to be enjoying the role of nimble rapid-development entrepreneur.