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Keynote to mock up and test interactive UI mock-ups

Hello, I'm a long-time Powerpoint user wishing to explore Keynote to mock up and test interactive UI mock-ups. I've been doing this at work (it's a Microsoft 365 environment) to develop DIY training for Neurodiverse staff who don't have the time to read extended pdf manuals.

Anyhow, I've also found that Neurotypical staff also want to use the interactive training rather than read manuals or watch Youtube videos. So - at home, I have my own personal projects I want to do on my Mac and I wondered if Keynote has the tools to make non-linear presentations allowing me to put buttons / clickable areas that will allow a user to go backwards and forwards within a presentation in a way that simulates using a complex App with lots of interface buttons and tabs.


If it can - I have a question for an utter novice to Keynote.. Any tips or is it very similar to Powerpoint in use and feel?


I know there are tools like Flutterflow / Rive / Figma and even Noesis to mock up and test UI in but I need something that will output a file that I can give to other workers in a self-contained package without having to download an App via a mobile phone store to use.

Posted on Mar 15, 2025 3:15 AM

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User profile for user: Camelot
Camelot
User level: Level 9
56,721 points

Posted on Mar 17, 2025 10:51 AM

It's possible to do, but not ideal. I will say that interactive presentations are better handled in PowerPoint than in Keynote.


Keynote's interactivity is largely limited to jumping to a particular slide - any text or graphic object can be set as a button that links to another slide when clicked - just select the item and use Format -> Add Link -> Slide and select the slide to link to. However, for complex UI setups this can get unwieldy when you n^2 ways to link across your document. Therefore how viable this is depends on how complex your UI mockup is, and how many paths/links there are through the app.


The good thing is that the links are attached to the object itself, so you can create one button on one slide that links to a particular 'slide' in your mockup, then copy and paste that onto other slides (or on to the master, if that's appropriate), and the link will be retained.



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User profile for user: Camelot
Camelot
User level: Level 9
56,721 points

Mar 17, 2025 10:51 AM in response to Episode-1

It's possible to do, but not ideal. I will say that interactive presentations are better handled in PowerPoint than in Keynote.


Keynote's interactivity is largely limited to jumping to a particular slide - any text or graphic object can be set as a button that links to another slide when clicked - just select the item and use Format -> Add Link -> Slide and select the slide to link to. However, for complex UI setups this can get unwieldy when you n^2 ways to link across your document. Therefore how viable this is depends on how complex your UI mockup is, and how many paths/links there are through the app.


The good thing is that the links are attached to the object itself, so you can create one button on one slide that links to a particular 'slide' in your mockup, then copy and paste that onto other slides (or on to the master, if that's appropriate), and the link will be retained.



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Keynote to mock up and test interactive UI mock-ups

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