How to use Wireframe BEFORE designing
Wireframes aren't just a quick way to mock up how a website might look. They play an important role in the UI and UX of a website, and can be the difference between what makes or breaks your website.
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Wireframes are like a visual blueprint for designing websites. They can be put together easily. Although they appear simple, they are necessary and essential to the overall function and look of a website. They can even be the difference between what makes, or breaks, your website’s design.
Wireframes typically have a bare bones look, with minimal to almost no detail and a black and white colour template to it. They’re used mainly to map and layout the sections of a website and their functions and store no actual HTML or CSS coding. Essentially, they’re used as a template to the structure of a website, and have a bare-bones, low quality appearance to them.
The lack of detail and colour forces us focus on the actual structure and content of the website, instead of the more fancy details like sliders or carousels. This ensures that the core design details are put first, and that the website wont end up looking cluttered or being hard to navigate.
But why use them in the first place?
1. They’re quick and easy to create, whilst also allowing for multiple iterations.
Wireframes can be quickly drawn using digital apps like Adobe XD, Figma or Sketch. They’re quick to create, and also allow for multiple iterations before finalizing a design. This can save huge amounts of time during the development cycle by minimising the amount of adjustments that will be needed.
2. They invite collaboration and feedback, both from other designers and potential clients.
Wireframes are able to be shared around easily, which provides a line of communication to allow feedback for potential changes or features that could be incorporated to the design. This ensures that a design/layout is as optimised as possible, which maximises user experience and website conversion.
3. It helps ensure faster development/delivery
Although it might seem more efficient to skip the wireframing process all together, it can actually end up saving more time overall in the development cycle. As when there isn’t a wireframe, developers will end up wasting more time coding and implementing multiple iterations of a website’s design.
Overall, wireframes are quick and easy way to create mockups that push usability and clarity to the forefront of the design process, whilst also saving time on communication and future iterations. It’s an integral part of the design process, and will be a tool that you’ll need to use, if you want a good website.