Wireframe Design: All You Need to Know & Examples
Introduction
Wireframe design is a useful tool to start projects. It offers a solid outline with a view of the big picture to keep the whole development team focused on the steps.
Besides, businesses can streamline all involved departments' processes to implement the work consistently. Due to the help of this tool, you can have the process work smoothly with minimum changes.
Overview Of Wireframe Design
What Is A Wireframe?
A wireframe, also known as a "skeleton", is a 2D outline of a website or application, widely used among UX designers. It helps represent the overview design of a product. As a wireframe focuses on the general space and layout, all elements such as style, graphics, and colors are minimalized.
This undetailed design is like an architectural blueprint providing structure, general content, function, and intended behaviors. Consequently, it allows the designers to stay on the framed aspects before continuing with the details. The “skeleton” can be created by hand-drawing or digital tools based on the project's complexity.
Elements Of A Wireframe
The number of elements depends on the types of a wireframe: low-fidelity, mid-fidelity, and high-fidelity. The most commonly seen features are logos, search bars, share buttons, headers, and placeholder text.
In low-fidelity wireframes, only simple shapes, images, and mock content (texts for headings) are included. Meanwhile, white and black shades and changing text boldness functions are added to identify different sections in mid-fidelity type. A high-fidelity "skeleton" comes in more detail with relevant texts, images, footer, contact information, navigation systems, and colors to indicate different sections.
Purpose Of Wireframe
The primary purpose of drawing a "skeleton" is to create a base for your final design. A wireframe is useful for the designers to work on ideas during the forming process. Without it, the progress will be much slower.
Before diving into the detailed elements, the team should focus on the core content. Thus, visualizing with limited essential frame elements is helpful. Overall, a wireframe design is an initial point of the whole designing process.
What Are The Benefits?
Improve Ideas Communication
Developing the design concepts for the products requires exchanging ideas between designers, enhancing communication with stakeholders, and enabling feedback from users. With wireframe design, you can streamline the process by facilitating these tasks.
The wireframing process allows involved departments to gather ideas, focus on their duties, and save working time by providing the visualized overall picture. Moreover, this tool allows library interactions and feedback through user testing to help the designers understand the insights. Thus, developing a product that offers the best user experience.
Create Useful Website Features
Working with wireframes lets you decide which features to keep and remove at the early stage. Therefore, you will be able to save time and achieve the target. Based on the testing phase result, you can choose useful features added to your website and set function priorities for the final product that satisfies most users.
A Quick And Cheap Method
Wireframes appear as a cheap method to help deliver your ideas fast and easily. With pen and paper, you can draw a wireframe to deliver your ideas. It's also simple to use digital wireframes to inform others about your final product.
Wireframe Examples And Guideline
Examples
Hand-drawing
As simple as its name, this example requires only a pen and paper blackboard to sketch out the layout of the product. You can do it anywhere anytime you have an idea and draw as complicated as possible. This method allows you to generate ideas and select the ideal one before digitalizing it.
Black And White Boards
Similar to the method above, this approach depends on how good you are at hand drawing. Since almost all offices have a whiteboard, you can draw and make changes easily for effortless visual observation from others. Additionally, it is well-applied for team brainstorming activities.
Paper Prototyping
Paper prototyping or paper cutouts is based on drawing and cutting, which requires some fluent craft skills. You will have an interesting and creative project when applying the cutouts to make other wireframes.
Digital Tools
You can use digital tools after hand drawing or use them at the beginning of your project. Here are some examples for your reference:
- User journey: Jonathan Centino is a good example of a personal portfolio. The content is clear and well-organized, which will be useful in the next steps of the product design process.
- Multiple search options: Kira's website has many search options at the bottom of the page and a preview function that provides users with ease. The vital functions are easily accessible on the web, accompanied by easy-to-understand texts to explain the page's goal.
- GIF: The idea to use GIFs to show the whole process of Marko Peric is brilliant. The GIF includes sketching steps to complete versions with fonts, colors, and pictures.
- Infographic: Using different infographic templates can do much heavy lifting for you. You can rely on it to develop your wireframe design and save time.
How To Build A Wireframe
Using UI components on each screen
Adding components to the screen to represent the functions of each feature, but not the final product. The key is to keep things simple across the different wireframes of each team. There are some common UI kits, such as sketch-style, web-based, and mobile UI kits.
Add enough visual design.
The wireframe should not be complex at first but a foundation for the design team to fill in later. You better start with a low-fidelity type representing the basic structure and layout with AI and navigation. There is no need to include several details such as color palette or typography. You can use templates for your convenience.
Choose between real content or a placeholder.
Lorem ipsum (placeholder) shortens the waiting time for the real content as it allows the design phase to move forward while the content is written. However, relying on the placeholder too much can cause some last-moment changes because it's difficult to set the perfect alignment for unpredictable text distribution.
Navigation
Wireframes encourage the designers to think about the main navigation even in the first stage. Even if the users don't pay attention to the navigation, the team still needs to ensure that they can create a logical and convenient one to satisfy their experience.
Adding interaction
Adding the right amount of relevant interaction is important, especially when coming to validate the navigation flow. Some basic interactions, such as a drop-down menu, can provide users with a convenient movement. Specifically, it can make users feel more realistic when experiencing the very first design.
Tips: Do's And Don'ts
Do
Make research: User researches are useful in generating ideas and building themed concepts.
Set up navigation from the start: Navigation should be present in your initial wireframe design. It allows users to know where they are and where to find things they need.
Collaborate and exchange ideas: Wireframe tools offer you a chance to work online, get feedback, and share with others to enhance the collaboration in the team.
Test with key users: Although your wireframes are bare-bones, it'd be better to test them with users to bring the dark point out. You need to develop the design constantly, even when you think it's done.
Keep it simple: Starting with a low-fidelity wireframe is a good suggestion. Make your team focus on the concrete foundation before getting to the finer details.
Don'ts
Don't waste lots of time on specific details such as color and pictures at first. Leave it for the final stage. When you get the design base, the workflow will move faster.
Don't skip the content. Even wireframes are about layout, but using real content can benefit the next steps. That's why real content is usually preferable to a placeholder.
Don't show a low-fidelity "skeleton" to the stakeholders. It's a frame with shapes and boxes that most stakeholders are not likely to understand. You'd better present your product with a final detailed design.
