Wireframing

28 July 2023

What are wireframes?

Wireframes are commonly used in product design to layout the content and functionality of a page before having to implement the brand and visual guidelines. They are a quick alternative to UI design allowing designers to test different layouts and user flows.

Experience

While designing products in the past I have found that testing the UI will often result in the user focusing on the less important features of the web page such as text and visuals. This can often lead to more important aspects of the user flow and functionality being neglected. It is for this reason I have used a number of different approaches to wireframing. These range from sketching on paper to more detailed on-screen designs. For example, a new piece of functionality will be more likely to require various rounds of testing compared to updating an existing feature where the layout has already been tried and tested.

Conclusion

Time and test audience also play a factor in wireframing like when deadlines do not allow for multiple rounds of testing, for example. This is why I believe there is no right or wrong approach to wireframing and each project may differ so the ability to adapt is essential.