User experience (UX) is the foundation of successful website design, while wireframes and prototypes represent its two basic elements. A great UX design strategy focuses on the business goals of the owner and the needs and preferences of their targeted visitors. Wireframes and prototypes are very important while creating a UX design strategy. But most webmasters and clients are still not able to distinguish between the two elements and figure out their specific features.
So in this post, we will understand about wireframes and prototypes. Also, we will look at how and why they are crucial for a UX design strategy.
Wireframes
Wireframe for a website is a visual guide representing the skeletal framework of a website. It indicates where visual and UI components are located. It’s a page blueprint that enables clients to check out the website’s appearance before seeing the real and final version. Wireframes speed up and simplify the UX design process, and UX design services also assist in boosting the entire wireframing processes.
Wireframes have a set of distinct features such as:
- They don’t look exactly like the end product. Wireframes don’t include detailed visual elements and are just the page schematic.
- They are not too complicated, but it’s not possible to create wireframes without basic graphic design elements such as lines, borders, and geometric shapes.
- Wireframes don’t involve website features like text, videos, and similar visuals, like mockups. Instead, designers use placeholders to simulate these elements.
Also, Read |Prototyping And Wireframing In Ecommerce Usability Testing
Wireframe gives the first impression of a website design and architecture, and at the same time, provides other valuable inputs such as:
- Adjusting the design plan – A wireframe is the first-phase version of a website that gives you the inspiration to adjust design plans and improve your idea.
- Getting acquainted with the outlines – Wireframes give the chance to review the website outline and to see if it matches your needs.
- Assists in selling ideas – having a wireframe at your disposal assists in selling the draft to the clients much easier.
- Testing your draft – Wireframes don’t give a fully accurate picture, but they assist in testing multiple draft versions and add new elements in the process.
Ways to Design Wireframes
After learning the true meaning and importance of wireframes, now is the time to see how to design them. There are multiple methods but the most efficient ones are:
Sketching
It’s the fastest way to make the first visualization of an idea because we can sketch a wireframe by hand. Besides that, sketching assists in changing the solution quickly or replacing different elements within the wireframe. It is perfect for the initial stages of the UX design, because it’s the time when designers change plans frequently.
Software
UX design in today’s world is unimaginable without digital tools. In terms of wireframing, Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop are the most common software choices for designers.
General Rules of Wireframing
Some important points to take into account while designing wireframes are:
- Brainstorming – Always consider revealing the wireframe to your colleagues and discuss it with them. The best ideas often show up following a brainstorming session.
- Keeping it simple – The goal of a wireframe is to visualize the first idea, so keep it simple and plain.
- Avoid spending time on details – Don’t spend too much time creating beautiful details, as wireframes are only the rough versions of a website.
- Avoid dummy content – A wireframe needs to be simple but realistic. Dummy contents distract clients and prevent in presenting the real idea behind the wireframe.
Prototypes
Prototype for a website can be a mock-up or demo version of what a website will look like when it goes live. It enables users to navigate from page to page and they can use functions such as dropdown menus.
A prototype is a website’s high-fidelity visualization. It shows almost everything there is to see in the final version. After creating a prototype, the only thing left is discussing the smallest details with the client and detecting features requiring corrections.
Related A Complete Prototype Design Guide For Perfect UX Designs
Ways to Approach Prototype in Website Development
A prototype design is not a one-time activity. Rather, it is a set of iterations that keep improving until we reach the error-free version. But for achieving the flawless version in the prototype development, designers need to follow certain rules such as:
- Building a prototype focusing on the one main concept that clearly answers user requirements
- Analyzing clients’ requirements and their target audiences before designing
- Creating a low-fidelity wireframe
- Designing a user-friendly prototype covering every aspect of UX
- Compare the prototype with the main concepts and see how it matches the basic hypothesis
- Creating a list of features that demand improvements and then creating a better version of the prototype
Each new prototype assists in getting one step closer to the prototype that perfectly fits the expectations of your client.
Conclusion
Creating a user-friendly website is not complicated, but very simple and easy. But at the same time, it is a somewhat complicated process because it is based on two basic elements: wireframes and prototypes. Wireframe gives the low-fidelity overview of a website, while the prototype reveals highly precise features of the final version of the website. Contact our prototype design services for assistance related to wireframes, prototypes, and your website.
