Wireframe - 1stWebDesigner https://1stwebdesigner.com/tag/wireframe/ Helping You Build a Better Web Fri, 01 Mar 2019 09:35:59 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://1stwebdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1stwebdesigner-logo-2020-125x125.png Wireframe - 1stWebDesigner https://1stwebdesigner.com/tag/wireframe/ 32 32 10 Best Free Wireframe Kits To Speed Up Your Design Workflow https://1stwebdesigner.com/free-wireframe-kits/ Thu, 06 Dec 2018 21:13:14 +0000 https://1stwebdesigner.flywheelsites.com/?p=131656 The wireframing process is crucial to every new UI project. Before you get into the colors and typography you have to consider the user experience first. And this all starts with great wireframing.

Many designers prefer working on paper, …

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The wireframing process is crucial to every new UI project. Before you get into the colors and typography you have to consider the user experience first. And this all starts with great wireframing.

Many designers prefer working on paper, but wireframing kits let you work digitally too. I’ve curated the best wireframing UI kits on the web that you can download for free and reuse for all mobile and web interface projects.

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Jolly UI

jolly ui

The Jolly UI kit offers both a free and premium resource for designers. It’s the best hand-drawn wireframing kit you’ll find with an extensive collection of navigation menus, sliders, buttons, and common page elements.

If you just need something basic to get you started then grab the free version. It comes in both PSD and AI formats and all the elements are full vectors.

Basic Wireframe Kit

dark wireframe kit

Wireframing should be a very simple process. Black and white works best and that’s why this Basic Wireframe Kit is a great choice for Sketch users.

All the elements are rigidly designed, and they blend nicely into any type and style of website. It’s also one of the simpler UI kits for Sketch, so it’s a must-have resource for anyone moving away from Adobe software.

Teracy

teracy uikit

For a more complete collection of Sketch elements take a look at the Teracy Wireframe Kit.

This completely free Sketch asset offers dozens of common UI elements including dropdowns, input fields, breadcrumbs, and slideshow widgets. Teracy focuses more on website elements, but it also has plenty of mobile app elements too.

Blue Wireframes

blue ui wireframes

Some designers look at wireframes as blueprints for the entire project. That’s why this blue wireframing kit is a great choice both for aesthetics and practicality.

It’s another Sketch UI kit, and it’s free to use for all projects. The unique design of each element brings some pizzazz into your wireframing. And since all of the elements are vectors you can resize them with no quality loss.

Savvy Sketch iOS Wireframe Kit

savvy wireframing kit

Mobile apps need to be wireframed just like websites and the Savvy Sketch iOS Kit is perfect for iPhone app designers.

This UI kit is frequently updated with new features, with the latest release focusing on iOS 10. It’s completely free to use, and this UI kit is accurate which makes it easy to convert wireframes into full applications.

Basiliq

basiliq wireframe kit

Wireframing is popularly done on paper but it can be easier when done digitally. That’s why UI kits like Basiliq bring the best of both worlds.

You get a fully digital UI kit for Photoshop where all the elements look like sketched-out items on paper.

This kit works best with website mockups so if you’re building a website in Photoshop consider grabbing a copy of this kit before getting into the details.

Responsive Wireframes

wireframing design lofi

What I like most about these wireframe elements is their simplicity. True low-fidelity wireframes show you how the UI should look & behave without giving any specifics.

The PSD file is available for free on Dropbox. It’s a fun wireframing kit for any project and it relies on very simple shapes for common page elements.

BeTheme Free UI Kit

betheme ui kit

BeTheme is a full-scale premium WordPress theme created by a team called MuffinGroup. But they released a free wireframing kit called BeTheme UI which is just as valuable to designers.

This is a high-fidelity kit that uses blue throughout. Still an excellent choice because of the sheer volume of items you get in the pack.

The Ultimate Wireframe UI Kit

ultimate wireframing kit

MediaLoot offers a bunch of premium items but they do have one freebie called The Ultimate Wireframe UI Kit.

Technically there is a premium license which has a no attribution clause for commercial use. However, most designers can get by using the free pack since it contains the same elements.

And based on the massive file size of this PSD, I think it deserves to be called the “ultimate” wireframing kit.

App Mockup UI

app mockup ui kit

Another freebie resource from a premium site is this app wireframing kit from Pixeden. Each screen comes in the size of a typical iPhone where you can rearrange the page elements at will.

Each item is a vector shape, super easy to resize and restyle.

If you’re designing for the iPhone or any iOS device, there’s no better resource to start with—especially if you like starting with low-fidelity wireframes.

Bootflat UI Kit

bootflat ui it

Named after the famous Bootstrap framework is this free Bootflat UI kit. It comes in one large PSD file and offers dozens of common website elements you can reuse over and over again.

Bootflat is colorful, well-designed, and intricate with many dynamic elements like dropdowns and pricing tables. This works well in both wireframing and final mockup designs. You might even pair this with another PSD wireframing kit to use this as the final high-fidelity mockup later in the design process.

But whether you’re a Photoshop lover, Illustrator user, or Sketch enthusiast, there’s a wireframing kit here for everyone.

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10 Beautiful Examples of Wireframes in Web Design https://1stwebdesigner.com/wireframes-web-design/ Sun, 22 Jul 2018 06:11:08 +0000 https://1stwebdesigner.flywheelsites.com/?p=132580 For most web designers the first phase of any given web project is wireframing. It allows the designer to map out exactly how the structure of the website can work, as well as the general layout direction of important elements such as navigations, forms, and content sections.

Each designer often has their own unique way of producing these wireframes. Many work off paper, while others prefer to go straight into creating them on a computer using tools like Balsamiq, Figma or Sketch. Either way, the results are often fascinating, and more often than not are visually impressive despite their supposed roughness and simplicity.

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Wireframes by Brandon Wimberly

Brandon uses a web browser template printed onto dot grid paper. From there he uses carefully constructed lines to build very uniform and accurate wireframes for exploring how a website will scale from desktop to mobile devices.

Wireframes

Lead Edge Hi-Fi Wireframe by Vando Sanchez

Vando’s wireframes for Lead Edge Hi-Fi have been created on a computer and use mainly dummy text with just the primary titles and taglines filled in accurately. Simple 2D mockups are used in place of realistic device mockups, and background and visual elements are filled with a block color at this stage.

Lead Edge Hi-Fi Wireframe

Shopify Exploratory Wireframes by Janna Hagan

Janna Hagan’s beautiful wireframes for Shopify are higher fidelity with most of the layout design finalized and even some visuals beginning to be introduced.

Shopify Exploratory Wireframes

Wireframes by Andre Picard

Andre Picard looks to a whiteboard when working on the initial wireframing stage of a web design project. This allows for quick and easy edits as well as easy feedback and collaboration around the office.

Wireframes

Wireframe x 78 by Melody Rose

Melody’s 78 wireframes for this web design project are incredibly cohesive through the consistent use of shapes to define different content types and elements such as user avatars. The palette is kept within two to three simple gray tones.

Wireframe x 78

Sketching a New Project by Tim Knight

Tim Knight’s wireframes are toward the more simple and high-speed wireframing approach – very useful when approaching the foremost stages of a project or mapping ideas out for a client in a meeting or on a call.

Sketching a New Project

Morphomics Website Mid Fidelity Wireframe by Lauren League

Lauren’s mid-fidelity wireframes for the morphomics website are considerably complex in having to solve a data visualization problem. They use a well-structured template with filled-in content blocks and crossed rectangles for image placeholders.

Morphomics Website Mid Fidelity Wireframe

Back To My Body Dashboard Diary Wireframe by Alyoop

The Back To My Body Wireframes by Alyoop are toward the more simple style of digital mockups. They use a simple gray color palette and icon placeholders for user avatar and content imagery. Text placeholders are used throughout for elements such as the logo and pie chart.

Back To My Body Dashboard Diary Wireframe

Spreedly Marketing Website Wireframes by Dane Wesolko

Spreedly’s marketing website uses a high-fidelity digital wireframe in Sketch app which has defined most of the content layout and color, leaving only the visuals and imagery to be integrated.

Spreedly Marketing Website Wireframes

Newspaper Website Wireframe by Ziya Fenn

Ziya’s newspaper website mid-fidelity wireframe is very well-refined and one of the most visually attractive wireframes I have come across. Much of the typographic elements and direction have been defined, and the layout is visually impressive in its structure and tessellating block form.

Newspaper Website Wireframe

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Rapidly Move From UI Idea to Prototype with Mockplus https://1stwebdesigner.com/from-ui-to-prototype-mockplus/ Tue, 31 Oct 2017 06:15:37 +0000 https://1stwebdesigner.flywheelsites.com/?p=134227 The creative spark of an idea is something every designer looks forward to. What makes the whole experience even better is taking that idea and turning it into something you can share with the world. But you’d better hurry, because …

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The creative spark of an idea is something every designer looks forward to. What makes the whole experience even better is taking that idea and turning it into something you can share with the world. But you’d better hurry, because ideas can vanish if they’re not put into motion. You need an advanced, yet easy-to-use tool that will help you build upon your ideas.

Mockplus is here to bring your ideas to life in short order. In giving it a try, I found that whether you’re working on a web or mobile project, this is the tool you need.

Mockplus is a Truly Code-Free WYSIWYG Prototyping Experience

A Truly Code-Free WYSIWYG Prototyping Experience

The simple drag-and-drop interface of Mockplus lets you effortlessly build prototypes for websites and web or mobile apps. What’s more, you don’t need to deal with any code. That results in an incredibly short learning curve – which means you can get up and running much faster.

Plus, the included collection of pre-designed components brings great visuals and top-notch functionality to your prototypes. With over 3,000 icons and 200 components built right into the app, you’re sure to find exactly what you’re looking for.

Mockplus Components and Icons

Essential functionality such as Pop-up Panels, Stack Panels, Scroll Boxes, Sliding Drawers and Image Carousels are just a click away. Components will save you precious time that you can better spend creating the perfect design.

Once I installed Mockplus on my PC, I was amazed at how quickly I was creating a prototype. All I had to do was create a new project and select from the available project types (Mobile, Tablet, Web, Desktop, Whiteboard or Custom). I selected Mobile and immediately began dragging various elements onto the canvas.

It’s quite easy to position elements exactly where you want them. There’s no mystery when it comes to centering something on the screen because elements will snap to a guide. More detailed tweaking can be done in the Properties panel.

Overall, I found the experience of creating and customizing a prototype to be intuitive. Anyone who’s used a WYSIWYG editor should be able to pick up on Mockplus in no time. If you do need help, there are some handy tutorials available on their website that will fill you in.

Constantly Improving

The recently released Mockplus 3.2 adds features that bring you even more convenience and efficiency, including:

Repeaters

The new Repeater capability will save you from having to make the same adjustments over and over. Any component in the app can easily be duplicated with just a click. For example, I was able to style a Group Box element and create several duplicates in under a minute.

Templates

Templates make life easier, and Mockplus 3.2 allows you to easily import them directly into their desktop app. With over 20 types of templates available, you can get a great head start on your project.

Auto Data Fill

This time-saving feature can be applied to any text or image in your project. It’s compatible with Repeaters and will make quick work of repetitive tasks that require similarly formatted content.

Mockplus Auto Data Fill

That’s not all. You can also take advantage of the new UI Flow view to get an overview of your project’s pages. Sketch Import enables you to quickly import Sketch files and begin adding interactivity. Mind Map Design Mode helps you plan out the flow of your project.

Advanced Capabilities

Mockplus is about more than just the design and functionality side of prototyping. It also includes features that will improve your workflow.

Native Device Testing

Testing your prototypes on a mobile device couldn’t be any quicker or easier. All I had to do was click a button on the toolbar and scan the provided QR code. From there I was able to test on my phone. No need for pesky USB cables or other workarounds.

Plus, you can publish your project to the cloud and share the link with team members. You can even export your project to HTML for offline viewing. It’s testing that works around your needs – without the runaround.

Collaboration Made Easy

Teams will love that Mockplus enables collaboration throughout the entire prototyping process. Multiple users can work on the same project and sync their changes to the cloud. Page States let you see who’s’ editing a particular page, so you won’t have to worry about overwriting each other’s changes.

When it’s time for review, Mockplus has you covered with one-click notification emails. Team members can easily add comments where appropriate. Collaboration makes for a better result and Mockplus provides an intuitive way to make it happen.

Mockplus Has a Short Learning Curve

Download Mockplus for Free

Mockplus is a must-have tool for web and app designers. Being completely new to the software, I was impressed with how intuitive everything was. There really wasn’t anything I couldn’t figure out within a minute or two.

It really takes the pain out of prototyping with features that will enable you to turn your creative energy into outstanding results. Whether you’re working solo or as part of a team – you’ll have everything you need to create beautiful and functional prototypes.

Mockplus is available as a free download for Mac, Windows, Android and iOS. Install it today and start creating advanced UIs in no time.

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The Power of Paper Prototyping https://1stwebdesigner.com/the-power-of-paper-prototyping/ Sun, 08 Jan 2017 20:07:35 +0000 http://1stwebdesigner.flywheelsites.com/?p=117817 When planning the structure of a website or an app, I often begin by capturing my ideas on paper in the form of wireframes. I quickly sketch several possible layouts to see which form fits best: Should I use a …

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When planning the structure of a website or an app, I often begin by capturing my ideas on paper in the form of wireframes. I quickly sketch several possible layouts to see which form fits best: Should I use a two or three-column layout? What kind of navigation structure will the site have? How can I integrate a search bar?

For exploring basic questions like these, nothing beats throwing together some quick-and-dirty paper prototypes. It’s a great way to get the creativity flowing, and when a sketch doesn’t work it’s always fun to crumple it up and play office basketball with the garbage can.

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Does that mean that prototyping on paper is superior to using a wireframing software tool? Each has its own strengths that are useful at different stages of a project. In the initial brainstorming stage, I prefer the paper-based approach for the following reasons:

  • It’s fast, low-tech and low-cost. All you need to get started is paper and a pencil.
  • You can do it anywhere: on the couch, in your garden, or even while lying in bed.
  • Paper frees you from adhering to a particular style or following a set of predefined rules.
  • It’s fun, playful, and helps unleash your creative juices.

Later on, after having dealt with the basic layout questions, I refine my ideas on screen and enjoy the benefits of digital wireframing:

  • A wireframing tool lets me choose from ready-to-use template elements.
  • Existing wireframes are painless to modify.
  • Files can be versioned and easily be exchanged among team members.

If you are in the market for a good wireframe software, I can recommend PowerMockup, a wireframing tool developed by our company. PowerMockup is an add-on for Microsoft PowerPoint that provides a handy library of stencils for quickly sketching a layout.

Mockplus Review: A Step Toward Simple yet Powerful Prototyping

When designing an app, whether it be mobile or desktop, one of the most important processes is prototyping your app. Prototyping allows you to see early on if your app works properly or not as well as examine possible weaknesses in its design and functionality.

Mockplus combines power and simplicity to give you one of the best prototyping tools in the market

Mockplus combines power and simplicity to give you one of the best prototyping tools in the market

As a web developer, you want to make sure that the app will provide a smooth and unforgettable UX experience to your users. And the best way to do that, of course, is to use a prototyping tool to complete the process. The market is not lacking with these kinds of tools. From the most expensive and the most complex to the cheapest and the simplest, you have a wide range of choice for your needs.

However, isn’t it amazing if you can find a prototyping tool that is simple yet powerful and, at the same time, comes with a reasonable price tag? That would be a real dream. What would you do if this wish can really become a reality with Mockplus?

设计

Prototyping has become a much easier process

Mockplus is a new prototyping tool which is as powerful and cleaner than any other prototyping tools which have been around first in the market. As a newcomer, it has a number of outstanding features that would make any web developers’ job a breeze. But before we delve further into each specific features of this tool, we want to focus first on its two core characteristics – simple and powerful.

Simple

Who would want a complex tool? An easy and simple tool saves you time getting acquainted with it. Such is the simplicity of Mockplus – it is code-free with a drag and drop option. Even as a designer or developer who knows how to code, such features will save you from worrying about codes getting messed up somewhere and going through each line one by one just to find where that errant code is.

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The drag and drop feature makes all things a whole lot easier

With its drag and drop option, it is easy to see where each component goes. Moreover, this option allows you to link pages and build interactive ones effortlessly. These also mean that even a novice can create a prototype with little or no training at all.

Powerful

It is almost improbable to think how anything simple can be as powerful. However, Mockplus developers are able to accomplish to put these two features together. In terms of power, Mockplus is an all-in-one tool which allows you to create not only mobile apps, but web and desktop apps as well. This also lets you save money since you don’t have to use other tools to accomplish each purpose.

Mockplus Specific Features

After looking at the general features, let’s look at each feature closely to see what Mockplus can and cannot offer:

图标素材4 手绘 草图

With hundreds of icons and prebuilt components, you can create almost anything

200 Predesigned Components

The 200 prebuilt components allow you to create your prototype more efficiently and quickly. It also has more than 400 icons, which are more than enough to create a dynamic and agile prototype. With all these abundant components, the team behind Mockplus is planning to add more.

Hand-Drawn Features

If you are more comfortable creating your prototype by hand, Mockplus has a Sketch Style feature which allows you to create hand-drawn components. It controls and keeps all lines as you draw them preserving the sketch quality of each component.

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You can now build apps quickly and easily

Easy App Page Creation Features

How difficult is it to create an app page? Mockplus makes it easy for you to create an app page through its TopBar+List+BottomBar feature and the New-component adjustable settings. The TopBar+List+BottomBar feature also allows you to set any component as a markup or add a markup to your prototype.

Collaboration and Productivity Features

Mockplus makes team collaboration much easier as well. One outstanding feature in this area is the Group Feature which allows you to share your prototype even without a USB cable or remote publishing. All you need to do is save and send it from your mobile phone to your client’s or team members’ mobile phone. Voila! They will be able to view it instantly. Another feature that encourages easy shareability and collaboration is the Simplified Mockplus export option which lets you send your design easily to HTML or images.

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Collaboration and productivity is made easier and quicker

The Group Feature allows you to put together several components and place them in one unified and customized component. If you want to separate each component again, the feature allows you to edit and un-group them. Moreover, the easy access page and component libraries increase your productivity.

Comprehensive Tutorials

If you still have questions or encounter difficulties with Mockplus, it has a very helpful and comprehensive tutorial section which give you a walkthrough how to further utilize Mockplus features. The tutorials are either in video or text formats.

Some of the topics discussed in the tutorials include using shortcuts to add components, creating interactive pages by setting links, creating a longer page for a mobile app, and many more.

Mobile App Support

For mobile app development, Mockplus supports preview on mobile phones by scanning the QR code. This feature allows you to check the real user experience of your app design.

Other Features

Aside from the mentioned features, Mockplus also has an automatic project backup feature. As the name suggests, it enables you to automatically save your project eliminating the hassle of saving each phase or step of your project. Mockplus also allows you to copy data between projects. This saves you time and removes the worry of having to wait until everything is done.

Why Choose Mockplus?

For a newcomer, Mockplus gives other prototyping tools a run for their money with its features that encourage productivity, speed, ad efficiency without all the complexities. However, the real juice can be found in the dynamism of the tool. Aside from a large number of components already included in the tool, the library is still expanding and growing. Soon, a new 2.1 version will be released with twice the power as the original. With this new version, expect an increase in the functionalities of interactions, such as the window pops, slider images, context switching, rolling interface, and more.

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Expect an increase in the functionalities of interactions

Mockplus provides all these dynamic features at a reasonable cost. In fact, compared to other prototyping tools in the market, Mockplus is considered cheaper in terms of features and functionality. Such characteristics are very important to small and medium enterprises who have a limited budget but want a dynamic mock-up design tool for agile development.

The team, Jongde Software LLC., which develops Mockplus is really a sunrise startup company that deserves all your attention and interest. They have made a huge success in mainland China and get widely praise from all of its Chinese users. However, that is not enough. Now in the international community, they have the confidence to gain the acceptance from international users. We deeply believe they will definitely get their place here sooner or later.

Try Mockplus Now

Download the Trial Version of Mockplus now and experience the simple yet powerful features of the tool. The Trial Version allows you to use the All-in-One tool and start creating mobile, web, and desktop app prototypes.

Conlusion

There you have it. We have presented you with multiple options on prototyping and what prototyping is and how to get started. How do you start you process of creating your design? Do you sketch you layout or you use some sort of software that is not in this article? Looking forward seeing your comments and suggestions in the comment section.

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The Difference Between Wireframes and Prototypes https://1stwebdesigner.com/difference-wireframes-and-prototypes/ https://1stwebdesigner.com/difference-wireframes-and-prototypes/#comments Mon, 02 Jan 2017 14:00:16 +0000 http://www.1stwebdesigner.local/?p=91040 Few people know the actual difference between the two terms ‘Wireframe’ and ‘Prototype’ in creating web design projects. There can be confusion with regards to their similarities. However, it is crucial to know the difference of these two.

Also, what are the benefits that these two can have for your designing projects? It might be possible that sometimes you will only require wireframe in your project and sometimes you will need a prototype for it.

The major phases of web development project are:

  1. Research. Initially you have to do some research with your client regarding the design of your website
  2. Conceptualize. This gives you the idea about which elements and features to include in your website.
  3. Layout. Make a sketch and decide on the layout of your website following with the basic design of the website.

To make it clearer, we are going to have a discussion about the difference between wireframes and prototypes in today’s article. Let’s start with their meanings.

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Difference Between Wireframe and Prototype

Both wireframe and prototypes are phases of web development that you present to your client. This section will help you better understand the to different but similar steps. Continue reading and find out.

What is a Wireframe?

wireframe

The best definition of wireframe on the Internet explains that wireframe is the visual illustration of single web page.

  • It is created to illustrate the content, features, and links that will appear on the page
  • It helps designers to create a prototype of the web page, while it helps programmers to understand the features and their working on the web page
  • It is very important to understanding where every item should be placed on the website’s page

In simple words, it is a visual layout of your website that shows you where each element will be placed on the page. However, according to the needs of the project, wireframes can be in different forms.

Forms of Wireframes

Wireframes can be an essential part of your product, one if it’s properly created. It will clarify which element should be placed at which spot. They can be in paper or digital drawing form. It can also differ in the amount of detail that it expresses.

There are two ways in which the level of detail in wireframe production or its functions can be expressed.

  • Low-fidelity wireframes

low-fidelity

These wireframes help out in making the communication easy.

  • They can be created very quickly
  • They are more abstract in nature because of simple images that are used in them to block the space and apply prototypes as seen above.
  • High-fidelity wireframes

high-fidelity

These wireframes are more used for preparing documents.

  • They have more level of detail attached to them
  • They include important information regarding every particular item available on the page
  • Dimensions, behavior, and actions of different elements are also included as seen on the image above

Check out the difference between them here.

Visual Diversity in Wireframes

The wireframes have limited amount of diversity when it comes to having visuals. Designers usually use boxes, lines, and gray color schemes when representing different levels of visuals, whereas content such as images, videos, text etc. are saved for the next part.

Advantages of Wireframes

Wireframes are fast and cheap to produce if you are using wire framing software’s such as UXPin. Wireframes should be handled properly from the start of your designing project. A good approach is to collect some feedback regarding the wireframes.

Why?

  • It will help you focus more on the functions, usability, and user interaction
  • It will also help you to change any needed modification without having to change the coding or the making and graphic changes

It is all about reliability.

The designer might want to improve the reliability. How? A clickable wireframe does the trick:

  • By giving special importance to certain user interface parts
  • By quickly presenting and checking how solid the interaction between elements is

The best way for doing this is by creating a wireframe that is clickable or can be interacted.

Clickable wireframes can create a good first impression with the client. Whenever the client or anyone else asks about the functionality of a particular button, clickable wireframes will answer that.

presentation

Presenting Wireframes Carefully

This is a very important point to consider for any designer. When you present wireframes to your common clients and non-technical employers, they can easily get confused because wireframes might not be the final look of how the website’s design is going to be.

What should be the approach?

  • Explain a little about what the wireframe is and what its meaning in the design project is
  • Make sure to show it to those individuals who might not have enough knowledge on wireframe concepts.

Reason for Using Wireframe

  • Time Saver.Using a wireframe will save your time in the long-run.
  • Confusion Buster. It will also save you from having any confusion with your clients.
  • Puts you and your client on the same page. Creating a wireframe will make sure that you and your client are on the same page before the coding process begins.

There can be a few exchanges of ideas during the wireframe discussion with your clients. But, it is a lot easier to change the wireframe that to change the whole website once it is coded.

Creating and Using Wireframes

There are several ways in which you can create a wireframe. Plenty of online resources and software available that can help you out in making wireframe.

Remember, you only have to get the idea about how the layout and content will be placed on your website.

The core purpose of creating wireframes is to get the visual plan of how the content, images, navigation, text, etc. will be placed on the website.

  1. You can sometimes create two or three wireframes with different layouts and navigation options for showing to the client.
  2. By doing this, client can easily choose one from it and you can start making changes to it according to the project.
  3. Once the process of making layouts and navigation is completed and finally approved by the client, you can start working on the Prototype.

What Is a Prototype?

The best definition of prototype that we find on the Internet is ‘a product that is designed and built to test a new design. It is used to correct mistakes and make the design more user-friendly’.

Prototyping is basically a concept used for testing that originated from concepts of mechanical and structural engineering. But with its increasing usage, it was also started using for the purpose of interactive industry as well.

Why This is Important

  • Clients can take visual framework a few steps further, according to the complexity of the web design
  • It helps in testing different functions of the website before carrying out the development process or before starting to code

Forms of Prototypes

Same as wireframes, prototype has two forms; high-fidelity and low-fidelity. However, people argue which form should be used and how much should the prototype resemble with the final version.

Both are proven to be very good when it comes to finding usability issues. But, we have to choose only one, right?

So, there are some things you can consider while figuring out which one is the best option for your designing project.

  • Low-fidelity prototypes

lofi-prototype

  • It is paper-based. They can range from hand drawn prototypes to print-outs
  • Don’t allow user interaction
  • Easy to create
  • Predictive of the early visual of the design
  • Stimulate innovation and improvement
  • Users feel comfortable in telling about the changes regardless of the rough sketches
  • High-fidelity prototypes

hifi-prototype

  • Computer-based
  • Use the keyboard mouse for user interaction
  • Show the closest possible representation of the user interface
  • Considered much more powerful in collecting the data through actual human performance
  • Very effective in demonstrating products to the clients

Visual Diversity in Prototypes

Prototype is the final version of the product but without any coding done on it.

  • The basic colors should be complete, and important contents should also be presentable
  • Typography should give a hint about how it will look in the final version
  • The proper response follows when the objects are clicked

Advantages of Prototyping

advantage

You must be thinking that if wireframes can show the early version of design, then, why are the prototypes important.

  • For testing purposes. This is created for testing out the product with the final users
  • A money saver. It can save lot of money that would have spent on coding after developing a wrong interface
  • For product development. It can be a very good tool for justifying the design and development of the product
  • For data collection. It can also help you in collecting data by asking the users to go through the basics and use the website
  • For team motivation. This can be very motivation for the team and can provide some useful information as well

Today, many designers use reasonable priced prototyping in order to save time for coding in case of making change. There are a lot of software out there that can be used for this purpose. The changes that you want to make after testing from the users can be applied very quickly without doing much work.

Reason for Using Prototype

It has the same reason which you find in using wireframes. It saves you time.

Once you decide with the client how the final version of the website is going to look like, you can start coding. In any case there is a need of rewriting the codes, it will save you time in writing. Because, it is easy to change the color and size of any element in Photoshop than to having it change on the actual website.

Creating and Using Prototypes

Although it is much easier to create prototypes in a photo editing program, some people prefer to create prototypes in Photoshop or in Fireworks. However, there may be some other ways in which you can create prototypes. Such as:

The depth and detail that you want in to go totally depends on you. However, it can also depend on your client’s needs and the project itself.

Why the Confusion between Wireframes and Prototypes?

confusion

Prototype is also sometimes referred to as clickable wireframe, which is why some people get confused in both terms.

Wireframes are created to help out the designers in taking the early steps towards interactive developing process. Prototypes are created to test difficult functionality and interactions that are not possible in wire framing.

Both make the communication easier.

True, these two have some difference in terms of functionality. But both are used as the tools of communication in creating a better experience for the users regarding the final product.

  • They are also very helpful in producing good results.
  • They make it easier for the developers to make their move.
  • They help clients to visually look at the condition of of the project.
  • These also save time and money from having to change the coding once the process would have been completed.
  • It opens the door of communication between the developers, designers and clients.
  • Prototype is helpful is allowing the developers to build the website accurately from the beginning.

Choosing the Best One

These two are totally different objects according to its uses and process. In addition, the needs and requirements of your client will also be very important in this matter.

These questions can help you out in choosing the best one for your project:

  • Which is the best option for everyone?
  • Are you going to have a full solid research from the users or not?
  • Should you go with something simple and less time-consuming?

If you do them properly, they will give you a brilliant design in the end.

Selecting the right tool will make it very easy to develop and share the wireframe and prototype correctly that will make the job done for you. In the end, everyone wants to create and launch a successful project in reasonable time and amount.

choosing

Making a decision about which one to choose totally depends on the project that you are working on. You will have to:

  • Identify the main purpose of your project
  • Understand about your target market
  • Closely analyze your competitors
  • Analyze product requirements

Conclusion

If you want to choose the best one for your project, I suggest you look on to your client’s requirements. You can also ask from your team members about it. You can choose formal document style, or a quick sketch and a face by face discussion. Your designing project will become clearer to you once you have complete knowledge about your team and projects purpose.

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