Imagine you have to reach a certain point on a map, so you need to plot out the route. Probably, you’ll use a navigator. It won’t show you the detailed, realistic landscape. However, you’ll be able to understand where and how to move to the destination: should you turn, stop, or shortcut.
Wireframing the web or mobile interface in product development allows you to do something similar to that analogy. It provides a roadmap for visualizing the information architecture, user flows, and core interactions of a website or app — all before a single pixel of visual design is created.
If you’ve ever come across the idea that wireframing is a waste of time, keep reading. Here we’ll discuss why this design stage is truly important and what tools provide the best result. And, no theory without practice: let’s explore some wireframe examples created by SolveIt that served as a solid foundation for great products. So, let’s start with the basics!
What is a wireframe?
Wireframing is the fundamental UX design process of creating a lo-fi, two-dimensional visual representation of a web page or mobile app interface, including:
- Screen layouts
- Navigation panels
- UX and UI design components
- Conversion areas
- Interactive elements, etc.
The distinctive point is that wireframing involves outlining the structure, layout, and functionality of a software product without delving into the visual aesthetics or specific content. Typically, this requires flowcharts, established graphic symbols, as well as black, gray, and white colors.
“From a business perspective, the main purpose of mobile app or website wireframes is to align requirements among team members, and it is precisely the visual minimization of styling and graphics that allows for a constructive and focused decision-making process.”
Maria Kravchinskaja, Chief Design Officer at SolveIt
Why is wireframing important?
The creation of such a “skeleton” of your software product has many benefits. As a minimum, according to the Nielsen Norman Group, using wireframes can reduce mobile or web app design time by up to 50% compared to skipping this step.
Depending on the projects your vendor specializes in and what specific services they provide, each team may give you their own reasons for including wireframing in the design process.
At SolveIt, we construct web or mobile app wireframes with the following objectives in mind:
- Rapid Prototyping
Wireframes allow for quick, low-fidelity prototyping of ideas, enabling teams to rapidly experiment and iterate on concepts. The consolidation of all design aspects, from user flow to branding, into a single step makes it difficult to collect feedback and leads to chaos
- Stakeholder Alignment
Visualization through wireframes allows turning technical jargon into something understandable to any project participant at early stages, like the discovery phase. The simplicity and monochrome nature allow you to avoid the trap of personal perception: focusing on the “what” rather than the “how” simplifies communication.
- Cost Optimization
Wireframing helps validate the feasibility of core functionality, identifying potential usability issues at the beginning of the process before they become costly to fix. Сontrol expenses by catching design and UX problems upfront, rather than discovering them further down the development pipeline.
Wireframing vs. prototyping: what is the difference?
“I didn’t even understand what I needed to click to launch the animation” — this kind of feedback is frustratingly common in UX design projects from team members or clients. The mixing of the two concepts — wireframes and prototypes — is a fairly frequent occurrence.
If we return to the example we started the article with and compare them, you’ll notice the parallel.
A wireframe is a representation of each street on a map, but simplified. You can feel the architecture of the city if you look at it, but you won’t be able to perceive its beauty.
A prototype, on the other hand, allows you to virtually walk through the city, see the intricate architectural details, and experience the overall aesthetic and atmosphere.
“The main difference between wireframes and prototypes is that wireframes are static representations, while prototypes are interactive product simulations that include visual design styling, elements, and animations.”
Maria Kravchinskaja, Chief Design Officer at SolveIt
Depending on the project type, its budget or timelines, some variables may differ. It happens that prototypes are built from wireframes — and in that case, they do not have high levels of detail either. Sometimes a prototype is built directly, bypassing the wireframe phase. But we are talking about an ideal scenario.
So, the classic design development process consists of the next stages — exactly this interpretation we use while executing UX/UI design services:
- Wireframing (UX);
- Conceptualization (UI);
- Mock-ups (UI);
- Prototyping (UI/UX).
In other words, the first and last stages cannot be interchangeable: they have completely different business goals that are conditioned by their sequence.
Goals of wireframing:
- Visualize core functionality and interface structure at an early stage of development, when the design is not yet finalized.
- Quickly and cost-effectively test concepts and identify potential usability issues.
- Focus on functionality rather than aesthetics to simplify communication across all project participants.
Goals of prototyping:
- Create an interactive, usually high-fidelity, product simulation that mimics the real user experience.
- Detailed development of visual design, animations, and interactions.
- Test the prototype with real users for further validation and iterations.
- Present the final design to the client or development team.
App wireframes examples [SolveIt experience]
At SolveIt, we mainly begin the design process for each mobile app project with wireframing. This foundational step is crucial for clearly defining the structure and functionality of the future product.
Further, we’ll provide wireframe examples our team has developed for our actual clients to illustrate the value of this core design process.
App wireframe example 1: Productivity habit tracker app
From an implementation standpoint, this is a simple but effective wireframe example, which utilizes basic shapes and standard icons, f.i. pictographic images. This approach ensures the viewer is not overly focused on the aesthetics, but rather clearly identifies the type of each interface element.
The functional blocks, navigation, buttons, and call-to-action elements of this wireframe example are all accounted for and come together to form a clear understanding of the interface structure.
App wireframe example 2: Car charging MVP app
This mid-fidelity wireframe example allows us to trace the user’s journey — from registration to the actual use of the charging stations. We also avoid getting distracted by images of vehicles — after all, one could debate Tesla endlessly!
What is particularly important for MVP projects: at this stage it makes sense to determine the key functionality and align stakeholders.
App wireframe example 3: E-commerce children store
This wireframe example illustrates the layout of online store content — a critical aspect for the success of e-commerce projects.
Factors such as the presentation of product cards, the functionality and appearance of filters, and the recommendations or cross-sells displayed have a direct impact on user behavior and, ultimately, sales performance.
App wireframe example 4: Job search app
The design focuses on streamlining the job discovery process, with intuitive filtering and sorting options to help users quickly identify roles that match their skills, experience and preferences.
Beyond the job listing view, the wireframe example also illustrates features for managing the job search pipeline without the focus on detailed description or visual style.
App wireframe example 5: Food delivery app
This project had an interface that did not meet client expectations and was inconvenient due to poor UX. It needed to be reworked to stop the client losing money from user dropouts.
Redesign by SolveIt had to be initiated from the very beginning — this wireframe example has detailed the navigation and conversion zone placement, becoming the basis for a clickable prototype with a new UI kit.
Web wireframes examples [SolveIt experience]
At the starting point of SolveIt’s web design process lies the practice of wireframing. By first mapping out the core functionality, content, and navigation of each digital experience, we can ensure the end product truly resonates with users.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the web wireframe examples that have guided our past client projects.
Web app wireframe example 1: Medical workflow solution
In projects focused on process automation, wireframes play a crucial role as they allow tracking and visualizing the entire user flow, helping to verify the optimization itself.
Beyond the doctor’s dashboard view, the web app wireframe example also illustrates features for managing the overall medical workflow without dwelling on detailed descriptions or visual styling.
Web wireframe example 2: Website for fire protect systems company
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Visit our blog for more wireframes examples and top 5 the best design tools for creating them.
