What Is A Website Wireframe?

Date First Published: 24th July 2022

Topic: Web Design & Development

Subtopic: Web Design

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty: Medium

Difficulty Level: 4/10

CONTENTS

Importance Of A Website Wireframe
Methods Of Creating Website Wireframes
Types Of Website Wireframes

Learn more about what a website wireframe is in this article.

A website wireframe, also known as a website mockup, is a blueprint created in the early development stage of a website, used for giving an idea about the structure and design of a website before any code is written. They are helpful for understanding where the content, text, images, navigation bars, and other elements will be placed on individual webpages.

Producing a wireframe for pages of a website is not the first thing that developers do when they want to create a website. Before creating a website wireframe, they always refer to the first step of the web development process and consider the goal of the website, what the target audience of the website is, the type of website, how it will be accessible, responsive, compatible, and more. Whatever the aim of the website is, developers make sure that it is clear before producing a wireframe. If the goal was unclear, creating a wireframe would be a much longer process.

Even though a website will go through several tests and alterations before it goes live, is a good idea to get feedback on website wireframes. Getting feedback in the early development stage of a website is useful for identifying any issues and understanding the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed design before the website goes live.

Note:

Website wireframes could never be mistaken for the final design of the website. The use of greyscale with low fidelity focuses the viewer's attention on the structure of the webpages rather than the small details.

Importance Of A Website Wireframe

Although this step of the web development process is sometimes skipped, creating a wireframe is about preparing and planning in advance, which is very important when developing a website from scratch. Working without a future plan increases the risks of the project failing and usually causes it to take longer. Creating a plan of how visitors will interact with a website as well as a map of how the elements of each page can help discover any aspects of its design that could be improved to suit the needs of users better and modifications can be made as the website wireframe is being developed. Identifying any issues in the design at this point is much better than identifying them after the website has gone live and the colours, images, and other elements have been added.

Note:

Always create wireframes in multiple sizes. Website wireframes will vary in size, based on the screen size it is being created for. Because the usage of mobile devices to browse websites is constantly increasing, it is also important to create a wireframe for devices, such as smartphones and tablets in order to get an idea of what the website will look like on smaller devices. Responsive versions of a website will need wireframes too.

Methods Of Creating Website Wireframes

Website wireframes can be created in two ways, which include:

Pen and paper - A website wireframe can be manually drawn using pen and paper. If using pen and paper, it is recommended to use dotted paper or grid paper to keep the drawing aligned. This will make it easier for the hard copy version of the wireframe to be transformed into digital form using a scanner. Also, website wireframes can be drawn on a whiteboard, but drawing them on dotted or grid paper is recommended as it keeps the drawing in alignment.
Digitally - A website wireframe can be created digitally using a dedicated application. The advantage of this method is that it is better for the environment as no pen and paper is required and the wireframe will look much neater if created on a computer compared to manually drawn on paper. app.diagrams.net is an example of a free web-based application that can be used to design a wireframe. It includes a wide range of shapes, views, styles, fonts, colours, and more. In addition, the wireframes can be saved to a file storage service, such as Google Drive or OneDrive, or on the device.

Types Of Website Wireframes

Website wireframes come in two types, which include:

Low-fidelity wireframe - A basic wireframe that outlines blueprints of webpages. Instead of focusing on the small details, low-fidelity wireframes give a rough layout in greyscale and are more abstract with rectangles and labelling to represent content. Low-fidelity wireframes are static, meaning that the wireframe cannot be tested and is not clickable or responsive to user's actions. Low-fidelity wireframes are much quicker to create than high-fidelity wireframes.
High-fidelity wireframe - These include a much higher level of detail that closely matches the design of the actual webpage. They are usually responsive and clickable to user actions and are helpful for user testing as it gives developers knowledge of how the final design will work for users. High-fidelity wireframes are much more visual and include all the real content, including images. Some tools allow frontend web technologies, such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to be used. High-fidelity wireframes are more suitable for the advanced stages of the wireframe creation process and take longer to create.