What is Wireframing?
If you are new in the UX design industry, perhaps you have heard other designers talk about wireframes. While scores of people find it extremely difficult to differentiate wireframes with mockups or prototypes, the reality is that they are not the same thing, however slim the differences might be. Wireframes technically come at the initial stages of the app design process. They are often represented as sketches through drawing or via a wireframing app. Wireframes are akin to architectural blueprints and are meant to communicate the initial concept of the product. It allows relevant stakeholders to agree on where information will be placed before the real product is developed. The contents of wireframes often vary depending on the number of details required (wireframe fidelity). Nevertheless, wireframes are not designed to carry lots of content and interactions and are traditionally not interactive. You can find elements like logos, share buttons, headers, and search fields in a typical wireframe, among others.
Why You Need Wireframing For App Design?
Wireframes are very important in every app development process because of the following reasons:
- They help keep the concept user-focused because stakeholders can easily gauge how users will interact with the interface.
- They help clarify and define the major app features and hence stakeholders can easily decide how much space is needed to allocate to each feature.
- It is a cheaper way to communicate ideas to stakeholders.
App Design Wireframing Tools
1. Wondershare Mockitt
Wondershare Mockitt is a powerful app design prototyping tool for all types and sizes of organizations. Mockitt is enriched with an array of powerful features that makes your app design wireframing experience unmatchable. The good thing with Mockitt is that it is also a powerful prototyping and collaboration platform. So if you want to design your application with team members effectively, Wondershare Mockitt is the tool for you. This program offers incredible processing and rendering speeds and doesn’t lag irrespective of the complexity of the project. Also, Mockitt has an intuitive and total no-brainer interface. Hence, you do not need to fork out some cash to hire experts. Besides, affordability and compatibility with various devices and operating systems make it a good fit for countless users. Also, the amazing collection of design resources takes away the pain of starting projects from scratch.
Features
- This program provides an array of templates for users to pick and customize to meet their needs. Hence you don’t have to build wireframes from scratch.
- Mockitt supports real-time collaboration and therefore, team members can co-edit, share, comment, and receive feedback in real-time.
- This program provides abundant widgets and icons that suit different fields. You can create your own library and reuse them without limit.
- It supports animated and interactive prototypes.
- It has a user-friendly canvas that makes wireframing seamless.
- Users can share their designs with friends via a URL link and through the visibility settings.
2. Balsamiq
If you are looking for a tool to do low-fidelity wireframes, then Balsamiq is a good choice. This tool lets users focus on structure and content rather than lengthy discussions on colors and several other content details. This tool is compatible with Mac, Windows, Linux, and web browsers. This tool is fast and gives you a platform to generate more ideas. You can easily throw away bad ideas and discover the best solutions in no time. The good thing with Balsamiq is that it keeps things simple. You can use the free trial version then upgrade to the pro version depending on whether you are using Mac or Windows.
Features
- Balsamiq offers hundreds of UI components and assets to build your wireframes.
- It supports drag and drops features for simplicity.
- It allows users to link wireframes and generate simple prototypes.
- It allows users to collaborate and fine-tune the wireframe concepts.
- Users can export their wireframes to PNG or PDF formats.
3. Protopie.io
Protopie is another good app design wireframing tool for picks. It is a simple yet fast design tool that lets you free your ideas into a meaningful product with ease. With this tool, you can create good wireframes with a native keyboard, camera, proximity, tilt, sound, background blur, and SVG. Here, you don’t need to write any code. Again, you can painlessly collaborate with team members to fine-tune your wireframes and complete them with pace.
Features
- With the help of interaction libraries, team members can communicate and push the project forward with pace.
- It supports both simple and sophisticated interactions.
- Users can create prototypes with a native keyboard, camera, multi-touch, sound, SVG, and tilt, among others, without writing codes.
- Users can share their wireframes with team members or friends.
4. Moqups
Moqups is an excellent tool to create diagrams, wireframes, and prototypes. Whether you are looking to do both low-fidelity and high-fidelity wireframes, perhaps Moqups is a suitable tool for you. This online design platform offers a seamless way to envision, test, and validate your ideas. In simple terms, Moqups is a flexible design tool capable of adapting to your workflow. Being a cloud-based application, you can work with your team irrespective of geographical location and because your projects are synced.
Features
- It has a built-in library with plenty of icons.
- It provides an extensive range of fonts and styles.
- It allows users to collaborate in real-time.
- Users can integrate with tools like Slack, Google Drive, and Dropbox to effectively work on their wireframes.
5. Figma
Figma would not miss our list of top app design wireframing tools in 2021 and it is easy to see why. His tool is an excellent cloud-based alternative for powerful tools like Mockitt. Figma is not ha complicated and users can navigate without hurdles. The wireframing process is straightforward. Here, users can design from scratch using UI components or a pre-designed kit.
Nevertheless, it is easy to create artboards then add shapes and texts to meet your needs. Another standout feature of Figma is collaboration. Team members can communicate in real-time design together to help accelerate the wireframe design. Although it is pricey, it is still a tool worth giving a try.
Features
- It supports team collaboration with the help of a built-in commenting feature.
- It offers Arc and Network Vector tools for easy sketching of wireframes.
- It allows users to build and reuse components without limit.
- It provides a design kit for users to build designs.
- It has a user-friendly interface.