Wireframes.

The wireframe is a blueprint that helps you design the structure of the application or website that you are trying to build. They are also known as wires, mockups or mocks. Wireframes play a crucial role in building the software as they give you a brief idea about the design and positioning of the components in an application.

Advantages of Wireframes -

• Helps you understand data flow.

  It is beneficial to have wireframes of the software before starting development as they not only give you an idea about structuring the application but also help you understand the data flow.

• Helps you communicate your idea in a better way.

  It becomes easy for you to communicate your idea when you have a blueprint of what you want to design. While designing a wireframe you can adjust the position of the components which would otherwise be a tedious process after the code is written.

• Makes adjusting components easier.

  Wireframing saves a lot of time and adjustment work. Once the design is finalized, you can start working on the implementation of the software.

Things to remember while wireframing -

• Keep it simple - A wireframe is just a layout of how your application should look, it should not have any technical content or technical details in it.
• Simplified flow of application - The main goal of wireframing is to understand the data flow across the application, and to understand the hierarchy of components in it. Make sure that the flow of data is simple and understandable.
• Mobile-first designing - Design software that is responsive on any type of device. So when you start wireframing, start designing for the smallest screens first.

Here are some of my go-to wireframing resources!

• Paper and pencil
  • You can get a rough sketch of how you want your website to look. You can get a basic representation of your webpage in no time.
• https://balsamiq.com/
  • Balsamiq is one of the most beginner-friendly websites to design your first wireframe. It has a great user interface which would help design your website quickly
  • It has a 30-day free trial followed by a monthly subscription
• Figma.com (Personal Favorite!)
  • Figma provides beginner-friendly tools to design wireframes.
  • It is easier to adjust colors and position of components, it gives you detailed instructions on how to get started.
  • Figma designs are widely used in the Design community to share each other’s work.
  • It has a free tier pricing feature that would help you design unlimited personal files.

Wireframing is one of the most important parts of the life cycle of a software application. A dedicated amount of time should be spent while designing a wireframe as it would ease the process of development.