Beginners Guide to Wireframing in Web Design

Website design can be full of technical terms and acronyms. Most people who are getting their website designed from a professional won’t know SaaS from their ARIA and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you’re the client. It’s not your job to know what they stand for, it’s ours.

But knowing the basic steps in website design so that you can be more involved can help you achieve full potential with your project. An important step at the beginning of creating a website is the stage of Wireframing, and today we’re sharing how you can help to ensure things are done correctly at this stage.

What Is A Wireframe?
In the early stage of developing your website, web designers tend to use a prototyping technique called ‘wireframing’. This is a structural way to design a website and it is more commonly used to depict the basic layout of the website including each page’s content and how it is going to function. They stereotypically are made up of lots of basic shapes with text inside describing what is going to go in that space. They help create a clear basic structure before further adding the visual design elements such as imagery, animation, content etc.

Why Are Wireframes Important?
Wireframing is, like most, a really important stage of a website design building process and can be helpful for a number of reasons. Without wireframing, a lot of work can go into the visual elements of a website which may be unnecessary and/or drastically need changing later on in the process. It allows for both the designer and the client to be on the same page in terms of layout and functionality before moving to the next stage of design.

They are very important when it comes to organising and structuring the flow of the website so that a clear customer path can be depicted and this can ensure that every page is somewhat accessible. They are often referred to as the ‘skeleton’ of a website and allow designers to get the basics right before getting ahead of themselves and having to start completely from scratch later on in the process.

Providing Feedback as a Client
The benefit of having a wireframe, as a client, is that they allow you to provide clear feedback before progressing on to the next stage of your website. Wireframes often have the capability to be ‘live’ so that you can click and navigate your way through the prototype website without having all the additional content in place. This will allow you to see clearly, with no frills attached, if your website is working and navigating in the way you hoped for.

With wireframes being the basic outline of a website, this is the best time to make any large changes before all other elements of design are brought in. Elements can be easily moved and are bound to look better in terms of design if changes are made at this stage rather than once all the colour, text and graphic etc. elements have been implemented.

So whether you are just about to begin the design process, or you’re thinking of getting your current website redesigned, you are now aware of a crucial part of the process. Speak to your prospecting agency/freelancer about wireframing and become involved in the process of web design right from the very start.

Wireframing is a crucial, important stage with us here at Way Fresh when it comes to our web design services. We’ll focus on the creation of a wireframe around your website goals, aiming to create something that us, the designers, and you, the client, can be proud of.