To begin your product design process without wireframing involves high risk; you might get lost with nothing to help you out of that situation. As wireframes let you create a basic outline of the layout and structure of your product, it becomes easier to incorporate the feedback and fine-tune the product accordingly. Thanks to the various advanced wireframing tools, designers no longer have to do wireframing manually. Read on to find out more about the wireframing tools, their must-have features, and the best tools for wireframing.
What Is a Wireframe Tool?
Even before the wireframe made its mark in the web design world, it had been around for many years. Its original use can be located in CAD software, where people used it to illustrate the design of an object in brief. In digital product design, wireframing refers to the visual guide or page schema representing the design process. It displays page-level layout concepts explaining behavior, functionality, and content priority. However, it does not include colors, graphics, styles, and interactive elements. A wireframe tool is an application that allows you to wireframe without having to draw it manually on paper.
What Are the Purposes of a Wireframe Tool
Visual Representation of Sitemap
Since large sitemaps can seem abstract, creating a wireframe for it can turn them into something tangible. It also ensures that all stakeholders are on the same page as they can see the first concrete visual process.
Clarification of Features
Features you add to a website or app might be familiar to you as a designer but not to your clients from different backgrounds. With wireframing, you can communicate to them how certain features function on a website.
Prioritizing Usability
It is one of the essential purposes of the entire wireframing process. Wireframe drives usability to the forefront of page layouts so everyone can focus on the ease of use of an app or website.
Focuses on Scalability
While designing projects for clients eyeing growth and scalability, wireframing is a must. With wireframing, you can quickly identify how the website or app can handle the upscaling in content. It also allows you to accommodate the growth without hampering the product’s usability.
Saves Time for Project Completion
While many people can say otherwise, wireframe saves your time by helping you create calculated designs. Since the team clearly understands what they are creating, the development project becomes easier. Moreover, it saves you from misunderstandings during the project’s later stages.
Top Features of Wireframe Tools
While you might think that a flow chart tool is enough for wireframing, a good wireframe tool comes with several valuable attributes that primarily benefit a website designer. Before you go for any wireframe tool, make sure to consider these aspects: #1. Intuitive User Interface: You should be able to navigate the tool seamlessly and comfortably. #2. Support for Integrations: When choosing a wireframe tool, ensure you can integrate it with other applications, such as collaboration and testing tools. #3. Scalable Mockup Fidelity: A good wireframe app will allow you to scale from a basic low-fidelity mockup to more graphically complex mockups. #4. Feedback and Collaboration: Using this application, you should be able to collect feedback from others and work in collaboration with them. #5. Export Facility: The tool must let you export your mockup in your preferred file format for smooth collaborative work. #6. Price: The software must be affordable for your team or organization. You can also opt for open-source wireframing tools that you can use for free. Now, it is time to find out the best wireframe tools designers should use:
Adobe XD
Are you looking for an all-in-one designing tool that lets you create a wireframe and collaborate on it? Adobe XD is the go-to tool for visualizing wireframing. Its intuitive wireframing tools allow you to design faster than ever before. Whether you are working on mobile apps, websites, or email templates, the platform allows you to scale from low-fidelity to high-fidelity along with the evolution of your projects. You can forget about duplicative nudging and resizing while creating a wireframe focusing on content with responsive controls. Moreover, it takes seconds to create a wireframe from a blank canvas with Adobe XD. You can also share the wireframe using a custom link and collect the necessary feedback to progress with the project. It also integrates with popular applications, including UserTesting, Confluence, Zoom, Miro, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Overflow, and Stark.
MockFlow
Those looking for a tool to create rapid wireframe and UI planning should opt for Mockflow. This application has a flat learning curve, so beginners and non-technical users can learn it quickly. It provides features like SSO, SSL, and secure sharing for security purposes. Hence, if you are working on a mission-critical project, nothing can be better than this tool. Using this tool, your team can collaborate in an organized manner. It lets you sort and store projects into easily-accessible multiple folders and subpages. Additionally, you can permit individual user permissions (admin, review, edit) to your colleagues. Designers can also convert wireframes into engaging presentations using the same platform that offers features like adding effects and creating slide layouts. Its revision history attribute is ideal for tracking all the changes made to the wireframe design.
Moqups
Moqups is an ideal web-based UX tool for remote teams that lets them quickly create wireframes and collaborate online. Its user-friendly GUI is the perfect choice for designing interfaces for web pages and mobile apps. One may choose from its extensive collection of UI templates to kickstart wireframing and then customize it for their projects, such as eCommerce. Designers can also utilize pre-made UI elements through the drag-and-drop feature to create a wireframe conveniently. It also supports integration with Jira, Google Drive, Confluence, Dropbox, Slack, and Trello for a fully-integrated workflow. You can transform from low-fidelity to high-fidelity seamlessly and complete the design using a simplified process of this software. Besides English, Moqups is available in German, Italian, Korean, and Spanish. Hence, you can effortlessly use this tool even if you do not speak English.
Figma
Figma is a free cloud-based wireframe tool that you can use to visually communicate design ideas with the stakeholders and get feedback from them. Using the drag-and-drop feature, you can quickly design applications on its intuitive and expansive interface. Especially if you have an entire team working on a single project, this platform will be helpful as it lets you create multiple designs in one project. You can open this web-based app on any platform, including Windows, Mac, and Linux. Designers can work on FIGJAM’s online whiteboard to develop diagrams and site maps. The tool also has the auto layout element that you can stretch vertically or horizontally to create a responsive design. Its contextual feed feature lets your colleagues drop comments directly on your wireframes for instant feedback.
Balsamiq
Balsamiq offers a wireframing tool that makes your web designing work fun. Here, you can visualize your user interface ideas and ensure all the stakeholders are on the same page. It is a low-fidelity UI wireframing application where you can experience drawing on a whiteboard or notepad but with a computer. Some of its top features include drag-and-drop edit, template creation, reusable component library, etc. Designers do not have to engage in colors and graphics at the early stages, as wireframing allows you to focus on structure and content on the app and web page. With Balsamiq, one can quickly get rid of the bad ideas as they generate more novel ideas.
Wireframe.cc
Wireframe.cc is an ideal tool for designers looking for a simple and efficient wireframing tool for websites or mobile apps. Its clutter-free interface is easy to use, and you can access this tool from anywhere due to its web-based feature. Drawing on Wireframe.cc is seamless as you can start working with the mouse cursor or a stencil from a pop-up menu. While editing a wireframe, you can lock and unlock elements for your convenience. Since it focuses on low-fidelity wireframing, the prototyping feature is unavailable. The wireframes you create on this platform are exportable. You can transfer them as a single PDF file or multiple PNG files. Also, the platform supports exporting selective files or all pages as a ZIP archive.
Framer
Framer is another web-based wireframe tool in this list, ideal for prototyping. Its comprehensive set of features is beneficial for all designers working on Windows and Mac platforms. It has a freeform canvas where you can create the wireframe without any hassle. Talking about sharing and presenting the wireframe, you can do it with seamless link sharing. You can import your favorite fonts and use them while creating the wireframe. Designers can also refine the appearance of their wireframes by using various interactive components available on this platform.
Lucidchart
Lucidchart is a wireframe software application for designers and product managers who want to visualize the app interface or web page structure and layout. Its drag-and-drop feature lets you easily arrange every interface section on mobile, tablet, or computer. As you use this platform, designing the skeletal framework becomes a walk in the park. You can use layers, links, and hotspots to visualize various aspects of your design. Its UI shape library offers numerous text editors, search boxes, accordions, site map icons, and breadcrumbs for all devices. Moreover, stakeholders can provide feedback by directly commenting or using in-editor chat. Lucidchart also allows presenting the polished version of wireframes to the clients using presentation mode or the Google Slides integration. You can browse its template gallery to find a template suitable for your project.
Sketch
Sketch is a lightweight wireframe platform with an incredible list of features. This cloud-based tool is also suitable for communication with stakeholders. Its intuitive drag-and-drop feature makes editing an easy task. Designers can create reusable components using Sketch Symbols and align the elements accurately with Smart Guides. You can also increase the functionality of this app manifold using third-party plugins and tool integrations. Sketch also allows real-time collaboration among teammates on the same Sketch file for co-editing. The Sketch Assistant feature also works to make your design error-free by detecting missing layers and inadequate contrast.
Justinmind
Justinmind is a practical wireframing application for UX/UI designers where you can create complete wireframes for free. You can also add any number of teammates to this platform. Besides basic wireframes, this platform is also suitable for developing interactive prototypes. Designers can try the reusable template groups for wireframing the website and decorate it with the self-created UI components. It speeds up the wireframing process by offering an extensive collection of built-in UI kits and design resources. Justinmind supports integration with tools like Adobe XD and Sketch for development and testing. Interactive wireframes created with this tool can be previewed and tested as well.
UXPin
UXPin is highly popular among designers who want to create interactive wireframes, and design flows using the least effort. This platform offers code-based design and pre-built UI components to quicken the development process. This tool lets the designers see if their design is moving in the right direction. Apart from verifying your ideas quickly, it allows you to iterate the design and polish the UX of your website or app by implementing the feedback. The UI components of UXPin empower the users to stay consistent across projects. They can create UX patterns and details, store these in libraries, and share them with all the team members. It is also the perfect fit for team collaboration.
Summing Up
Whether you are about to create a website or application, wireframing tools help you measure its potential user experience at the early stage. Now that you have the list of best wireframing tools in front of you, choosing one based on your needs is a breeze. However, remember that these tools alone are insufficient to create an effective product. It would help if you considered other vital aspects like layout and design trends.
