When developing a website for someone, people often skip the wireframe stage and head right over to the design part, which is a mistake. Think of wireframes as being the foundation of a building, the blueprint of your website. Now, if you’d like to learn more about this stage of website development and why would you need a wireframe, you can read this article.
However, in today’s article, we are going to dive right in and show you how to actually create a wireframe. But first, let’s take a look and see what exactly it is.
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What Is A Wireframe?
A wireframe is a black and white layout of a web page that outlines specific elements, such as the website’s features, its conversion areas, the size and placement of the elements within it.
The main reason why you should create a wireframe is that it lets you get a clear vision of what you will need to work on and give you a reference on how your website is going to look like once it’s done.
So, now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s take a look at the steps you need to make when creating a wireframe.
1. Research
First off, before you start creating the wireframe itself, you need to figure out what your website is going to be about: what your website is going to be used for, who your target audience is, what features are you going to include, etc. Create a user persona in order to understand the visitor better, and get to know the tools you’re going to use.
In short, make a list of what needs to be done. Having an idea of what you need to work on will make the entire process much easier.
2. Don’t Focus On Design
After you’ve figured out what your website is going to be about, it’s now time to get to the drawing board. It might be easy to get yourself lost, getting meddled with the colors of interface elements, fonts, shapes, etc. But remember, you’re here just to draft, not to design per se.
Keep the look of the website as minimalist as possible, use only black and white, two fonts at max, and try to avoid using flashy images and graphics, stick with simple shapes instead. The UX is important here, not the design.
This way, you will be able to minimize distraction, keeping you focused on your objective.
3. Add Some Details
Now it might be time to add some details, but don’t go overboard. Focus on key elements, such as where to place the search box, how the menus are going to look like, etc. Basically, make the website look complete, but without the flashy colors and images.
4. Testing And Prototyping
It’s now time to get to test and see if the website works the way you want it to. Ask your coworkers about their opinion, see what your client thinks of it. After you’ve been given the green light, you can finally dive into the design of the website.
