Everything you need to know about mobile app Wireframing
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18 Feb
5 min
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Ideation is the first and foremost thing to consider while mobile app development. Representing that ideation to reality is the second most important thing. There are many factors included in the app development journey. Using wireframes for envisioning your app is the most effective way to represent your app. In this blog, we will discuss all the necessary things about wireframing. So the first thing that comes to mind is what is a wireframe.
What is a wireframe?
Designing a great UX design is the most important thing for app development. The wireframe is a black-and-white representation of all the necessary aspects of your app like features, page elements, and navigation. It’s a sketch of your app without any designs or any app development process being conducted.
In short, a wireframe is the visual representation of your app. The main focus thing in a wireframe is the structure of your app. It gives you an idea about how your app will work without any designs or design elements. To keep things simple wire-frames are represented in greyscale boxes. Development companies represent these wireframes to clients and it is an essential element for developers to carry out the app development process. The wireframe is the roadmap of your app development.
From where to start a wireframe? The first thing for starting a wireframe is asking about the requirements of clients. This will clarify the developer’s minds about the working of the application. Here are the questions that you need to understand before starting a wireframe process:
What is the purpose of your application?
How many different types of audiences are you targeting?
What is the expected user flows?
Knowing these questions before the process will help an app development company to design the flow of a wireframe. It will also decide what essential things you need to keep in your application. Now let’s dig deeper into how to use wireframes.
How to use wireframes?
The main goal of wireframes is to locate where the particular element will appear. It’s not designing the actual elements it’s just a representation of elements. A simple sketch will suffice the process. Additionally, there are various tools available in the market for representation like Balsamiq mock-ups, Google Draw, Visio, Axure, and many more. Using these tools makes it easier and seamless to know the user’s flow and the representation of elements.
Why Wireframes are these Important in the Design Process of Websites/Mobile Apps?
Now the question comes of why wireframes are important. Why do developers need to develop a skeleton structure of your app? The answer is not complicated. Most clients become problematic while designing an application. Without color, imagery, or any other design elements, developers can focus on getting the best output for your application. Let’s understand this situation with a similar example:
Consider your app development journey as building first. The structure of your building is developed. Then on that structure, the coloring and designing of the building are carried out, and then you market the building for commercial purposes. The process is similar to app development.
Here are the 4 reasons why wireframes are important in the design process of websites/mobile apps:
Wireframes outline the features and functionality.
Clients are often surprised by the various functions and features of apps. Generally, clients complain that the feature or functionality is not represented properly. Well, a wireframe is here to rescue you, properly representing the app features and functionality on a grayscale without any design element. The clients can address if they need any modifications to their app.
Wireframes define the information hierarchy
The wireframe is the outline of information and representation of your app. In recent years developers have realized the need for drawing out wireframes because nowadays, apps are not simple. There are very complex functionalities and features that clients require these days. Wireframes also help developers to organize and assign tasks according to the app development process.
Wireframes define navigation and layout
Having a perfect representation of the features and functionality of apps helps in keeping clients and developers informed about the workings of apps. Navigation is sometimes neglected but it is the main element that keeps your users engaged. Clients need to define the navigation. If the navigation choices are unclear visitors may choose the “back button”. Hence wireframes will help in defining the navigation flow and layout of the app so that the clients will have an idea about the working of the app.
Wireframe puts the user upfront
User experience design is the main thing in keeping your users engaged and using your app consistently by improving the usability and designing in such a way that will never bore the user and the user can use the app whenever needed without any delay. Customers are king. Well, this quote is replaced in modern times by users being the king and users being the center of the app development journey. The whole app is developed keeping in mind the user because ultimately the main goal of app development is user engagement. Wireframes make this goal achievable by exactly showing the different paths of the user’s journey.
Tips for creating great wireframes
Here are some of the practical tips to keep in mind while developing a wireframe:
The main thing in the wireframe is speed and simplicity. That’s why keep your wireframe simple and easy to understand.
Use a grid. The grid creates a structure for your layout. Grid is an essential element of app structure. Every app is developed on a grid so it is essential to have a grid in your wireframe.
Make short and sharp notes. While developing apps developers often refer to wireframes so keeping sharp notes will help developers to keep certain things in mind.
Encourage feedback. Get feedback about your wireframes from your team members. This will improve your wireframe.
Conclusion
As a mobile app development company, we always realize that wireframes are an essential part of the app development journey. Wireframes are like a guide for app developers. Wireframes help in understanding how exactly your app will help the users. Wireframes are essential for saving time and cost. According to statistics, 95% of the cost is reduced when you choose wireframe first and development second. Wireframes are essential for executing fast delivery and avoiding future issues.
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