Stop trying to kill the wireframe!

Wireframes have been around for some time now and while they have been vastly discussed, blogged and argued about, I think they are still widely misused and devalued.

I’ve been inspired to write this article in response to a blog post a recently read here. The title alone was enough to shock me and I was pretty much shaking my head in disbelief throughout the whole article. But then I read the “About” section and found that the author has a “technical background”. Well that sort of explains it, but the article still got me thinking it’s worth explaining my take on wireframes for the non-believers out there.

Firstly, the author of the mentioned article compares wireframes to architectural drawings.

“In the same way that architectural drawings might outline what goes where for buildings, wireframes outline what goes where for a set of UI screens.”

This is quite a nice way to explain wireframes to clients and any other non-techies. It sets their expectations from the start. Most people will have a sort of mental model of what an architectural drawing looks like so when they see your wireframes there won't be that initial shock and confusion. I would say this statement also demonstrates the importance of wireframes. I don’t think anyone undertaking a building project would ever dream of removing the architect from the picture and bringing in the builders straight away, would they?

The author then goes on to list some disadvantages to wireframes. Firstly, I think these are very specific to cases where wireframes are done badly by people who don’t understand their purpose and just do them because they read somewhere that they should. Secondly, don’t all tools have their disadvantages anyway and isn’t it up to us, as professionals, to work around the limitations posed by tools and technologies we use?

The author then concludes that the solution to the listed disadvantages is to “bypass wireframes altogether” and jump straight into rapid prototyping.

WHAT? Skip wireframes all together?!

Here’s why I think this is a crazy statement:

1) Wireframes put the focus on the user first, functionality and visual aspects second. They strip down a website to its bare bones enabling clients to focus on what it is they want the website to achieve and what it is they want the user to do on the website. As soon as you introduce design elements into a prototype you are moving the focus to visuals. Clients start to get bogged down with stuff like “can we please make our logo bigger?” or “can we make that photo more exciting?” You end up wasting a lot of energy reminding them to please focus on the bigger issues

2) Wireframes, if explained properly to clients, are a quick and easy way to get sign-off on page layouts and functionality before you even touch any code. It is not logical to use prototypes as first stage feedback. It is much quicker and easier to drag a box across the screen than it is to rewrite code.

3) Wireframes, once signed off, act as a central document for the project team to refer to throughout the project ensuring everyone is on the same page.

I do agree that rapid prototyping is another great technique to use in some web projects. It can be extremely useful when collecting user feedback and testing out functionality, for example. However, I think prototyping is a lot more costly and not all projects will necessarily have the budget for it. Wireframes, on the other hand, are an absolute must for all web projects. They should be instinctively incorporated into the early stages of the project and failing to do that could potentially mean higher costs in the long run.

So to all of you out there who are trying to kill the wireframe – it will never work!

Wireframes are a useful, effective and essential tool.

Trying to avoid them and opt for other techniques instead is not only cutting corners but also compromising the effectiveness of your website.

About Ex Corporate Edger

This author used to work at Corporate Edge but has since moved on.