Learn how to build wireframes which are blueprints for your website, outlining the layout, structure, and functionality of each page.

A wireframe is essentially a blueprint for your website, outlining the layout, structure, and functionality of each page.

It’s an important tool for visualising and organising the content and features of your site, and it helps you identify any potential issues or challenges before you start building the actual site.

By building a wireframe before you start designing, you’ll be able to check that you’ve got the basics.

It’s just like an architect will build a floorplan for a house, and an interior designer will decorate.

1. A well-designed wireframe ensures that your website is easy to navigate and use, which can help keep visitors on your site longer and increase the chances of them taking the desired action (such as making a purchase or filling out a form).
2. A wireframe can help you identify and prioritize the most important content on your site, ensuring that it’s prominently displayed and easily accessible to search engines. This can help increase your search rankings and drive more organic traffic to your site.
3. By outlining the structure and functionality of your site in advance, you can save time and resources during the actual development process. This can also help reduce the risk of costly changes or delays down the road.
4. A wireframe allows you to plan for future growth and expansion, ensuring that your site can easily accommodate new features or content as your business evolves.
5. A wireframe can help you establish a consistent visual identity for your site, ensuring that all elements (such as colors, fonts, and imagery) work together to create a cohesive and professional brand image.
6. A wireframe allows you to share your vision with your development team and other stakeholders, ensuring that everyone is on the same page and working towards a common goal.
7. By creating a detailed plan for your site, you can more clearly articulate your vision and goals to potential clients or investors.
8. By identifying and addressing potential issues or challenges in the planning stages, you can reduce the risk of costly mistakes or delays during the development process.
9. A wireframe allows you to easily make changes or adjustments to your site as needed, without having to rebuild entire pages or features.
10. By investing time and effort in planning and designing your site upfront, you can ultimately drive more traffic, conversions, and revenue for your business.

Tools to help wireframe and prototyping

• Sketch — Sketch gives you all the tools you need for a truly collaborative design process. From early ideas to pixel-perfect artwork, playable prototypes and developer handoff.
• Moqups — Make wireframes, mockups, diagrams, charts, and prototypes within one creative context.
• Figma — Figma connects everyone in the design process so teams can deliver better products, faster.
• UXPin — Meet UXPin Merge. The innovative tech powering code-based design.
• InVision — Invision is a design collaboration and prototyping tool that helps teams create and share interactive prototypes of their designs.
• Miro — The online collaborative whiteboard platform to bring teams together, anytime, anywhere.
• Mockingbird — GoMockingbird is an online tool that helps you quickly create interactive wireframes and prototypes for websites and mobile apps. It’s easy to use and lets you collaborate with others in real-time.
• Mockup.io — Mockup.io is an online platform that helps you create stunning visuals for websites, apps, and more. It’s easy to use and provides a library of templates, icons, and illustrations to help you create beautiful designs quickly.
• MockFlow — Online whiteboard for brainstorming user interfaces with your team
• Fluid UI — Fluid UI is a web-based prototyping tool that helps you create interactive mobile and web prototypes quickly and easily. It has a drag-and-drop interface, a library of UI elements, and a range of collaboration features.
• Mockup Builder — MockupBuilder is an online design tool that helps you create stunning visuals for websites, apps, and more. It’s easy to use and offers a wide range of features to help you create professional-looking designs quickly and easily.
• Mockup Machine — Use Mockup Machine services to design online mockups, wireframes, UX/UI mockups, software mockups, and prototypes.
• Proto.io — Build interactive web, iOS, Android, and other low or high-fidelity prototypes right into your web browser. Drag and drop ready-to-use, easily customizable templates, UI components, icons, and more, to prototype in minutes! No coding skills required.
• Mockplus — The all-in-one product design platform for prototyping, collaboration, and creating design systems. Mockplus helps you create better design experience faster and easier
• Marvel App — The collaborative design platform. Wireframe, prototype, user test, design and inspect designs in one place, for free.
• UXtweak — Conduct qualitative UX study as your users complete specific tasks, directly on your live web. Try it for free now!
• Adobe XD — Adobe XD is a vector-based user experience design tool for web apps and mobile apps, developed and published by Adobe Inc.
• Axure RP — The most powerful way to plan, prototype and handoff to developers, all without code. Download a free trial and see why UX professionals choose Axure RP.
• Balsamiq — Balsamiq is the company behind Balsamiq Wireframes, the industry standard low-fidelity wireframing tool.
• Webflow — Build your site for free and take as long as you need.
• Flinto — Flinto is a powerful design tool that helps you create interactive prototypes for mobile, desktop, and web apps.
• ProtoPie — Build better products with our realistic & no-code prototyping tool. Ideal for all designers, UX researchers, and developers.
• LucidSpark — The virtual whiteboard that connects teams so they can bring their best ideas to life
• JustInMind — Easily create web and mobile app prototypes and wireframes with Justinmind UI prototyping tool.
• LucidChart — Lucidchart is the intelligent diagramming application that brings teams together to make better decisions and build the future.
• HotGloo — HotGloo is a UX, wireframe and prototyping tool designed to build wireframes for web, mobile and wearables.
• Canva — Canva makes it easy to create professional designs and to share or print them.