Wireframing is an essential step in the product design process that allows you to test your product concept without significant expenditure of time and resources. As a developer looking to create a swift app development project, understanding how to wireframe for mobile apps and websites is crucial.

While a website can be rendered using HTML, apps are downloaded and installed on your mobile device as applications instead of rendered within a browser. In this comprehensive guide, we'll take you through the steps, logistics, and key considerations when creating wireframes for both mobile apps and websites.

What is Wireframing?

Before diving into the specifics of wireframing for mobile apps and websites, let's start with the basics. A wireframe is a static low-to-mid fidelity simulation of the product concept, depicting the skeletal framework of a webpage or app. Wireframes provide a clear outline of the page structure, layout, information architecture, and overall direction.

Traditionally created in greyscale (without the use of color), wireframes can be hand-drawn with pen and paper, or digitally using design software. Wireframing is the most efficient way to test your product concept and define your user journey, making it an essential step in the product design process.

General Wireframing Best Practices

Do Your Research

Before you put pen to paper, you'll first need to conduct some base-level research to refine your product concept. Who are you creating this app for, and why? What problem does your app mean to solve? How will your app stand out from your competitors?

Answering these questions won't require you to go into loads of detail, nor will it necessitate the use of elaborate user research tools. It could be as simple as downloading similar apps, seeing how they feel, and identifying opportunities to improve on your competitors.

Map Out Your User Flow

Now that you've completed your research, it's time to map out your user flow. User flow refers to the pages, steps, and actions a user needs to take to complete a meaningful goal. Which marketing channel will your users be coming from? What messaging is required for them to complete a particular task?

How will you show success and failure states? The further into the product design process you get, the harder it is to address these questions and adapt the user flow. Mapping out your user flow will help you to decipher how many screens you'll need to produce and the flow you expect the user to follow.

Choose the Right Tools

If you're working alone, wireframing using pen and paper will more than suffice. But if you're part of a bigger team with multiple stakeholders in the mix, it's much more fitting to create a digital wireframe that can be easily shared—and won't get accidentally deleted, lost, or disintegrated in a coffee stain.

Remember: if you lose your wireframe, you'll lose your core foundational ideas! Taking advantage of modern design tools such as InVision, Balsamiq, and Sketch can save you heaps of time during the wireframing stage. Both Sketch and Axure allow designers to define styles that will update every artboard, thus speeding up the process.

Function Over Form

When creating wireframes, it's easy to fall into the trap of being too meticulous. Remember: wireframes are a tool for garnering feedback and approximating what the core features of an app or website will be, not creating a perfect simulation of the final product.

Any branding, color, iconography, or font work should be saved for later iterations of the product's design. Wireframing in greyscale will omit any distractions imposed by color or fontwork. This isn't to say that you can't play around with shading! You can still use contrasting shades to gauge the user's visual journey and dictate where their eyes are naturally drawn to.

How to Wireframe for Mobile Apps

Now that we've gotten to grips with some general wireframing best practices, let's dive into the specifics of wireframing for mobile apps.