Using Wireframes To Streamline The Web Development Process

Creating a wireframe is helpful for organizing and simplifying the elements and content of a given website and, as such, it is a vital tool for ensuring that the web development process runs smoothly. But what is a wireframe? Basically, it is the visual representation of the layout of a website; it shows the placement of page features, such as the header, footer, content, sidebars and navigation. They are useful for developers who want to match a client’s requirements as closely as possible and with the least amount of revisions possible.

So, why is wireframing beneficial for the web development process? Essentially, it gives the developer a chance to critically examine the structure of a website early on in the process and to make revisions sooner rather than later. It also gives the developer a clear idea of what elements they are going to need to code.

Use the following ‘best practices’ when creating a wireframe for your web development project in order to ensure the best possible results:

• Keep it simple enough for the client to understand, flexible enough for the design team to change, and detailed enough to provide a guide for the development team.
• Work in greyscale so that the web development team can focus on the layout and avoid being distracted by the design.
• Remember that a wireframe is only a visual representation of a sitemap, not something that you can use instead of one. A sitemap is equally vital to the web development process, so you will need to create one.
• Have an understanding of how your client wants their users to respond to a given page before your wireframe is created; this ensures that the calls to action will be clear at a glance.
• Put together a full-sized wireframe, as this will present the most accurate representation of the page and will be more useful during the web development process then a basic wireframe.
• Request the content from the client in advance, as this allows you to plan the elements of the page by taking them into account. Receiving content later on can really slow down the development process.

Whilst it is not a requirement of the web development process (many companies will not work with them at all), wireframes can be highly beneficial and assist the process to flow that much more smoothly. If you are still unconvinced as to whether wireframing is for you, remember that it can also help out the client and the designer – and you can’t argue with that.