Planning and communication are critical when creating any web project. Wireframes ensure that clients, project managers, designers, and developers are all on the same page throughout the project, and can be an invaluable point of reference.
Wireframing is an extremely important phase of our web development process. The wireframing process allows us to plan, design and build online websites and online systems far more efficiently. The time and effort put into this phase benefits everyone from client to project manager, designer and developer.
User experience and information architecture is the foundation for a great website. It is the blueprint of how your site will function, incorporating how users will be able to navigate and find the information they are after, and also how they can make a purchase or generate an enquiry.
Wireframes are a low-fidelity visual representation of a website's layout design, sometimes referred to as a skeleton, outline or blueprint. Typically, a wireframe renders the basic page layout structure and site architecture of the website, as well as important site components (like web forms, search facilities, navigation and pages).
The wireframe will represent the finished design of your website but will not include your branding at this stage. It will highlight where design elements will appear on a page, how the site will navigate, and how a user will interact with it. It will also provide a useful tool to ensure the end products user experience stays on track.
The following benefits of wireframing helps us to implement our clients projects more effectivley:
- Perfect site architecture
- Test and refine navigation
- Plan how the hierachy of content lays out on the page
- Ensure effective search engine structure
- Study and rapidly refine the user interface design of web forms and interactive elements
- Evaluate overall effectiveness of the page layout against usability best practices
Wireframing encourages contribution
Wireframing encourages communication with our clients and helps them understand the project and how we can add value to their product or service. It is important to our process that we engage with our clients throughout a project. We provide them with the opportunity to give feedback at the wireframe stage, encourage them to ask questions and make any required changes to avoid major amendments later in the project, which could delay the process.
We also believe a client who has been involved in the wireframe process and has been given the opportunity to provide feedback is more likely to recognise the vales of the initial graphic design phase.
In conclusion, wireframing a website lays firm foundations for the management of the overall project. Wireframing ensures all stakeholders are clear on the objectives and the deliverables of both content creation and technical authoring. This in turn means the project can be completed in a logical, efficient and highly effective way, to deliver the maximum possible success for our clients.
