CRyder Design

Wireframing and prototyping are two integral steps in the process of designing a product. While there are times where the two terms are used interchangeably, there are a vast amount of differences between the two. Among these differences is at what point in the design process each is created. In almost every case, wireframes come before prototypes and there are several reasons for this.

Author Nick Babich defines wireframes as, “a static, low-fidelity representation of the different screens and pages that form a product” (“Everything You Need to Know About Wireframe Design and Prototypes”). In this definition, low-fidelity is often a key term. When creating wireframes, designers are trying to communicate the bare-bones idea of a screen. They often do not include details like color, images, and certain text. Their main purpose is to get across the general idea and layout of what the screens will look like. “Wireframes use simple shapes to create visual representations of page layouts. They’re used to communicate the structure of individual pages (how the pieces of the page work together and where the content will be) and how those pages connect (how the interface will work from a user perspective)” (“Everything You Need to Know About Wireframe Design and Prototypes”).  The reason these designs are so bare-bones is that they are meant to be quick, cheap, and easy. Because they occur at such an early stage within the process of designing a product, changes, adjustments, and scrapping ideas are inevitable. “At the wireframing stage, it’s much easier to make big changes. Since wireframes are relatively quick and cheap to produce, designers can experiment with adding or removing objects, moving content and objects around, and grouping items together” (“Everything You Need to Know About Wireframe Design and Prototypes”).  However, once there is a solid wireframe in place a prototype is likely to follow.

Author Nick Babich defines a prototype as a representation “ of the final product, including simulations of the user interface interactions (“Everything You Need to Know About Wireframe Design and Prototypes”). Prototyping is the first phase in which designers can actually interact with their creations” (“Everything You Need to Know About Wireframe Design and Prototypes”). Prototypes are often higher-stakes designs as they are meant to represent the end result of the product that will be presented to a user. For this reason, there is a lot more time and money spent on prototypes. It is significant that they offer a design as close as possible to the final product so there if there are any minor issues or major problems with any aspect of the design, that they can be identified and fixed prior to the product’s launch. “Prototypes act as a bridge to the actual product. The goal of a prototype is to simulate the interaction between the user and the interface and understand how the final product will function” (“Everything You Need to Know About Wireframe Design and Prototypes”).

Wireframes and prototypes are both essential to the design process for a number of different reasons. However, each of these reasons has the user in mind. Every step of the design process is meant to be user-centered. If wireframing and prototyping are done properly with the right amount of time and effort, the end result of a product will be the best that it can be.