A great project starts with proper planning and clear communication within your team. A wireframing tool is your best chance for communicating thoughts, getting input, and setting design goals.
Product managers are not designers of products. However, by establishing functionality requirements, you play an important part in the design stage. Wireframes can help you transform these requirements into a schematic diagram that demonstrates what the product or function will do, even if it is not your job to develop new features. Check out this free product manager course which helps you in exploring different stages of product management.
During the exploration stage of product or feature development, product managers usually utilize wireframes to connect with user experience (UX) or user interface (UI) designers. A graphic that depicts how a functionality or module might be shown can help everyone on the cross-functional product team. This is where wireframing tools come in.
Even if you are not required to produce your own wireframes, it is essential that you partake in and understand these visual cues. You must be aware of any possible design flaws while also advocating for customers and the user experience. Maintaining involvement throughout the design phase ensures that needs are accurately communicated.
We have compiled a list of Wireframing tools that will assist you in selecting the appropriate tool for your company.
What is a Wireframe?
A wireframe is a basic drawing that communicates what the overall product may look like, its layout, and UX. It’s typically used during conceptualization or ideation to display your product, its design, and features to the design team.
A wireframe is ideally a black and white sketch that is missing logos and other design features. They should clearly define what the individual aspects of the page or functionality should do instead of providing specific design elements, which will be addressed later.
A wireframe’s purpose is to create a basic depiction to which the team may respond and explore. Using wireframes, you can get early internal feedback and reach an agreement.
5 Popular Wireframing Tools
Axure
Axure is a specialized quick prototyping tool that lets anybody with a basic understanding of the software produce easy wireframes. It has a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) interface that lets you drag objects upon a screen to create your layout.
Pros: Regardless of complexities, the platform supports both static and dynamic prototypes. It’s a robust tool that lets you do practically everything you can think of when it comes to prototyping. In addition, numerous people can work on a project at the same time. External sharing of prototypes is also simple with Axure RP.
Cons: The platform has a steep learning curve. It also consumes a significant amount of memory when rendering and exporting huge projects.
Balsamiq
Balsamiq is a wireframing tool that enables users to build low-fi mockups. Because the tool focuses on the essentials, it is very easy to learn and use. This wireframing tool is best suited for beginners. It features a basic drag-and-drop layout with several options to edit and customize.
The tool provides a number of features that can help speed up the process, including the ability to build templates and reuse settings. After you’ve finished your design, you may save it as a PDF, a PNG picture, or share it on the web.
Pros: Balsamiq is simple to understand and use. It is not costly and has Google Drive, Confluence, and Jira plug-ins.
Cons: It lacks some of the more advanced capabilities seen in other apps. It does not have the ability to create high-fidelity designs and dynamic prototypes.
Adobe XD
Adobe XD is a robust prototype tool for creating designs for websites, applications, games, and businesses.
The tool comes with a slew of options to help you build designs that are exactly what you want. You can integrate animations and videos, as well as 3D effects and reusable design elements. You can also make responsive designs, which allow you to easily change design elements to fit multiple screen sizes.
Pros: The learning curve is rather low, particularly for people who are already familiar with Adobe products. Photoshop and Illustrator are both easily integrated with XD.
Cons: Adobe XD does not allow for real-time documentation or project collaboration. It is also more expensive than its counterparts.
InVision
InVision is a web-based tool that allows teams to quickly build low- and high-fidelity prototypes. The platform is extremely collaborative, making it ideal to review and refine without the need to write code.
Pros: Multiple projects can be accessed via a single screen. Managers may examine and engage with prototypes from their phones with the help of Invision’s iPhone app.
Cons: It’s difficult to add new users to a project once it’s been created with InVision. When mock-ups undergo considerable revisions, comments are often deleted.
UXPin
UXPin is a cloud-based user experience design tool featuring elements that let program managers communicate with designers. The software enables the user to easily build wireframes and disseminate them across numerous devices for instant feedback.
Pros: Product managers that want a simple tool for high-fi design choose UXPin. This is an excellent option if you already have a product and have to mark up existing displays. It offers a user-friendly interface and a feedback system in place. The tool enables a way to seamlessly collaborate among team members.
Cons: UXPin lacks color options, and users are unable to build documents unless they upgrade to one of the expensive price plans.
To Sum Up
Some product managers still use pen and paper or a whiteboard to build conventional wireframes. Design and wireframing software are also widely used by many individuals and organisations. Wireframing software provides a choice of ready-made features for swiftly sketching a design. You’ll want to be able to share your wireframe with others, regardless of which approach you to use.
Wireframes are used to interact with multiple teams within your organization. Wireframes are often used by product managers with 2 kinds of audiences:
Non-technical that includes folks from senior management, sales and marketing, customer representative, and more. Whereas wireframes are used by individuals from technical departments like product teams, engineering folks, and UI/UX design professionals.
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