Overview of Wireframes in the Mobile App Development Process
Mobile phones have become an integral part of our daily lives. It is an impossible task for everybody around the world to think of a day without the use of smartphones. These mobile apps have a lot of notable advantages and features to use, which makes our day-to-day lives easier.Many companies have turned their vision towards creating the best mobile applications to attract users towards them. To develop an innovative mobile application, there are several steps to be followed, like planning, production, etc.
Wireframing plays a crucial role in the application development process. A wireframe is a layout of a web page that determines the interface elements that need to exist on key pages. It is a very important and critical part of the interaction design process.
Wireframes provide a very clear outline of a page structure, information architecture, and overall direction. This rough, simplified graphic representation is developed in the initial stages of digital product design to visualize and communicate the structure of a website or product. The wireframes are very important in a mobile application development process, as they interact with the user directly. In this write-up, we will drive through the advantages and impacts of wireframes in the mobile app development process. We will also dive deep to gain knowledge about wireframe tools and steps to form an effective wireframe. So without any further ado, we will jump into this blog!
Highlight Wireframes Quintessential Merits in the Development Process
Wireframes permit developers to map out the page’s functionality and detect problems at earlier stages, and it saves time for revisiting the application plan later. It is very simple in style, and it is mainly created in grayscale: white, black, and with different shades of gray. Wireframes must definitely be as simple, and we should also understand that it is only a basic structure, not the final output of the application. Moreover, it assists in promoting and visualizing the user flow and framework. With the help of wireframes, developers can create user-friendly websites, and they also help to identify issues and make needed improvements later. They eliminate the project problems earlier, which saves very significant resources and time.
Wireframes generally include placeholders, labels, and shapes for different interface elements like buttons, forms, menus, text, and other collective elements as well. There are three types of wireframes, namely, low-fidelity, mid-fidelity, and high-fidelity.
Low-fidelity: Low-fidelity is the simplest and easiest type of wireframe because it is drawn in black and white on paper. UI/UX design professionals utilize features like simple images, squares, lines, and much more used for content and labels. Low-fidelity wireframes provide developers with an assumption for the final project output.
Mid-fidelity: Mid-fidelity is the most commonly used wireframe among designers, which provides an accurate and overall design layout. It is built using different digital tools like Sketch, InVision, and Balsamiq. Similar to the low-fidelity wireframes, it also utilizes black and white colors. Developers can also use multiple shades of gray that separate the importance and eminence of the wireframe.
High-fidelity: The high-fidelity wireframe utilizes multiple color options for images besides the content for generating an instant replica of the application. It is mostly used for detailing better documentation of complex concepts. These wireframes also help to look for interactive maps and menu systems quickly.
Propagating Designers Performance with the Wireframe Tools
A wireframe tool helps to build the initial page structure before the designer adds content and visual designs.One of the great advantages of using wireframes is that it allows developers to use a lot of different tools, such as pen and paper, mockplus, UX pin, Photoshop CC, Balsamiq mockups, Figma, etc. Balsamiq wireframing is a user-interface design tool for developing wireframes. It can be used for generating digital sketches or ideation for a website or application to promote discussion before writing any code.
JustinMind is also a notable wireframe tool for Android, web, and iOS platforms.When using a wireframe, we are just creating a blueprint of the website. Figma wireframe is the most famous and effective cloud-based design software for building clickable wireframes. Figma design enables designers to create, test, and share designs for websites, mobile applications, and other products. It is widely used by designers, developers, and product managers to contribute and give effective feedback to make faster decisions. Mockplus is also a desktop prototyping tool that transforms the idea into a fully interactive application or website, and we can also collaborate with ease.
Uprising Wireframe Usage in Mobile User Experience
Mobile wireframing is nothing but low-fidelity blueprints for a mobile application. They act as a bridge between design and development. Wireframing for mobile apps exposes how an application will look and function by bordering elements, including text boxes, buttons, etc. Wireframing also provides designers the freedom to critique layout and review to avoid futuristic mistakes to elevate the application. It takesmore time to plan and strategize so that iterations can be done quickly.
Mobile wireframes enable designers to get a vision about their project and also, they will get to inform about budget decisions.Wireframing for mobile apps plays an important role in the process. If the perfect wireframe is preferred correctly, it definitely tailors designers towards their goals from the initial thought process to the finished user-focused product. The main advantage of using a wireframe in the mobile application development process is that it gives designers a comprehensive view of the customer’s journey.
Also, building a wireframe is very rapid and reasonable, particularly when it comes to UI/UX design elements. When choosing pen and paper or digital wireframing, there are plenty of open resources to use that help designers finish a wireframe screen. Even it is possible to make alterations to an application wireframe with minimal cost or no cost at all, neglecting the need to rewrite it from scratch.
While writing about mobile app wireframing, we cannot neglect web application wireframes. Screen size, width, and length are the very crucial parts that force designers to develop different designs for web and mobile apps. Web apps have layouts, which present the data in a column format. Whereas, the mobile app layout requires a single or two columns. The user engagement of web and mobile apps diverges because of their differences in functionality and features.
Staircasing the steps for Building an Effective Wireframe
From developing an advanced user flow approach to producing a working model, there are several practical and easy steps to be followed. In this, we will drive through some simple steps to develop an interactive mobile app wireframe.
Simplified user interactions: User flow is a diagram or chart displaying the path that a user will take into action for finishing a task. Such a chart helps designers to delineate the number of screens that want to be included in the application.
Core element of user interaction: After finishing with user interactions, designers start with an outline, and they can clarify it as they desire. Sketching this type of path for the target user is an effective way of visualizing the user flow. Stick to the paper for wiring, which enhances creativity.
Build a mobile frame: Select the perfect frame that we will use throughout the development process. A frame provides designers with the structure to design a working prototype. Designers can opt for a rectangle with the exact dimensions of the target device.
Regulate layout with boxes: In this, the designers should set a very clear visual hierarchy system. To achieve this, designers need to create a content layout using boxes with different sizes. The layout boxes represent information on each page.
Key designing wireframe patterns: The main objective of UX design is to deliver the user with an interactive and effective application. These key design patterns are very much related to reclaimable content blocks. Designers use this to create elements like a side drawer, bottom tab bar, and floating action button.
Cast the copy: After defining the wireframe copy, it is time to reckon the real copy of it. Designers will replace all the dummy texts and content placeholders with bits and pieces of the end copy.
Attach the pages: Connecting the application pages with a UX flow helps the developer to completely understand the app’s performance as a whole. A reference number system helps designers connect screens more efficiently to enhance collaboration with other teams.
Transforming the wireframes into prototypes: At last, it is the perfect time to transform the designed wireframes into a prototype. It is nothing but adding more details to the wireframes to produce a spectacular design, which features the final output.
Summarizing wireframes with Pattem Digital
From this blog, we have seen the impacts and advantages of using wireframing in mobile application development. For designing the most interactive and effective application, wireframes play a very important and crucial role in the app development process. It provides a basic outcome of the final output. Wireframe tools are used to make the development easier for the designers. There are similar steps to be followed for designing an effective wireframe that results directly in building an innovative application.
Preferring the perfect mobile application development company also plays an important role in the mobile app development process, similar to wireframes. Pattem Digital is a leading mobile application development company that delivers our clients with the best applications and services in the industry. We work with the latest cutting-edge technologies to provide our clients with feature-rich applications. We also ensure to stay ahead of our competitors by understanding the current market trends and requirements.
