In this post, we're gonna look at five Wire-Framing and Prototyping tools that I use regularly at work and you can use in your projects and can help you master your workflow and implement your skill sets.
Hi I'm Anuj and I work as a UI/UX Designer & Developer at a tech company and on the side, I run my own freelance business from home. If you're new here, make sure you click the subscribe button, and all the links, I've mentioned in this post you can find them in the description below, if you wanna have a closer look at my life as a designer you can find me on Instagram well every day I share new stories about projects.
I'm doing books some readings and general updates so now let's jump into this post people often confuse the terms Wireframes and Prototypes or they think it's the same thing but that's not how it works we play a different role in the design process while the main difference between the two it's the level of fidelity and functionality a Wireframe is a simple representation of a digital product or website. think of it as a skeleton where you decide what elements to include the position on the page and how they will interact with each other there are low fidelity Wireframes which mean they are very simple minimal and most important, they are static which means we don't include any interactions or animations high fidelity Wireframes are usually more complex and require using a specific tool.
But we're not yet clickable or interactive once we have completed the Wireframe phase we are ready to move on to the prototyping phase a prototype is a simulation of the final product, but it doesn't need to be high fidelity or pixel-perfect the main purpose of building prototypes is to test with users whether or not on the interface and functionality of the product works or can be improved there are several tools and techniques you can use to build the wireframes and prototypes, but often it's the company by deciding which one to use a work.
I use different tools than when I freelance and that's because I don't like to limit my capabilities to just one or two tools as they work in different ways depending on and working with clients or stakeholders. I like to be flexible now we are gonna look at the tools and I use pretty much every day and also recommend make sure you stick around to the end because I'm gonna share with you three tips to Wireframe and prototype products faster no matter which software you are using.
1. Lucidchart
Lucidchart is a visual and cross-platform collaboration tool for businesses and individuals that helps the creation of diagrams flow charts and wireframes and so on a word we use a lucid chart across product and engineering teams for brainstorming and managing our projects. as a product designer, I use this tool to create user flows, user journeys, and wireframes at the beginning of the design process to gain clarity around the whole project. if you work with stakeholders clients or people who are not familiar with design tools using lucid chart will help you facilitate remote collaborations and share your process and gather feedback all in one place plus it comes with tons of free templates you can use in your project.
2. Adobe XD
The Adobe XD team and it's a vector-based design tool for designing and prototyping products some people like to describe it as similar to photoshop or illustrator and maybe we can achieve similar results but XD has been specially created for designing websites and apps, at work we use XT for designing landing pages for the marketing website as we can easily link our sets from the component library and use them in our projects. we found that it works pretty well for collecting feedback from stakeholders or other team members, if you're familiar with Photoshop you shouldn't have a problem using Adobe XD as we all share a similar interface plus some adobe has recently updated it with an incredibly useful feature called Auto animate and results are impressive currently not prototyping tools offer these features some consider giving XD an ago.
3. Figma
Figma is an interface design tool but runs some in the browser window. that means your files are all saved online and you don't have to worry about losing them.
I've been using Figma for the past two years and I'm obsessed with this tool. The reason why I use this tool is that I don't need to keep sending emails to my clients asking them to check the latest update.
But I can simply share a link with them. so they can see what I'm doing in real time I know this can be a bit intimidating. so when I share my work with the clients I always make sure I share the preview and not the actual file there are so many reasons I recommend you using Figma, but the main ones are that it's web-based it's free and it comes with tons of super useful plugins and an app called Figma mirror that allows you to see your design from your phone or tablet. let me know in the comments below, what's your favorite Figma plugins are and how you use them in your UX projects.
4. Procreate
But you don't need to be an artist to use this tool called Procreate. Procreate is a powerful application for sketching illustrating and prototyping artworks all exclusively from your iPad and if you're familiar with Photoshop you're gonna find things like brushes or layers very easy to use. Before Procreate I used to sketch my wireframes on paper because I found it faster and more flexible than if I was using a design tool but I always end up with too many piles of paper and not enough space to keep them.
So I decided to use my iPad and Apple pencil as a replacement for pen and paper. I start by making a new artboard 5,000-pixel width and 5,000-pixel height so that I've got enough space on the canvas, I select a brush that looks like a pen and start sketching ideas in the middle of the canvas. I use Procreate mostly for wireframing landing pages during the ideation phase to explore a variety of different options and select the best one the goal is to generate as many ideas as possible and iterate the best possible solution generally the faster you can generate ideas.
The sooner you will move on to the next step when I'm happy with it. I export the canvas as a JPEG and move on to my MacBook pro for me Apple pencil and iPad are the perfect compromise between digital tools such as lucid chart and pen and paper. I like using my iPad. I find it easier to stay focus on my work because I don't have distractions such as notifications emails messages and social media.
5. Web-Flow
Web-flow is a website building tool that gives you the power to design-build and launches responsive websites in hours it's only one platform but you can use it to go from wireframer to final production. I use web-flow I work to build interactive prototypes but only after I've prepared them different solutions in Adobe XD and decided which one works better I do so because it takes more time to build a functional prototype in a web flow dan if I was designing a flat mock-up in Figma or Adobe XD I use web-flow mainly as a prototyping tool. but I want to start using it for my freelance work to build the actual websites.
Unfortunately, I've never been asked by my clients to be on the website as they usually have a developer working for them. but this can be an option for future projects, if used correctly web flow is a powerful tool but, if you're using it for the first time then go and check. the web-flow University where you can find hundreds of free tutorials that will also teach you the basics of HTML CSS and JavaScript last year I spend months watching all the tutorials and testing my skills and before I was confident enough to start using it on real projects.
But if you're a freelancer web designer and you're seriously considering becoming a web flow expert and getting pay more for web development go and check. to start learning how to build a high-value website for your clients. I know what you're thinking why am I suggest you learn a website building tool well I think that as designers we need to keep up with new technologies and we don't have to limit our skills to just designing.
I also believe that the future will be a hybrid designer so if you want to succeed you will need to combine your design skills with others such as developmental writing illustration 3D animation an information architecture and so on and, if you're a developer or a designer who code so you're gonna have a huge advantage on other designers who don't code. when it comes to learning web flow and you already know the basics of HTML CSS and JavaScript, I'm planning to rebuild my website in web flow. so if you're interested in seeing my process let me know in the comments below and then make a post all right.
So this was our last tool for today and as promised here are my three tips for web framing and prototyping.
1.tip number one a prototype is not the final product so don't expect it to be pixel perfect instead make sure it has a high degree of interactivity so it can be built and tested faster.
2.tip number two you don't need an expensive machine for sketching but you can simply use pen and paper sticky notes or whatever you have to hand most important you don't need to be good at drawing.
3.tip number three don't get too obsessed with the details or too attached with a particular solution in case it fails their usability testing if you don't get things right the first time take the feedback from users to improve your prototypes.
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