- Collaboration: When designing your wireframe, you may want to share your ideas with a group of people. A good wireframe tool will allow you to easily share your design ideas with a group of people without needing to print them out. Instead, you should be able to send partners and employees a link that will allow them to view the wireframe. Additionally, your wireframe tool should allow users the ability to comment on certain elements of the page. You can easily edit your wireframes based on feedback by pinpointing the areas that individuals are referring to.
- Export options: When you’re happy with your wireframes, you may want to export them to get the code you need to share with a developer who can help implement them on your website or landing page. If you don’t plan on coding your website and plan to use a drag-and-drop feature, you don’t need to export the code. However, depending on the design, you may need to export certain sections to ensure they function properly.
- Easy transition to UI: When you’re happy with your wireframes, you might want to start adding your design elements. User interface (UI) design consists of adding visual elements, including color and imagery, while UX focuses on the user experience and function of the website. Both are integral parts of web design, but UI focuses more on what users see instead of how they interact with the website. Therefore, when you’ve completed your wireframes, you may want to start adding color, video, images, and text to the page to ensure everything fits correctly. Your wireframe tool should allow you to easily add anything you want style-wise to the wireframe.
There are many wireframe tools available, and they’re all fairly easy to use once you get the hang of how to wireframe your website. Here are a few of the best wireframe tools.
Adobe XD
If you’ve been in the design world, you’ve heard all about Adobe’s suite of tools and may have even used some. Adobe XD is a robust wireframing tool designed for everyone, from beginners to expert designers. You can use Adobe XD for basic wireframing or prototyping websites. While Adobe XD is robust, it’s also simple and has a guide for how to use the product to design wireframes.
Adobe XD is only available on desktop, but it offers tons of collaborative tools. As part of the Adobe Creative Cloud, you can collaborate with team members no matter where they are. Other users can edit and leave comments at the same time.
The wireframe tool also streamlines design mockups, allowing you to create the wireframe and add visual elements, then share a link to allow the entire team to view it. Adobe XD also tracks basic code, including CSS and HTML, allowing developers to grab code for easier development.
Sketch
Sketch is a macOS-only wireframe software. You can use Sketch for anything from wireframes to UI. However, the program does not have UI kits with easy-to-use designs and page formats. Like Adobe XD, Sketch offers easy collaboration with real-time shared workspaces when users download the desktop app. Once wireframe designs are complete, you can export your files and hand them off to a UI designer or developer.
Figma
Figma is a robust cloud-based UX/UI design tool and has a free option that allows anyone of any skill level to begin creating simple wireframes. With Figma, your team can collaborate in real-time by leaving comments, adding visual elements, and experimenting with different designs. Figma makes it easy to design responsive designs side-by-side with desktop designs to determine how different elements should function on different screen sizes. With Figma, developers can grab CSS elements to use as needed to streamline the development process.
Axure RP
Axure RP is a robust prototyping tool designed for UX designers. It comes with a slight learning curve, so it’s not ideal for beginners. Depending on your needs, it may also be too robust. This wireframe software helps you create wireframes with functionality, including interactive mockups for websites. Among the many robust features, Axure RP offers a developer inspect mode that allows web developers to crab code for different elements of the page.
Justinmind
While Axure RP is a robust tool designed for UX professionals, Justinmind is designed for beginners. This wireframing software is easy to use and offers a free version, depending on how detailed you want your wireframes to be. Justinmind allows you to build basic wireframes and prototypes with built-in UI elements, including buttons and forms. Then, with custom styling, you can begin creating your prototypes with images, colors, and graphics. You can also export your mockups for developers.
Justinmind is free to use and available on macOS or Windows. With this prototyping tool, you can create functional website simulations without the need for code to create the best user experience through testing. In addition, with a responsive design feature, you can create designs that adapt to different screen resolutions, and the UI elements adapt automatically.
