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Lo-fi vs hi-fi wireframes, and the importance of designing the Flow
Wireframes have been the center of discussions, is there merit in removing this step?
Wireframes have been under scrutiny lately, with articles increasingly calling wireframes a thing of the past. Detractors argue that it slows the process down while enthusiasts underline how they help focus on the flow and information architecture.
What are wireframes anyway?
A wireframe is a simple grey-scale schematic blueprint of the website or app that focuses purely on content and structural elements of a layout.
They are devoid of color, icons or font choices, logos, or any real design elements that take away from focusing on content, navigation, and structure.
The wireframe aims to provide a visual understanding of a page or screen early in a project to get stakeholder and team approval before the creative phase gets underway.
They make it clear with customers and stakeholders that the design is not final and up for discussion. This can focus the conversation on the structure over details and encourages discussion and critical feedback.
Why there is debate about them?
Wireframes have been an almost mandatory step in a Waterfall world, where each step of the process had to be completed before the next stage started. In that organization, the UX team could conduct user research, design a complete wireframe, document the entire project, and then hand off to the visual design and development team.
In contrast to Waterfall, a new methodology is emerging in software development: Agile.
Agile is an iterative and collaborative approach to design, project management and software development that helps teams deliver value to customers faster and in small increments.
Instead of betting everything on a “big bang” launch, an agile team delivers work in small, but consumable, increments. At his core, Agile values continuous evaluation of design, requirements, plans, and results so teams have a natural mechanism for responding to change quickly.
