Before any line of code is written, there is the pre-development design phase every project usually goes through. That’s when wireframes, mockups, and prototypes are created.
Mockup vs prototype vs wireframe is a subject that needs clarity, as it is seen differently by designers and clients.
There’s a common misconception that you can easily craft your design omitting a stage or two. We’ve created tens of thousands of designs and want to present our vision of the wireframe vs mockup vs prototype subject. So let’s elaborate on what wireframes, mockups, and prototypes mean and how they make design pixel perfect.
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Source: tapptitude.com
What is a wireframe?
Simply put, a wireframe is a draft or a sketch by a designer. The purpose of wireframes is to show the structure of an application with basic elements and content placement. This structure helps developers see the functional side of the app. Designers can bring order to scattered ideas and present them schematically. Wireframes serve as a foundation for a website or app.
What does a wireframe consist of?
Wireframes show the logic of a website or app. They present the product at its inception stage and consist of:
boxes or circles
lines
text
Below, you can see a screenshot of clickable wireframes we created for one of our clients. The wireframes are for an eLearning website that helps users pass a driver’s license test in California. We used Axure, a special design tool, to create wireframes.
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You can also check out these interactive wireframes for a social app we created.
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When to use wireframe architecture
You can use wireframes when you want to:
discuss ideas or concepts
show the structure of pages
see how related pages work together
see how information will be presented on individual screens
mimic interface behavior
visualize the general layout of a website or app
prepare a detailed project requirements document
test usability within your team to adjust your product
What is a mockup design?
The next step after wireframing is creating a mockup. A mockup transforms the schematic layout into a colorful, static representation of the future product. With mockups, you can see shapes, fonts, and the color palette. Sometimes, you can even see content instead of dummy text. The main difference between wireframes and mockups is that mockup user flow doesn’t skip details; on the contrary, they’re all about details, giving the feel of an actual app and showing how elements go together.
What are the components of a mockup?
With a mockup, you shape the way your app will look like. A mockup may include:
buttons
text bars
content layout
colors and graphics
typography
spacing around components
navigation graphics
other visual parts
Here’s a collection of website mockup examples we created for one of our projects. We experimented with layouts and colors in Sketch, a popular piece of website mockup software, until our client approved the designs.
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Source: dribbble.com by Sergey Shevchenko
When to use mockups
You can use an architecture mockup when you want to:
decide on the product’s color scheme, visual style, and typography
experiment with the look of the product
present the user interface to stakeholders and potential users
be confident about your design
decide on your brand identity
What is a prototype?
A prototype is a high-fidelity interactive manifestation of the final product. Even though prototypes aren’t put into code yet, they look like actual applications. The main difference between mockup vs prototype is that users can easily interact with prototypes and test the user flow.
What are the main features of prototypes?
A prototype should be as similar to the final product as possible in order to model the user experience. Therefore, a prototype should:
connect all elements in an interactive flow
be a basis for new insights
encourage further development
be a testing and learning tool
Here’s an example of a prototype for an eCommerce website we created. Below, you can see how a user can scroll through items, choose a dress they like, view details, and place an order.
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Source: Dribbble.com by Yvette Mosiichuk
When to use prototyping
You can use prototypes when you want to:
show more than just product visuals
try your product’s capabilities before going live
gather valuable feedback on usability from users and stakeholders
perform A/B testing
After discussing the difference between prototype vs mockup vs wireframe, let’s see how they’re connected.
How do wireframes, mockups, and prototypes orchestrate the design process?
All three stages ― creating a wireframe, prototype, and mockup ― should find a place in your design process. Don’t underestimate the importance of every prototype, wireframe, and mockup, since they’re your foundation to build on.
When you come to a development team, you have an app idea in mind. But it’s your idea, in your mind. You need to convey this idea to your developers and designers. The first thing they should do once you tell them about your product is turn your idea into wireframes ― a language that helps designers translate your idea into designs and lets developers understand the app’s architecture and the best coding solutions.
Your application should acquire structure over time and gradually translate into a mockup. At this stage, you get to finalize your design and see how structural elements turn into buttons, graphics, and content layouts. But the work isn’t done yet.
Ultimately, this leads to prototyping. With a prototype, you get to walk in your users’ shoes. You get to feel what it’s like to interact with your product.
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