Think of wireframes as the architectural blueprint, and prototypes as the 3D walkthrough. Both are essential—but serve very different roles in the process.
Digital products are no different. If you want to build a high-performing website or app, you need to start with the right models—before diving into visual design or development.
Two of the most important early-stage tools are wireframes and prototypes. While they might seem similar, they serve distinct purposes—and getting them right can prevent major headaches down the line.
At Composite, a NYC-based web design agency, we handle UX strategy for everything from Webflow builds to large-scale migrations, and wireframing is a critical part of our process. Whether we’re sketching low-fidelity flows or building high-fidelity clickthroughs, it all starts here.
Here's what we'll cover:
- Wireframes vs Prototypes
- Types of Wireframes
- Types of Prototypes
- Best Practices
Wireframes vs Prototypes
Wireframes are like skeletons. They are the bare-bones, stripped down, simplified version of what you want to create. They can be as simple as greyscale boxes and text, or they can showcase some of the overall aesthetic of the project. The "meat" of your website–images, animations, moving parts–are attached to the wireframes later.
Prototypes are like toys. They let you get a feel for how your project will behave once it is finished. Just as a child might play with a toy laptop to imagine what it would be like to go to work, developers use prototypes to imagine what their vision will be like once completed, and to present their idea to possible stakeholders. This provides inspiration for making useful changes early on in the development process.
The emphasis of both types of models is slightly different. Wireframes focus on structure, layout, and the content hierarchy. Prototypes focus on interactions, animations, and functionality. Both, however, are stripped down versions of the completed vision, and will omit much of what you plan to have for the finished product.
Typically, developers make wireframes before they make prototypes. Wireframes act as a guide for creating prototypes, and prototypes act as a guide for creating a completed website or application.
Types of Wireframes
Wireframes are usually categorized by fidelity, or how complicated they are.
Low fidelity wireframes are the most basic. These include only the highest level information you need: user flow, page structure, page hierarchy, and overall structure. They might include layout grids, basic navigation buttons, and key content blocks. They do not include colors, fonts, or any other visual styling.
Mid fidelity wireframes add small functional details to low fidelity wireframes. They are still usually black and white, but will define various UI elements for added functionality.
High fidelity wireframes build upon previous details to add information about usability and design. They may include copy, hover states, text hierarchy, and other details. They will in many ways resemble your final product, but without actually working.
When designing wireframes, you should create them in order of increasing fidelity. Start with a set of low fidelity frames, and then gradually add complexity, refining your vision based on iterated user feedback and research.
Types of Prototypes
Paper prototypes are the simplest to make, as all you need is a pen, paper, and a pair of scissors. You simply draw or label pieces of paper with the UI elements you wish to include, then layer everything on top of each other to represent your app. Then you make the prototype "work" by moving the pieces around yourself. For example, you can press a piece of paper representing a "Home" button, and then move another piece of paper representing the Home screen into view.
The advantage of paper prototypes is that they are extremely quick and easy to make. The disadvantage is that they are not visually appealing, and require a human operator to function. They are best used at the beginning of a project.
Digital prototypes can come in many different forms, depending on which platform you choose to use. Many developers use no-code or low-code platforms for building prototypes, because they are quick to use, and because perfect functionality is not necessary for a prototype. Be wary of getting locked in place with a no-code vendor, however, especially if you plan on expanding your project over time.
Horizontal prototypes provide a broad overview of what the finished product will do. In the context of web design, a horizontal prototype may showcase all the pages you can visit, but lack a fully implemented version of the core value proposition at work. They are useful primarily towards the beginning of a project, when it is desirable to get a feel for the ultimate goal, but having fully implemented details would slow things down.
Vertical prototypes focus instead on the specific implementation of one core piece of functionality, in order to showcase how it will work. They are more useful in the later stages of a project, when the look and feel has been established, and when stakeholders are willing to move on to a more definite buildout.
Best Practices for Wireframing and Prototyping
Don’t jump into Figma just to feel productive. Start small. Sketch on paper. Scribble on a whiteboard. The goal here isn’t polish—it’s clarity. Some of our best client ideas started as messy notebook pages, not pixel-perfect frames.
The general trend should be to go from simple models to more complex models. But this is not always a linear process. It's common to create a complex prototype out of a simple set of wireframes, and then use insights gained from the prototype to go back and create a new set of wireframes.
By constantly incorporating user feedback throughout the design process, you can iteratively work on your project, refining it at an abstract and a concrete level.
Pick a good wireframing tool. There are many programs you can use for wireframing and prototyping. Experiment a little at first to find out what works best. Then commit to one, and master it!
Here are some of the most popular applications for wireframing:
- Figma is a popular web application for user interface design. Its versatile collaboration features have long made it a favorite for design teams across the globe. It also offers some powerful AI features. Figma is our go-to for wireframing and prototyping. Its collaboration tools and plugin ecosystem make it the backbone of our early-stage design work.
- Canva is a drag-and-drop style graphic design platform that is often used for social media graphics. It can also be used for basic wireframing.
- Balsamiq is a web-based mockup tool made specifically for designing wireframes.
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You can take advantage of the free trial periods for each of these products to experiment and see what works best for you.
Maintain consistency across pages. Everything you do later will ultimately stem from the wireframes and prototypes you draw up now. By making the visual design and layout consistent at the beginning, it will be easier to make things look beautiful at the end.
It's useful to start with a design document, or at least have a set of broad principles that everyone working on the project can agree with. You can also rely on a specific design system, like Google's Material Design or Microsoft's Fluent Design System.
Use placeholder text, but add details where you can. The famous "Lorem Ipsum" dummy text is famous for being used on simple design mockups until something better is added on.
If you can think of any small details to add, like simple headlines, those are great to add, too. They will help clarify the project direction. Just be sure to double check that you removed all your placeholder text before launching your website- nothing looks as unprofessional as "Lorem Ipsum" all over the place.
Annotate your wireframes. You can use small text snippets to explain the logic and motivation behind the design choices in your wireframe, so that your intent will be clear to anyone looking at it. This is especially important for elements that need special instructions, like accessibility requirements.
Annotations are typically read by several different stakeholders, including clients, developers, copywriters, visual designers, and your future self.
When writing annotations, be sure to follow these principles:
- Be clear and concise
- Prioritize key information
- Use consistent formatting
- Place annotations near relevant elements
- Don't obstruct elements with annotations
- Review and adjust before completing
Prioritize your content hierarchy. One of the main functions of a set of wireframes is to establish the core skeleton of your website, and that includes the overall hierarchy of your content.
There are many ways that you can help translate that hierarchy into a format that is intuitive to users:
- Place the most important content or features right where someone would expect them.
- Make the flow of information logical and intuitive.
- Use large placeholders for the most important elements.
Transition from wireframes to prototypes. Once you have a good sense of how you want your pages to be structured and where the user elements will be, then you can use that as a model for creating a prototype.
This process works in both directions. While you are using your wireframes to build a simple prototype, you can adjust and refine those wireframes based on your experience building the prototype.
Test early. Test often. Making simple wireframes and prototypes is quick. That gives you the opportunity of eliciting real user feedback, fast. This should be an iterative process, where you use one model to get feedback, and then use that feedback to improve the other models, repeating continuously throughout the entire project.
You don't need to have anything complex to do user research. In fact, you can start testing almost from the start of a project, with just a set of simple wireframes. It is possible to test the feasibility of your wireframes with as few as five test users.
Create models with the user in mind. That is, you should conduct thorough user research and create multiple detailed user personas. You can use these user personas to create tailored user interfaces for each.
In many cases, different types of users will respond to your website in different ways, and they will benefit from being given the right options. For example, a new user might prefer a simple interface with lots of help notifications. A returning experienced user might like the option of shutting off the help notifications, and taking advantage of a more complicated dashboard or portal.
Look for friction points and flow issues. You want to minimize confusion for the user as much as possible. To that end, you should strive to make the relevant choices on each page as obvious and salient as possible.
Watch out for these common points of friction:
- Slow loading times
- Complex navigation buttons
- Unclear calls to action
Wireframing and Prototyping with Composite
Composite is a dedicated Webflow developer and a UX design agency in NYC. We have years of experience creating high quality websites for our clients from scratch, as well as helping migrate to Webflow from another hosting service.
Wireframes and prototypes are an essential part of nearly every project we take on. They help us diagram out our work before we do it, so that we can stay on the same page as our clients every step of the way.
We are particularly skilled in using Figma for mockup work, both for our own website and for our clients.
Do you want an amazing website built on a powerful platform? Let's talk!
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