Wireframes
Visual blueprints for digital design
Sketch interfaces, organize content, map user flows, and explore how a website or digital product will work before it is built.
What is a wireframe?
A wireframe is a simple visual representation of a digital interface, such as a website or mobile app. It shows the basic structure of a design, including its layout, navigation, content, and functionality, without focusing on visual details such as colors, images, typography, or other styling.
Wireframes turn ideas into tangible sketches that are easier to discuss, evaluate, and refine. They help teams communicate concepts, gather feedback, and identify UX issues or gaps in the user flow before investing time in design and development.
Fast to create and edit, wireframes make it easier to experiment with ideas before detailed design and development begin, minimizing costly revisions later.
Types of wireframes
Wireframes are often divided into three levels of fidelity: low-fidelity, mid-fidelity, and high-fidelity. The main difference is how detailed they are and how closely they represent the intended final interface.
.png)
Low-fidelity wireframes
Low-fidelity wireframes, or lo-fi wireframes, are rough sketches that show the basic structure and content placement of a website or app.
Their focus is on how an interface is organized and works rather than how it looks. For that, they use simple, greyscale shapes to represent UI elements such as images, buttons, text blocks, and navigation.
Lo-fi wireframes are quick to produce and easy to modify, which makes them useful for brainstorming, exploring concepts, and validating ideas early in the design process.
Mid-fidelity wireframes
Mid-fidelity wireframes add more details to the basic structure, such as early content, image placeholders, or basic styling.
They sit between lo-fi wireframes and detailed designs, allowing you to quickly explore different visual directions while keeping the interface simple to change.
Mid-fidelity wireframes support team reviews or client meetings where you need a clearer outline of the website or app structure.
High-fidelity wireframes
Among the three, high-fidelity wireframes are the closest to the final product. They include accurate UI elements, fonts, images, copy, and other details.
As such, they serve as a reference for designers creating product mockups and for developers as they implement the interface.
Hi-fi wireframes can also be used for early usability testing, helping teams evaluate how users will interact with an interface.
Who works with wireframes?
Web Designer
Plan and design website layouts. Experiment with the placement of content and functionality to find an effective structure.
UX/UI Designers
Quickly visualize, iterate, and refine interface ideas. Define the core of the user interface before moving on to high-fidelity mockups and prototypes.
Project Managers
Confirm project scope and design direction with clients. Coordinate design and copywriting during the early stages of the project.
Web Developer
Use wireframes as blueprints for coding the layout, structure, and functionality of a website or digital product.
Wireframe vs mockup vs prototype: what's the difference?
Wireframes are simple sketches that focus on the structure and are meant for iteration. This is true even for high-fidelity wireframes – they're still created before the design and development begin, allowing for quick changes without wasted effort.
Mockups are static images that closely represent the visual appearance of a finished interface.
Prototypes are interactive and simulate how an interface will work before the product is built.
| Wireframe | Mockup | Prototype |
|---|---|---|---|
Main purpose: | Visualizes the product's structure and design ideas | Shows how the product will look | Simulates how the product will work |
Includes: | Basic UI elements, placeholder content, simple shapes, and limited styling | Detailed UI elements, realistic content, typography, images, colors, and spacing | Clickable elements, navigation, transitions, and other interactions |
Best for: | Brainstorming, refining structure, iteration, early feedback | Visual reviews, client feedback, development handoff | Advanced usability testing before development |
Wireframing tips and tricks
Working with wireframes
- Experiment and iterate: Simple wireframes take minutes to create, making them well-suited for refining ideas, exploring new layouts, and discarding old ones.
- Use real copy when possible: Add actual copy to get a better sense of how the content flows and how much space different text blocks will take.
- Collect feedback: Share wireframes with your team to validate ideas, identify potential issues, and explore new concepts early.
- Create flows, not single screens: Consider the context of each wireframe and how it fits into the product as a whole. Map out related screens and the paths users will take between them.
How to create a wireframe in Excalidraw?
- Set device-specific screen size: Use the right screen width to get a good feel of the scale and transition easily from wireframes to mockups. Commonly used screen widths are 1440 px for desktop, 768 px for tablet, and 375 px for mobile.
- Wireframe faster with shortcuts: Press R or 2 to draw a rectangle, A or 5 to draw an arrow, T or 8 to create a text box, and N to add a sticky note. Press ? to see all shortcuts.
- Refine your designs: Right-click on the whiteboard and select "Snap to objects", "Toggle grid", or "Canvas & Shape properties" to place and resize elements accurately when creating high-fidelity wireframes.
- Create with libraries and templates: Browse Excalidraw libraries for buttons, icons, boxes, and other interface elements, or open a new scene with an editable wireframe template. Note: The scene opens in the free editor. You'll be able to save or export your current work before loading the scene.
- Start now: Learn how to create a wireframe in Excalidraw in minutes from our YouTube tutorial!
Create prototypes with Wireframe to code
In Excalidraw, you can use the Wireframe to code feature to create an interactive prototype and matching code in seconds. No coding is necessary; just a wireframe and optional text instructions within the AI frame.
Ways to use Wireframe to code
Use Wireframe to code to quickly simulate user interactions for testing, experimentation, or sharing an interface with others. Here are some practical examples:
Test an onboarding flow
Walk through the onboarding sequence from sign-up to the first successful action. Check if any steps are missing or if the flow feels too complex for new users.
Align design and engineering
Refer to the prototype during a design-development handoff to showcase intended interactions without requiring developers to figure out the flow from notes and static screens.
Run a design review around the flow
Instead of reviewing individual screens, have designers, developers, and PMs click through the entire journey together and discuss where users go next.
Present an MVP concept
Turn a set of rough wireframes into a clickable flow that demonstrates the core functionality of an MVP without spending time on polished UI.
How to create a prototype from your wireframe?
Unlike most generative tools, Wireframe to code doesn't have a prompt field. Instead, you write instructions directly on your wireframe canvas.
1️⃣ Prepare
- Create a wireframe in Excalidraw.
- Add labels to individual screens and briefly describe the intended behavior of the interface. You can also use arrows to connect screens and create user flows.
- Optionally, include a note like "Create a clickable overview of the screens" in your instructions to add a handy navigation bar to your prototype.
2️⃣ Generate
- Click "More tools" and "Wireframe to code" in the top toolbar.
- Select your wireframe and any instructions using the AI Frame. You can select multiple wireframes to prototype an entire flow or process.
- Click the wand icon to generate the prototype. This may take a few seconds.
3️⃣ Prototype ready!
- Use the buttons next to the prototype to copy the auto-generated code to the clipboard or turn on presentation mode.
- Experiment and try different instructions to reach the intended outcome.
Wireframe examples and templates to get you started
How to create a website wireframe
First, create a navigation menu at the top. Think about website architecture and how pages will connect. Defining the structure now will save you time and edits later.
Use wireframe templates and simple shapes to add the next sections. Start with the key element of each, like a banner or header, and build the rest of the layout and content around it.
Keep the structure and header hierarchy clear with different font sizes: XL for H1, L for H2, and so on. Use consistent sizing throughout the wireframe to make the structure easy to follow.
How to create an app wireframe
Draw multiple app wireframes to try out different layouts. Most ideas won't end up in the final design, so keep details to a minimum, use wireframe templates, and focus on fast iteration.
Once you have several screens ready, connect them with arrows to visualize interactions and user flows. Add labels or sticky notes to explain how features should work, or use Wireframe to code to demonstrate the intended behavior with an interactive prototype.
Wrapping up
Wireframes provide a simple foundation for designing digital products. By focusing on structure, layout, and user flows rather than visual detail, they help teams test and refine ideas to build on later.
Whether you're creating an app, website, or another digital interface, start with a wireframe to quickly sketch out ideas, explore different approaches, and establish the core structure before working on the finer details.
Business use or teamwork? Try Plus features for wireframing
💬 Comments: Keep ideas, brainstorming, and feedback organized and connected directly to specific wireframe elements.
🎙️ Voice hangouts and screen sharing: Discuss wireframes live and right on the canvas without switching between wireframing tools and meeting apps.
📺 Presentations: Click and done – your whiteboard is now a presentation, ready to show your design concepts to clients and colleagues.
😎 Unlimited scenes: Create dedicated wireframe whiteboards for specific features, products, or all your new ideas.
📂 Work organization: Manage design collaboration easily with scene collections, access controls, user accounts, and team workspaces.
