Comments on: Making Wireframes Even More Useful?

By: Pop Stalin

Pop Stalin — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 17:46:24 +0000

Justin, first I just want to say great original post and very thought provoking.

I can’t even begin to tell you the issues I have with requirement gathering, wireframes, etc from my last full-time gig. It was not pleasant to say the least. Of course, there were way too many chefs in the kitchen trying to have a say in the final design. There was scope creep before the wireframe phase ever came into play.

Anyway, I find that my clients like the visual of having a wireframe but I also like the idea of using the page description diagram along with the wireframe to indicate the importance of content. It, I’m sure, helps the client think about what’s important as well.

By: Justin Kistner

Justin Kistner — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 16:22:28 +0000

I think you could do both as you suggested where a designer uses the page description diagram to create a wireframe. All of my designs start as sketches and that means wireframing. My issue with wireframes comes from working in a larger design studio. Wireframes were made by account managers during the formulation of the site’s information architecture. I didn’t like that designers were being forced into layout decisions from the content planning stage. Even with a designer at the helm during the content planning stage, I still don’t like wireframes as a tool because clients begin to bond with layout decisions before content is fully developed, which complicates managing their expectations.