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Resource library / Design basics / Wireframes vs mockups
Wireframe vs. mock-up—
what’s the difference?
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Wireframes and mock-ups both support product development, helping design
teams create captivating user experiences. But while wireframes focus on a
high-level design concept’s basic layout and user flow, mock-ups showcase the
visual design of the final product.
Read on to learn more about:
What is a wireframe is and key benefits of wireframing
What is a mock-up, and how it helps with your site and product
design process
When to use mockups vs wireframes—and handy Figma templates to
get you started
What is a wireframe?
A wireframe is a basic, low-fidelity blueprint that captures an early-stage idea for
a web page or app screen. Low-fidelity wireframes are simple designs, usually in
black and white or grayscale with placeholder content. This helps design and
product teams focus attention on essential user journey questions, such as:
What kinds of screens will help the target audience accomplish a task
in a user flow?
What information do users need on each screen to keep moving forward?
What’s the best way to organize page content for users?
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4 key benefits of wireframing
Wireframing supports exploration in the early stages of the design process. UX
design teams can use wireframes to:
1. Get stakeholder alignment. Wireframes encourage collaboration with
strategists, product managers, and the development team on high-level
structure, information architecture, user flow, and UI design.
2. Speed product design. Wireframes are easy to make—no polish necessary.
Design teams can whip them up quickly to scope basic features and user
interactions.
3. Create user-centered designs. User testing wireframes helps designers find
a direction that best supports audience needs.
4. Spot potential problems. Wireframes help teams identify issues early,
avoiding costly mistakes in the final designs for a digital product.
3 wireframing best practices
Improve your product development process with these wireframing
best practices:
Choose low-fidelity for user testing and stakeholder feedback. Leave out
high-fidelity design elements to keep viewers focused on the big ideas you're
presenting.
Opt for high-fidelity for customer show-and-tell. Need to get a customer or
investor on board with your design direction? Present high-fidelity
wireframes to help them visualize the finished product.
Make them, then let them go. Use early-stage wireframes to generate input.
Once you get stakeholder or user feedback, set them aside. Move on to your
next iteration.
What is a mock-up?
A mock-up is a highly polished, or high-fidelity, visual representation of a final
product. Mock-ups focus on form, not functionality. They include static
renderings of user interface and visual elements, including buttons, colors,
images, icons, text, typography, and fonts. Use them to vet your end product’s
UI and visual design before development begins.
How mock-ups help refine designs
You can use mock-ups to choose the best possible visual look for your final
product through:
Actionable stakeholder feedback and buy-in. Mock-ups help team members,
users, and investors better understand how a finished product will look. This
helps design teams get clear and useful feedback.
Quick and easy iteration. Revising mock-ups is simple, since they don’t
require any code to build.
Visual design consistency. Your mock-up is a go-to resource to maintain a
consistent, on-brand visual design through the product development
process.
Mock-up pro tips
Whether you’re creating a new mobile app or redesigning a company blog, apply
these tips for better mock-ups:
Brainstorm before you build. Sketch out design ideas before making mock-
ups. Input from wireframes can also help shape your mock-ups.
Keep usability in mind. Apply UI patterns that are familiar to users. Simplify
the user experience as much as possible.
Re-use UI and design elements across your mock-ups to save time and
maintain consistency.
Wireframes vs. mock-ups at a glance
See how wireframes and mock-ups compare:
Wireframes
Structure and flow. Wireframes outline basic page hierarchy, organization,
and flow.
Low fidelity. Designers use simple, black- and-white (or gray) wireframes to
represent and test high-level design concepts. Note: for stakeholder or
investor presentations, higher fidelity wireframes and/or mock-ups build a
stronger case for your designs.
Discovery phase. Use wireframes to generate early-stage feedback from
internal teams and help set design direction.
Mock-ups
Visual design. Mock-ups are static renders showing what a final product or
web design looks like, minus functionality.
High fidelity. Mock-ups represent realistic web pages or screens. They
include near-final copy, color, typography, fonts, and more.
Design phase. Use mock-ups to validate your product’s visual design before
starting high-fidelity prototyping—or handing off final designs to developers.
Build better wireframes and mock-ups with Figma
Whether you’re creating wireframes or mock-ups, start brainstorming design
ideas using FigJam’s online collaborative whiteboard.
For wireframes, start with Figma’s online wireframing tool and pre-made
wireframe kit.
For mock-ups, you can build your design system in Figma, then use Figma’s
design tool to make them.
For inspiration, check out the mock-up tools and wireframing resources shared
by Figma's community. Over 40,000 designers have used Figma community
contributor Tiago Gonçalves’ low-fidelity wireframing starter kit. Another 43,000-
plus designers have used Figma community member Luong Nguyen’s iPhone
mock-ups.
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