Shawn Borsky for DesignM.ag wrote an article entitled A Practical Wireframe Primer.
Although Shawn hits the nail on the head with most of his writing, one area of serious error is the fact that Shawn states that wireframes are not design.
I wrote a response in the comments section yesterday at about 11AM and my comment was not approved. Websites like DesignM.ag will usually do this sort of thing when a comment contradicts what the writer is saying; but more importantly when it makes the writer appear to be wrong. This is not my intention- I like agree with 85% of the article, just not this statement. If I had wrote “Hey nice article Shawn”, it would have been approved within 20 minutes. This being said, I don’t even think Shawn is the one responsible for moderating the article.
Anyways, here is my response to Shawn’s post that was not published in the comments section.
Here we are again.
If I had a penny every time IA and/or wireframes were defined online, I’d be rich.
My only real issue with this article is point #1 under the subtitle “Wireframes are not” which states:
Wireframes are NOT designs
In fact, wireframes should be completely devoid of font choices, color, pictures, logos, etc. Most people think visually and it is extremely common to think that a wire-frame is a intended to convey design. It is extremely easy for a non-designer to think or act like wireframes reflect final designs or placements. Don’t confuse the function by putting visual distractions on your wireframes. Remind them: there is little visual fidelity, wire-frames are about working through functional issues and organizing information.
This is simply not true.
Wireframes are by their very definition design in the truest sense of the word. I think the author here is confusing the concept of art with design (or graphics with design.)
Websters dictionary defines design as seen here: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/design
Wireframes are design. (If they weren’t, what are we doing here?)
Wireframes are not just a bunch of boxes and arrows that are used to justify a graphical elements after the fact (like most ad agencies would have you think).
When we wireframe we are designing an intended- proposed direction on which we will be building our foundation on.
Design is:
“Conceiving, planning & constructing a proposed, intended element for a specific purpose.”
Examples:
1. A chair was “designed” to withhold a medium body weight that allows the user to sit down.
2. The car was “designed” to transport us from point A to point B over extended distances.
3. The pencil was “designed” in such a way that it allows us to ergonomically place our hands around in order to write something down.
It doesn’t matter what the chair, car or pencil looks like in terms of esthetics. That comes later when we want to add a graphical element to the finished product.
Dictionary.com has 13 definitions for the word “design” and only 3 of them (points 8, 10 and 11) refer to design in artistic expression: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/design
Make no mistake, when we as design professionals craft our wireframes together, we are indeed designing. This is very important to understand and appreciate as many of our fellow co-workers view wireframing as sketches and just a simple step to overcome so we can move on with the project. Even more of the general viewing public do not know or appreciate the craftsmanship, intelligence and thought that goes in to designing wireframes.
Design is not artsy-fartsy feel good graphics. I believe this is where the disconnect is with many inexperienced work professionals as they do not have a proper understanding of the creative design process.
Two of the best and most popular examples of design is the story of the Wright brothers:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers who designed an aircraft of sorts to fly.
All the while displaying key components of the design process: Creativity, thought leadership, sketching, planning, constructing, etc.,… all the while designing a proposed object with an intended purpose for a certain outcome.
This design process can also be witnessed with the inception of my second example, the automobile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobile#History
Ferdinand Verbiest, Karl Benz, Henry Ford and a few others all followed and practically reiterated the design process as well.
Again, the automobile was designed with an intended purpose for a certain task in mind. The steering wheel was designed to provide direction, the seats designed to allow drivers and passengers to sit, etc.,
In all of this, esthetics came later, and we all know that the graphical layer is simply the eye-catching icing on the cake to appeal to the buyer’s emotions in order to make the sale.
Not to harp on the author here, I luv other components of this article which are spot-on, but IA types had better wise up to their craft and what it is that they’re producing. If we as designers don’t appreciate or understand fully what it is that we’re doing, nobody else will.
We are not simple wire monkeys placing boxes and arrows together in the early stages of a project.
IA types should be cutting-edge, business oriented thought-leaders who craft and design proposed intelligent schematics for a certain demographic to accomplish a certain task for a certain purpose for a certain outcome.
Design is creation.
2 Responses to “Wireframes are indeed Design”
I tend to agree with you as well… I think wireframes are at the very least a base for any design
Hey Andy,
I agree. The problem I believe is that many people who call themselves IAs are the ones who may not be designing in the trues sense of the word. I’ve come across more people who simply piece boxes and arrows together by copying other people’s work or simply following best practices.
True design is creative and innovative. Real IAs should be creating solutions and introducing business betterment by leveraging new technologies and trying to invent new methods that add value to the client, the IA community and most of all, the end user.
Thanks for your comment.