
Some things can’t be wireframed - dieulot
http://insideintercom.io/things-cant-wireframed/
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drakaal
Wireframes are maps, not models.

Author doesn't seem to know what a wire frame is. And doesn't seem to have any
concept of how UI/UX should be done.

Wireframes are typically used for determining how much of each screen
something will take up. After that you move to a Mock up.

You don't need to see video play to know that the video is going to be too
small if the Logo is 1600x800 on the page.

A wire frame should be more like the pencil sketch or white board image that
you use to talk about what is going to where, and to be used as a "map". It
doesn't convey what things will really look like as much as give you an idea
of where things are and how much real estate they take up.

Think of a wireframe like a relief map. It tells you how tall the hill is, and
where the canyon is, not how beautiful it will be or what color. A blue print
tells you where the studs in the building will go, but you get a better
picture of how the building will look from a little Styrofoam model. They are
both important, but they aren't the same thing.

~~~
buzzmckinnon
The author's point is that for some projects wireframing may not be
appropriate. I've had this experience on numerous occasions where let's say a
full-color design comp or an interactive prototype would better serve the
concept, which may be hard to grasp otherwise.

This is especially true when taking a design first approach, or when your
project gains nothing by illustrating hierarchies, navigation, or other
wireframe-able things.

~~~
drakaal
The author either thinks the readers are either stupid and don't know the
difference between a Hammer and a Screwdriver and why you can't drive nails
with a screwdriver....

Or the author is stupid and was driving nails with a screwdriver and wrote
this post to explain why they changed.

~~~
destraynor
Or Drakaal is a gutless troll who wishes he could write articles that people
cared or even talked about. That's also a possibility I guess.

~~~
drakaal
I think you will find from my comments on HN, My youtube channel, and my
interactions in volunteerism, with political movements, and law enforcement
that I may be a Troll. But I'm not gutless.

-Brandon Wirtz

~~~
destraynor
Respect.

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netfire
Not sure I agree with this. The article compares extremely low-fidelity
wireframes with very high fidelity mockups. You don't have to choose between
one or the other. Tools like Balsamiq allow you to create mockups that give a
better approximation of the real thing with substantially less work.

I'm not saying you shouldn't create high-fidelity mockups, but get the
usability problems solved first in a lower-cost environment. That could be as
simple as a whiteboarding session or using index cards. You should be excited
for a product/site not only based on how it looks, but what it does.

~~~
seanmcdirmid
Mock ups (high fidelity) should actually precede wire frames and prototypes as
a way of promoting a project in its very early stages to stakeholders. They
are brainstorming outputs but don't really represent real design output yet,
and must be promptly shelved after their internal promotional planning use.

The author is simply confusing interaction and visual design. The former
involves wireframing, the latter almost always does not.

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jamesbritt
I'm surprised there isn't more appreciation of DENIM:
[http://dub.washington.edu:2007/denim/](http://dub.washington.edu:2007/denim/)

Wireframes you can click through.

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mikegirouard
I agree with everything said by the author, but I think that mood boards help
to fill the gap.

~~~
destraynor
Interesting, I'd love to read a post on how you use Moodboards

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laander
My quick summary: 1) Bad example of a detail-poor wireframe that actually
could have been good with actual content text and more precision. 2)
Explanation that wireframe leads the design direction and sets its own limits
of creativity. They constrain your execution to well-known paradigms and
restricts innovation. 3) A vague point about alternative methods of user
interaction that can't be wireframed and one must leave the comfort zone of
traditional UX.

Ironically, the whole post seems to be a retrospective reflection on how
Intercom.io COULD have developed their own product, but chose not to.
[https://www.intercom.io/](https://www.intercom.io/) is a direct example of
wireframe-driven design that fits into the same boxes that OP wants to break.

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bobbygoodlatte
Amen. The entire idea of having one person wireframe a layout and someone else
"design" it is broken.

Designers aren't decorators. Give them a problem to solve instead of boxes to
color in.

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randomflavor
this is the stupidest post ever. this post should be called some ideas cant be
captured by some wireframing methodologies and tools, who are used by people
who are dumb.

