The difference between wireframes and mockups in UI design

Wireframes and mockups are essential artifacts of every product development project to establish the groundwork of how the app or website will look and feel. They might sound confusing to non-designers as they are often used as synonyms. However, they are not the same, and each of them represents different stages of the UI design process.

To keep the communication between teams concise, you need to understand the difference between wireframes and mockups. Below is a breakdown of how they differ, how they fit into the product design process, and why they are vital in UI/UX design.

Wireframe

What is “wireframe”?

Wireframes are simple sketches or skeletal blueprints made to visualize an app or website's initial layout and structure. It is a low-fidelity design that does not go into details with any branding and visual clutters. They are typically used early in the design process to help communicate the overall direction to the relevant stakeholders.

Initially, the designers create wireframes using simple shapes and lines and do not usually include any styling or color. For its simplicity, wireframes are not exclusively within the purview of designers. Product managers and other stakeholders can also have their hands on building a wireframe. Wireframe’s truly structural design allows quick modification when changes are needed, especially if your team has to present the idea to your users multiple times for approval.

The UX team can construct a wireframe using the most basic pen and paper, or it can be created digitally using design software such as Adobe XD, Sketch, or Google Jamboard. A digitally-built wireframe has the advantage of being more detailed than its paper counterpart as the design tools usually include ready-made components and dummy text to use as content placeholders.

Why do you need a wireframe?

Generally, a wireframe has three main purposes:

• Visually communicate the product's basic functionality and the interface's structure.
• Gather feedback through early user testing helps establish a more complex product concept time-efficiently.
• Enable efficient collaboration between stakeholders.

When you look at a wireframe, you can understand which main functions the final product will have and where each type of content and design element is located. Using wireframes makes it easier to get everyone on the same page about what you are trying to accomplish. Therefore, before your team develops any code or commits significant resources to a project, it is critical that everyone understands what they are working on.

Mockup

What is a “mockup”?

In UI or user interface design, a mockup is a wireframe that has already been filled in with the visual components and navigation elements. Simply put, while wireframes are the blueprints, mockups are the designer’s visual depiction. It looks like the final version of the application or a website; however, it is not interactive.

A mockup version can include the graphics, placeholder texts, menu items, buttons, etc. As it is not functional, any links or buttons you see on a mockup do not direct you to a form or a web page when clicked on. It is a mid-fidelity design because they allow users and stakeholders to visualize the final products.

In a product design process, developing a mockup usually comes after wireframe design, after the structure on the approved wireframe. While a wireframe is to preview the interface structure, a mockup allows previewing style choices and design before committing to constructing a functional prototype.

Designers usually build mockups using digital software such as Adobe XD or Figma. However, such programs require extensive design knowledge, and you must know how to use them effectively. For non-designers who want to create a mockup quickly, digital design tools such as Visily can help design beautiful mockups without prior design skills.

What is a mockup for?

The main intention of a mockup is to visualize the final interface before getting on with building the application or website prototype. It allows designers to test different visual content and present different design options to stakeholders. With mockups, users and designers can think over visual details and get the design agreed on.

Each screen of an application or page of a website should have a purpose with a particular goal in mind. With mockups, the product designing team can see how that goal can be achieved, from the laid-out structure in the wireframe design brought to life through the visual effects that the UI designers applied to such skeletal blueprints.

On the other hand, mockups are useful to use later as marketing materials, landings, etc.

Wireframes vs. Mockups: How They Differ

While both wireframes and mockups are static demonstrations of the final product, visualizing how it looks and functions, their main and most distinguished difference lies in their stage in the product development process.

Wireframes are like the blueprints of a house. They are two-dimensional sketches of the house’s layout, showing where each room locates and how the utility systems are established. On the other hand, mockups are the work of interior or exterior designers. They present different design styles, multiple paint color options, and even various types of flooring for their customers to choose from.

To summary, wireframes are used in the early stages of product design when the focus is on the overall structure, the functionality, and the placement of the various elements. Mockups are used in the later stages when the focus is on the details of the visual design.

The table below summarizes the differences between wireframes vs. mockups:

Conclusion

Wireframes and mockups are both important in the product design process. As the characteristics of these two processes actually complement each other, it is a good idea to incorporate both into your product development process rather than choose one over the other.

Conducting both processes allows you to be faster and more cost-effective. You and your team can make immediate adjustment in each stage separately compared to alternating the final product.

It can be challenging to develop coherent wireframes and mockups without solid skills, so AI-powered design software like Relume AI is incredibly useful for non-designers. Relume AI helps you design from simple, low fidelity wireframes to beautiful, high-fidelity wireframes ready for presentation in no time.

Relume AI is highly-sufficient for wireframing, as we offer

• A library with basic shapes and rich elements.
• Support for multiple screen sizes.
• Easy drag-and-drop to design.

Relume AI is also perfect for mockup design with AI-powered features, such as

• Sketch-to-design helps turn your hand-drawn wireframe into customizable mockups.
• Screenshot-to-design turns app screenshots into customizable mockups.
• Rich UI library with many smart components and templates.