Wireframing Examples by Use Case

View real-world demonstrations of how wireframes can be utilized to visualize and structure user interfaces specific to different industries
Wireframing Examples by Use Case Lesson

The design process of any product should take an individual approach, whether it's the selection of a prototyping tool, user research methods, or the level of wireframe fidelity. Besides, different industries have different needs from their websites and other digital products. What works great for one industry’s users might be a horrible fit for another. 

Understanding the technical and UX needs for various types of products across industries is a vital first step in the wireframing process. It will help you figure out how to prioritize and organize content, what screens to include in your wireframes, and how to annotate them properly.

Wireframes should focus on a team's plan and goals

The way you style your wireframes depends on a few things: the goals for your product, the costs associated with developing the wireframes, and the time and effort available to focus on the wireframing process. So how do you decide?

First, think about how the wireframe will be used. Is it purely an internal document? In that case, you can likely get by with low-fidelity, or even hand-drawn, wireframes. Will they be shown to clients, potential users, or high-level stakeholders? You’ll probably want to create something more polished, include actual wireframe text, use colors, and add relevant imagery. You’ll likely need to strike a balance between creating high-fidelity wireframes and not spending too much time styling them.

Remember that the higher-fidelity your wireframes are, the less creative feedback stakeholders may offer.[1]

Banking dashboard wireframing Bad Practice
Banking dashboard wireframing Best Practice

Dashboards for things like banking websites can be complex; they need to show a lot of data in a way that’s easy for users to both understand and find what they’re looking for. To that end, it’s helpful to include sample data in a wireframe, to really demonstrate how the dashboard layout makes that data easy to understand.

That said, early wireframes for things like financial dashboards and other data-heavy sites can be more basic. An early version might simply show which sections will go where with data examples added in later versions.

Real estate agency wireframing Bad Practice
Real estate agency wireframing Best Practice

There are generally two reasons a user may visit a real estate website: they’re either interested in purchasing a home or they want to sell their home. Your wireframes should express how the site will cater to both needs.

In general, real estate sites need to catch user attention visually. That’s why a hero image is so important. From there, they generally focus on buyers with property search fields and filters. And they should include stats about the agency to help persuade sellers to list with them.

Beauty and fashion wireframing Bad Practice
Beauty and fashion wireframing Best Practice

When you’re designing for an industry that’s known for its aesthetics — such as the fashion industry — you step up the style of your wireframes a notch. Be sure that you convey a sense of the mood with your wireframes, make excellent use of white space, and don’t be afraid to include a few stylistic elements like typography choices.

While you don’t want to go overboard with the stylistic elements of a wireframe like this, you’ll want to include more than you might for other industries. Add touches that imply and reinforce the mood of the brand.

Ecommerce website wireframing Bad Practice
Ecommerce website wireframing Best Practice

Ecommerce sites have one goal: to sell products or services. When creating wireframes for them, it’s important to emphasize how the customer will navigate through the selection and purchase process. The CTA is one of the most important parts of this type of site, whether it’s a “buy now,” “add to cart,” or some other type of button.

Beyond the CTA, your ecommerce wireframes should show clear categories of goods, include a search function, show how multiple products will be displayed, and show how product pages will be laid out.[1] Adapt those functions as necessary for your specific use case (such as a site selling a single product or service).

Marketing agency wireframing Bad Practice
Marketing agency wireframing Best Practice

Marketing agency websites need to serve a few functions, but one of the biggest is to establish credibility in what they do. Your wireframe should emphasize the agency’s expertise and the past clients that they’ve worked with, particularly well-known ones.

Make sure your wireframes make it easy to find the relevant information a potential client would want to find about an agency. Beyond their expertise and well-known people they’ve worked with, most prospective clients will want to know exactly what services they offer and how to get in touch with them.

Social media app wireframing Bad Practice
Social media app wireframing Best Practice

Most people access social media sites from their mobile devices than on desktop computers (for example, more than 98% of Facebook users access the site on their mobile devices).[2] Or at least they do if the mobile version of their favorite social media site is well designed.

Your social media mobile wireframes should include the most important features users want to access: their timeline, buttons for creating new content, and the search feature. Consider, too, how users actually scroll through social media sites. Make sure photos are prominent, that long blocks of text are hidden with a “show more” button, and that the button for creating their own post is easy to access at all times.

Food delivery app wireframing Bad Practice
Food delivery app wireframing Best Practice

When people decide to order food to be delivered, they’re most likely to do so on a mobile device. It’s often a last-minute decision, made while on the go. That’s why the mobile version of a food delivery site needs to be easy to use and intuitive.

Your wireframe should emphasize the features people on mobile devices want to access, including a list of restaurants that are easy to filter, the ability to search for a specific restaurant, and information about the menu and what other diners have thought of the food and quality of service.

Search is one of the most important functions on this type of site, so be sure to emphasize that in your wireframes. Autosuggest is a vital feature here, as is the ability to filter search results. Also pay careful attention to how users actually place an order, as this can be a sticking point if it's not intuitive and easy to use.

Taxi app wireframing Bad Practice
Taxi app wireframing Best Practice

Wireframes for taxi or ride-sharing apps need to include a few basic features: a detailed map with a location pin that can be easily moved to indicate your pickup location, a CTA button to order your ride, and clear options for cars available with their pricing.

Users will almost exclusively use this type of app on mobile devices. Because of that, it’s vital to give them multiple options for indicating their pickup location, including both a text search and map interface. Your wireframes should clearly indicate how users can interact with those features.

Music app wireframing Bad Practice
Music app wireframing Best Practice

People use music apps in different ways. Some use them to access the music of their favorite artists while others use the same apps to find new music (and, of course, some use them for both).

While the actual music interface should be pretty self-explanatory, with play, pause, and skip or repeat options, you’ll want to pay closer attention to the wireframes for finding music. Search and browse screens with clear-cut categories and genres should be focused on, along with things like recommended artists or playlists.

Your wireframes should also demonstrate how users can save their favorites, create their own playlists or stations, and customize their experience.

Weather forecast app wireframing Bad Practice
Weather forecast app wireframing Best Practice

Being able to check the weather when planning your day or week is crucial for many people. We want to know whether we need to bring a sweater or umbrella, or if it’ll be clear skies all day. That said, the average person is only concerned with a couple of key points: what the temperature will be and the chances of rain or snow.

Your wireframes should focus on clearly showing the temperature, precipitation, and upcoming forecast. There should be plenty of white space around these key pieces of information so that they stand out and are easy to find.

If your app will include more detailed information that only a small subset of users are likely to access, be sure to include separate wireframe screens for displaying them.

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