In the realm of web-browser-based designing tools, Figma and Wireframe.cc have sparked interest amongst the design community. Designing is the core objective of both, but with different approaches. This is why we brought this blog on Figma vs Wireframe.cc. The comparison blog will help you decide the right tool for your specific projects.
Figma is a cloud-based, fully featured, and collaborative design platform. It is used for designing high-fidelity prototypes and wireframing web projects (landing pages, apps, or dashboards). Wireframe.cc, on the other hand, is a minimalist tool and one of the best Figma alternatives focused on a single task: creating low-fidelity wireframes.
Table Of Content
What About Figma?
If you are part of the UI/UX community, Figma would be your go-to tool on the checklist. This cloud-based design tool is helpful for creating websites, user interfaces, user experiences, and other digital products. It operates primarily in a web browser but also offers desktop applications for macOS and Windows.
There are four main products under the Figma umbrella:
- Figma Design: It creates several design assets, prototypes and manages design systems.
- FigJam: A virtual whiteboard ideally used for workshops, group sessions, and the decision-making process.
- Dev Mode: This is an integrated design workspace designed to facilitate collaboration between designers and developers, promoting a lean workflow.
- Figma Slides (still in beta version): It is a presentation tool used by design teams to co-create slide decks.
What is Figma Used For?
Figma is a widely accessible tool for graphic designers, UI designers, UX designers, and digital marketers.
Figma is commonly used to:
- Design static wireframes and mockups for websites and mobile apps.
- Prototype interactive websites and mobile apps (again).
- Design with reusable components and styles.
- Create logos, icons, and infographics, and post on social media.
- Host virtual brainstorming and workshops with FigJam.
Does Figma Require Coding?
No coding expertise is required to access Figma. This is what makes it more popular due to its intuitive, user-friendly interface. With this, you can create wireframes, prototypes, and scalable design assets. If you are a design fresher, start using Figma today to showcase your creativity in the UI/UX domain.
What is Wireframe.cc?
Wireframe.cc is a minimalist wireframing tool accessible on browsers. The ‘.cc’ stands for Creative Commons. This wireframing tool creates simpler user interface prototypes. It outlines the fundamental design of web pages or applications that enable users to add content without impacting visual aspects, such as colours, fonts, or images. This is a key process in the first steps of designing that can help facilitate creative communication.
Wireframe.cc: Free Version vs. Paid Version
Free version: Users can access core functionalities and share wireframes with unique URLs.
Premium version: You can unlock premium features in the paid version:
- Unlimited projects
- Exclusive dashboards for all projects
- Reusable master pages
- Exporting to PDF and PNG
- Clickable links in prototypes
Plans: Solo, Trio, and Enterprise are available depending on user needs.
Wireframe.cc Use Cases
- Rapid prototyping: Instantly sketch out ideas for mobile and web interfaces with more intuitive elements.
- Conceptual design: Useful for basic structural design of an early-stage application and website.
- Collaboration & Sharing: You can share your designs with any other colleague or customer to get feedback easily.
- Exporting: You can export your designs as .PNG or .PDF format to be used in other documents or be used in presentations.
- Master Pages: Master Pages allow repeated elements to appear on different pages.
Figma Design Tips and Tricks
1. Use Auto Layout for Effortless Responsive Designs
Auto Layout has been identified as among the strongest capabilities for producing fluid and responsive components. It self-adjusts, centers, and scales content. This is useful in the development of buttons, cards, or even whole sections of a website. Auto Layout can be used to maintain consistency and save a lot of time, especially when dealing with scaled UI.
2. Create and Reuse Component Variants
To use the Variants feature of Figma to consolidate several different parts of the CTA elements into a system. It takes into consideration all the possible variations of design components (images, colors, states: hover, active, disabled, etc.) and bundles them into one package. Such a method keeps your design files clean and orderly.
3. Master Figma’s Constraints for Perfect Resizing
Constraints enable you to resize the layers and frames. This helps you adjust how your designs appear at different screen sizes. You can specify how a layer behaves when the parent frame it is in is resized by selecting an element and using the Constraints panel in the right sidebar.
4. Use Styles for Consistent Colors, Text, and Effects.
Manually updating each element is a tedious task. Save your efforts by choosing the Styles option. You can convert typography and color palette into a style. It maintains the visual consistency of larger projects and makes the design task scalable with minimal rework.
5. Use Figma Make for Quick Designing
Figma Make empowers you to design quickly with the help of AI prompts. It is a playground for new ideas and concepts where imagination turns into reality. Keep your design system visually consistent by adding styling context from your Figma library. You can then set custom rules or paste in a frame to guide Figma Make to work on your ideas.
Wireframe.cc Designing Tips and Tricks
1. Basic Drawing Instructions
You can create a new element by simply clicking, dragging, and then selecting a stencil from a pop-up menu. The only stencils shown in the pop-up menu will be those that fit into the selected area. So, for example, if you draw a tall and narrow rectangle, a vertical scroll bar can be inserted.
2. Drawing with Shortcuts
The process of inserting new elements is done quickly by using keyboard shortcuts. If you click and drag a rectangle, you can press a key corresponding to an element you want to place there. A pop-up menu will appear, but you don’t have to click it. You can even specify the color of the background when drawing a box.
3. Smart Guides
The Smart Guides feature allows designers to draw accurate shapes instantly. These features transform objects on the canvas. If you want to position a new object relative to an existing object, smart guides appear before you start drawing. It guides you step by step while navigating the cursor. Guides appear as the object or cursor approaches the edge or center point of other objects and the canvas.
4. Colors
These are shortcut number keys that are used to draw boxes with a given background color or edit them.
- 0-Transparent
- 7-Tomato
- 1 to 6- Greyscale
This blog ends with a question: which design tool would you prefer? Brainstorming is done fast without distraction with Wireframe.cc. If you need real-time collaboration, polished UI design, reusable components, and advanced prototyping, Figma is the creative option to consider.
Wireframe.cc assists you in developing the idea, while Figma turns the idea into reality. You choose the tool based on whether you are outlining the structure of your design or developing the entire body of your design. Nevertheless, both options allow you to keep designing in the browser with no downloads and no setup—just design flow.
FAQs
1. Is Figma considered a dedicated wireframing tool, or is it better for high-fidelity design?
Figma is a one-stop solution design tool highly proficient in high-fidelity design and prototyping, but is also used in wireframing.
2. Which tool has a steeper learning curve for non-designers who need to create wireframes?
Non-designers typically have a higher learning curve in Figma than in specialized wireframing tools like Wireframe.cc, which are specifically designed to be easy to use and fast and sketchy with low-fidelity prototyping.
3. Is it efficient to use Figma for both low-fidelity wireframes and high-fidelity mockups in the same project?
Figma is utilized in both low-fidelity wireframes and high-fidelity mock-ups in the same project, which is highly efficient as it allows making a smooth transition between the phases and keeping all assets stored in a single file.
4. Which tool is more cost-effective for a large team that primarily needs to create rapid, low-fidelity wireframes?
Specialized wireframing software, like Wireframe.cc, is affordable for a large team whose main concern is speedy, low-fidelity wireframes, due to its per-user cost and the limiting aspect of its focus not contributing to unnecessary complexity towards that goal.
