what is a wireframe in web design

A wireframe is a two-dimensional illustration of a web pages interface that focuses on space allocation, prioritization of content, functionalities available, and intended behaviors. Wireframes are devoid of color, font choices, logos, or any real design elements that take away from purely focusing on a sites structure. They are generally created by business analysts, user experience designers, developers, visual designers, and by those with expertise in interaction design, information architecture, and user research. Wireframes help establish functionality and the relationships between different screen templates of a website. They serve multiple purposes by helping to connect the sites information architecture to its visual design by showing paths between pages, clarify consistent ways for displaying particular types of information on the user interface, and determine intended functionality in the interface. Wireframes are the foundation on which to begin building a website of any size or shape, and they usually come after the site architecture has been determined by a site map or flow chart of the websites pages and before the creative design phase. Wireframes can be low-fidelity or high-fidelity, depending on the level of detail required. The former is better for facilitating project team communication and is relatively quick to develop, while the latter is better for documentation because of its increased level of detail.