If you read our recent case study on how EMPAC got their website redesign project off to a running start using Wirify Pro you may have noticed the following remark:
“[…] we found that some page elements needed a bit more embellishment: page headings in particular were converted back into their original text, for the sake of making the wireframe more self-documenting.”
This makes a lot of sense and sounds like a feature others would find beneficial as well. So in the interest of making your redesign process even faster we have just released a new version of Wirify Pro that allows you to view and export headings in your wireframes:
Source: CNN International
This feature is available immediately to Wirify Pro customers with active Wirify credits. To view headings select “Show headings” in the Wirify Pro menu, and then select “Hide headings” to revert back to the default block view.
Wireframes exported into OmniGraffle and Balsamiq now also include heading text:
» View and download example wireframes with headings
On wireframe fidelity
Whilst displaying headings may sound trivial this is conceptually the biggest change to Wirify since the original launch in December. The philosophy behind Wirify has always been ‘no text and no images’ as inspired by Web.Without.Words and we believe the low fidelity and high level of abstraction are keys to Wirify’s continued success.
Having said this, Wirify Pro is specifically focused on redesign projects, where we think headings can provide excellent touch points and ‘anchors’ for different parts of the page. In a sense this is where utility trumps ‘conceptual purity’.
We have no plans of adding other detailed page elements to Wirify wireframes though, and the highly abstracted block view with no text or images remains the default view in both Wirify and Wirify Pro.
Other changes
Wirify free and Wirify Pro:
- Revised z-order of page elements: interactive elements are shown over images, and headings are always on top
- Process contents of the largest iframe instead the parent page itself on certain websites (e.g. Gmail)
- H5 and H6 headings are now included in the wireframe along with the original H1..H4
- Removed ‘www.’ prefix in the information overlay title
- Reorganised Wirify menu.
Wirify Pro:
- Attempt to intelligently extract heading text, also when using Cufón text replacement
- Headings are exported in either black-on-white (when shown) or gray-on-gray (when hidden)
- If using Balsamiq Mockups you need to install BalsamiqMockups.cfg to correctly display headings with Unicode characters
- Page editing is now enabled on Internet Explorer and works in IE9; IE7 and IE8 have known issues.
Thanks to the EMPAC web team for the brilliant idea!
As always, please keep us posted with your feedback.
Update: Here’s another screenshot to illustrate a wireframe with headings, exported into OmniGraffle using Wirify Pro:
Source: The Guardian
Tags: document export, level of detail, product update, wireframe fidelity, wireframe headings