A wireframe is a simple means of developing a user-interface (UI) without programming or visual design. It’s used to test usability, to demonstrate functionality and as a rapid prototyping method. It can be as fast and simple as working on a sketch on a whiteboard or the proverbial ‘back of the napkin’. But just because it is simple, don’t assume it is easy or a shortcut. It is actually the most critical stage of developing your idea into a product. A drawing of boxes and buttons with call-outs that tell their functions can give you enough to start testing the usefulness of your concept to a customer. The feedback you get is immediate and should be incorporated into the model in real time, aka ‘rapid interation’. When it finally seems to be working and your customers agree, then, and only then, should you start programming the backend.