You may know that I'm a fan of using Sharpies for wireframing layouts instead of specialty wireframing apps like Balsamiq or Mockingbird. I stated several reasons for my Sharpie affections a couple weeks ago in a post called Cheap, powerful desktop and mobile wireframing tools.
This time I want to hone in on one major benefit to using Sharpies for your initial wireframes. Messiness.
In the early stages of building a website or app, messiness is your friend. Messiness allows for change and adjustment without sacrifice. It makes wireframing super fast and worry-free. Messiness means not worrying about the wireframe more than you need to because you know it's only the first step of many on the way to designing something lots of people will find useful.
More specifically, messiness in your wireframes allows for greater creativity when you get to the pixel-perfect stage of design. Right now, you should be worried with organizing content, not whether the buttons should have rounded corners or sharp corners; that should be saved for later.
Wireframing apps allow for too much specificity, letting you choose from dozens of icons, pick different shapes for buttons, allow for changing states, drop in real photos, play with shadows, and a whole lot of other things that should be saved for another step in the design process.
Use a Sharpie. Keep it messy. Save the pixel-sweat for another day.
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