Balsamiq x AI: Should you even wireframe anymore?

The latest news from Balsamiq:

AI’s role in your design toolkit.

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Hi friend,

Grab your coffee (or tea, no judgment here), and let’s have a real talk. Remember the days when AI was this shiny new toy? Those headlines screaming, “AI will write the next bestseller!” or “AI will code better than humans!” were pretty eye-catching, weren’t they?

But here’s the plot twist: integrating AI isn’t a magic “fix” for everything, nor is it about to whisk away our jobs.

SparkToro and Datos reveal a telling trend: ChatGPT visits plunged 29% since May. Regulators are scratching their heads over AI’s ripple effects across industries, and that blitz of AI features from tech giants? Some are cool, but they’re not all as helpful as you’d think.

Take a deep breath in. Now, exhale. Feel that? It's the collective sigh of relief. Our creative human spark isn’t just hanging in there; it’s genuinely irreplaceable.

The truth is, we think AI can be a powerhouse in your professional toolkit—no matter what you do. And like any tool, it works best when you know how to use it.

So we’ve spent the last few months observing how the industry, our team, and people like you use AI, especially when it comes to design and ideation. And we’ve noticed some creative use cases!

1. AI’s quick fire ideation 🤝 human storytelling

AI, in all its computational glory, serves as a powerhouse for churning out raw material. Ask for homepage ideas, and you'll get a digital stack of content suggestions, potential layouts, maybe even color schemes—all in seconds. But these aren't wireframes; they're possibilities, unrefined and lacking human discernment. Plus, it’s a little too high-fidelity to be efficient in the early stages.

So, AI passes the baton to you.

Scenario: You need a fresh homepage. AI serves up a buffet of elements—headlines, CTAs, potential flow. It's like AI just poured a box of puzzle pieces onto the table. They fit together somehow, but the picture isn't clear yet.

Your advantage: You discern the story these pieces tell when woven together. You see the way elements connect, how a user's eye might travel across the screen, the story that unfolds as they scroll. You interpret emotions, cultural nuances, and those oh-so-subtle human quirks. You bring the heart into the design. AI can't, at least not now.

Next time: Use AI as your brainstorming buddy. Take its rapid suggestions as a springboard for your wireframes, where your human insight turns data into a journey.

2. Tailoring User Experience with AI Insights

AI doesn't stop at ideation. It's incredibly efficient at parsing data, helping you tailor experiences like never before. You’ll want to check your privacy policy and anonymize your data before doing this, but you can use AI to help create data-informed designs.

Scenario: Your app's engagement is dwindling. You pull an anonymized dataset from your analytics tool, and feed it into ChatGPT with some context. AI’s analysis highlights areas where users lose interest or get frustrated.

Your advantage: You interpret this data with empathy, tweaking your designs to resonate on a human level, beyond just 'user-friendly'. While AI knows the numbers, you know that behind every click, there’s a person with a truckload of hopes, fears, and the messy breadcrumbs of daily life.

Next time: Before a redesign, consult AI to pull insights about user behavior. Use this knowledge to inform your wireframes, crafting an experience that’s not just functional, but also captivating.

3. Collaborative Efficiency: AI and Time-Intensive Tasks

Beyond creative insights, AI streamlines your workflow, handling analytical or repetitive work while you focus on big-picture tasks.

Scenario: You're swamped with revisions and A/B testing options. AI can auto-generate copy for that headline test or even help you understand test results. This is especially helpful if you’re resource-strapped or only have time for a copywriter to polish a final headline.

Your advantage: Freed from tedium, you channel your energy into perfecting the user journey, making informed decisions without burning out on detail overload.

Next time: Delegate the legwork to AI. When inundated with design choices, let it do the preliminary sorting. Your final judgment is what will create a product that’s not only efficient but also imbued with a human touch that users recognize and appreciate.

4. Explore the possibilities

While writing this newsletter, our user researcher, Jess, got a note from a Balsamiq customer that walked us through how they taught ChatGPT our open-source BMPR file format. With a few well-written prompts and some back and forth, Bret was able to get ChatGPT to edit a Balsamiq wireframe with some code! Bret used it to add a whole field—and started some great conversations among our team.

And other customers have written in with stories of using wireframes to help them create prompts for code or higher fidelity mockups.

Personally, I’ve loved using AI to organize my thoughts when it comes to updating our website and identifying new options for a homepage flow (a sneak peek into what our marketing team’s working on!). And even though I love the efficiency AI brings, there’s nothing like talking to real people and creating wireframes to solve their challenges.

So, our takeaway? It's a partnership, not a competition. AI provides the building blocks, the raw data, and trends, but it doesn't build the house. That's your job, utilizing your unique understanding of empathy, storytelling, and human experience—a task machines haven’t mastered and, frankly, may never fully grasp.

Happy customer of the month

Currently redesigning the Home Page for a trading news site. Call-to-action hierarchy in a site like this is crucial. As a freelancer, it's important to address and show clients the best practices, this guide from @balsamiq was very helpful for it. — Aldo Guzman

Product news

We increased the canvas size 400%, and shipped the new mini-map to help you navigate around your large wireframes. Try it out and experience your newfound freedom to roam! 😊

We also added “zoom to width”, simplified the Cloud signup form, and fixed a few bugs, as always.

Wireframing Academy news

Our team remains busy doing interviews and talks around our book, Wireframing for Everyone. Here’s the latest:

Leon was interviewed on the This is HCD podcast about, what else, 'Wireframing for Everyone'
Leon spoke on the SaaS Fuel podcast about Crafting SaaS Success with UX Expertise
Billy gave a talk at the Rosenfeld DesignOps Summit about Principles of Team Wireframing

Last, but not least, we wrapped up a separate newsletter that we had been sending out about the book. A big, warm welcome, to those coming here from that mailing list!

UX/UI links for October

The Negative Impact of Persuasive Design - by Anna Rátkai
Button Labels: Is “OK” Ok? - by Tiina Golub
In-Page Links for Content Navigation - by Huei-Hsin Wang
Making Product Managers and UX Designers Wear Users’ Hats - by Aleksander Fenin
Why You Should Add Friction to Your Onboarding - by Ben McRedmond

Company News

We spent our last All Hands meeting chatting about new features, a coworker’s very cool hobby (he’s a freelance DJ), professional development, and changes to our team-specific and all company in-person retreats. More specifically, we decided to try a more staggered schedule for retreats, with a company retreat every other year and team-specific retreats in between, to help balance the planning workload.

Besides that, we continue our work in making tech a better place:

Help us make Balsamiq Better! We’d love to learn more about how you use Balsamiq, and how we can improve for you.
Sponsorships and raffles: Notable events we're sponsoring include Lesbians Who Tech San Francisco Summit, Button: The content design conference, Mind the Product London and more!
Notable recipients of our Free Software Program:
- Two Roads Charity mission is “Better Mental Health Through Education“
- OneWarmLight is a non-profit in India empowering local communities and organizations to create sustainable impact
- Croix-Rouge Française The Red Cross is the largest humanitarian organization in the world

That's it for this month!

Thanks for reading! AI or not, you’re right here, doing the hard, beautiful work of creating great user experiences. And if you’re using AI in your work, I’d love to know how—just reply to this email.

See you next month, with more behind-the-scenes news from your friends at Balsamiq!

Arielle for the Balsamiq Team

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Balsamiq x AI: Should you even wireframe anymore?

1. AI’s quick fire ideation 🤝 human storytelling

2. Tailoring User Experience with AI Insights

3. Collaborative Efficiency: AI and Time-Intensive Tasks

4. Explore the possibilities

Happy customer of the month

Product news

Wireframing Academy news

UX/UI links for October

Company News

That's it for this month!

Most new customers find Balsamiq via recommendation...

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Behind the scenes of Balsamiq's major UX revamp

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Inside Balsamiq’s new book: Wireframing for Everyone

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