Balsamiq - Why we rebuilt Balsamiq Templates

The latest news from Balsamiq:
How we rethink major features, like Balsamiq Templates.

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Ciao friends,

Recently, the marketing team and I had a chat with Michael Angeles, our Head of Design and co-author of Wireframing for Everyone. We dove deep into the recent evolution of one of Balsamiq’s core features, Templates, to give you an exclusive peek at how we rethink and refine existing features.

The journey from Wireframes to Go to today’s Balsamiq Templates

In 2009, we launched Wireframes to Go (WTG), a community-driven site where you could find and share UI controls and templates. At the time, it felt like the right response to customers who needed help designing specific interfaces like dashboards or e-commerce checkouts. Content on WTG was like adding a secret stash of specialty LEGO bricks to your collection.

But as the years went on, using WTG became more of a hassle than it should have been. Opening a dialog, browsing, importing templates—it worked, but it wasn’t smooth. We also noticed that fewer people were contributing, and fewer were using the feature.

Still, people were often designing the same elements or asking about specific designs. And, WTG didn’t have a clear owner anymore (we’d restructured as a company since its inception). That told us something important: WTG needed to evolve.

So we asked ourselves: How do we make templates simpler and more valuable?

Making improvements

We realized there were countless ways to improve our templates. But with a small UX team and limited time, we needed to be strategic. Michael took the lead and focused the effort on two core principles:

Serve user needs: Balsamiq Templates are here to help you design solutions quickly and easily.
Research-driven growth: We need to build the Templates library based on what you actually need, using research to guide us. This means we’re less reliant on community contributions and more focused on creating relevant, high-quality templates.

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With those in mind, we tackled the first phase by making the feature easier to use:

No more standalone site: Templates are now built directly into the Balsamiq UI. We ditched the WTG branding and simplified the name to Balsamiq Templates, too.
Simplified library: We merged or removed redundant UI controls and templates.
Updated standards: We refreshed outdated controls, layouts, and user-submitted templates.
Better organization: We updated categories to make everything easier to find.
Backend improvements: Michael and some of our other developers cleaned up scripts to make things work better under the hood, like naming.

Already, these changes are making a difference. For example, check out the new Web Apps & Sites tab (under UI Controls > More). It has templates for common sections—like heroes, features, galleries, and footers—that you can stack to build a wireframe quickly. Michael describes it as “building a layered cake, one section at a time.”

What’s next for Balsamiq Templates

We have plans for monthly updates that will add new controls and templates, while refreshing existing ones. We understand that while some people love wireframing from scratch, others prefer starting with a template. And for common UX design patterns, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel.

Jess, our user researcher, is also leading an ongoing research effort to make sure we’re building the templates and controls you need today.

If you want to help out that effort, we’d love to get your thoughts in a quick survey:

Take the survey

What we learned along the way

As we work on improving Balsamiq Templates, a few things have become crystal clear:

Adapt or fade away: Customer needs change. If you don’t keep up, features become obsolete. WTG didn’t evolve, but we’re fixing that now.
Observe and listen: Sometimes, the best insights come from your instincts or from watching how people use your product—not just from surveys, spreadsheets, or written feedback.
Simplicity wins: Embrace bold changes that improve the user experience, even if it means letting go of something that’s been around for a while.
UGC needs care: User-generated content is awesome, but it needs attention to stay relevant. Without clear ownership, it can become outdated quickly.
Every big feature needs a champion: One of our biggest takeaways from WTG is that every big feature needs a clear owner. Michael’s ownership of Balsamiq Templates has made all the difference.

You can check out the work by clicking on the Templates tab in Balsamiq Cloud.

Check out Balsamiq Templates

Happy customer of the month

One tool I use a lot and have been using for at least 10 years is Balsamiq. There are much more full-featured and prettier wireframing tools available, but for quickly turning an idea into a shareable vision with other people it's been hard to beat. — Pete Sergeant

Product news

We just celebrated a big release! In case you missed it, learn more about our biggest product update this summer. It includes:

Updated onboarding, so we can personalize Balsamiq for you
Cleaned up project navigation and settings
More flexible plans and pricing
New billing features, like external admins and pause subscription

Balsamiq Academy news

People like you are reading:

Company news

August is a slower month at Balsamiq. Many of us take time off, so we tend to focus more on customer-facing projects and lighten the load on internal work. I went to a Nascar race last weekend, but time off at Balsamiq looks different for everyone:

Peldi, our founder and CEO, went to Paris to watch the Olympics with his family for a week
Virgin, our support manager, did a staycation with lots of family time and surfing
Fra, our growth marketing manager, spent some time in the mountains with her dad

If it’s been a while since your last vacation, consider this a much-needed sign.

That's it for this month!

Have a template request for us, or want to share some thoughts on this newsletter? Just hit reply and I’ll get back to you. Otherwise, I’ll 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 - Why we rebuilt Balsamiq Templates

The journey from Wireframes to Go to today’s Balsamiq Templates

Making improvements

What’s next for Balsamiq Templates

What we learned along the way

Happy customer of the month

Product news

Balsamiq Academy news

Company news

That's it for this month!

Most new customers find Balsamiq via recommendation...

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Inside Balsamiq: our new approach to internal product training

How Balsamiq does user research

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