Tips to Utilize Wireframes to Tell an Effective Product Story
Summary
In this sponsored session, Billy Carlson, a Design Educator from Balsamiq, will walk through how to use low fidelity designs combined with storytelling to convince product leadership to green light your next big product or feature idea.
Key Insights
-
•
Staying in low-fidelity wireframes during early concept phases enables quicker iteration and focused problem-solving.
-
•
Collaborative sketching sessions with multiple rounds build trust and generate stronger, shared concepts.
-
•
Using thick markers for sketching helps keep ideas high-level and prevents premature focus on details.
-
•
Wireframes should be crafted digitally to look polished and presentable, even if low fidelity.
-
•
Leveraging existing UI patterns or design system components maintains consistency and speeds up wireframe creation.
-
•
Presenting wireframes within the full context of the product and user flow aids stakeholder understanding.
-
•
Leaving ambiguous areas in wireframes as question marks encourages constructive feedback and discussions.
-
•
Storytelling in presentations, including personas, problem statements, and business impact, improves stakeholder buy-in.
-
•
Content design should be integrated early during wireframe development, pairing writers with designers.
-
•
Low-fidelity wireframes can and should be created by non-designers with the right tools and team collaboration.
Notable Quotes
"Staying in low fidelity throughout this early concept development phase allows for really strict focus on the problem slash solution space."
"Wire frames plus a little bit of storytelling is awesome."
"There’s nothing aesthetic to grab onto, so you’re not gonna be focusing on type styles, fonts, colors, photos."
"I want your sketching to be really high level—I want you to explore concepts, not refine content."
"Low fidelity does not mean low quality."
"If you don’t know what should go in a specific area, it is really powerful to leave it as a question mark."
"Tell a story of design: start with the background, introduce the users, demonstrate how it will work."
"Be very clear on exactly what type of feedback you’re looking for because you’re gonna get a lot better feedback."
"I find the existing patterns in my product and use those because it’s easier to bring things back in."
"Non-designers can build wireframes really quickly using easy drag-and-drop components from a design system."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Our ways of being are roots that grow into ways of knowing, doing, and methods, all nourished by systems of value."
Victor UdoewaBeyond Methods and Diversity: The Roots of Inclusion
March 26, 2024
"Changing culture is hard because we’re willing to change actions but resistant to changing beliefs."
Peter MorvilleThe Architecture of Understanding
May 13, 2015
"When you mix trends together, you will see where change is likely to occur."
Sam LadnerHow Research Can Drive Strategic Foresight
March 9, 2022
"Rolling out a research repository is complex but crucial to avoid duplicate research and make insights discoverable."
Michelle Bejian Lotia Anne-Marie MorellRolling Out a Repository: How Zapier Centralizes Insights from Across their Organization
March 28, 2023
"Empathy walls emerged at DTA because teams needed a visceral way to bring stories back from the field."
Leisa ReicheltOpening Keynote: Operating in Context
November 7, 2018
"What if I said that this was actually the assignment: to write an essay using AI, helping students become familiar with translating their policy intent through AI?"
Sarah GallimoreInspire Progress with Artifacts from the Future
November 18, 2022
"Product managers appreciate the jobs to be done desired outcome statements because they are not overly detailed but actionable."
Joerg Beringer Thomas GeisScaling User Research with AI: Continuous Discovery of User Needs in Minutes
September 10, 2025
"It’s not enough to have great people; you need to create the space that brings out the best in them."
Peter MerholzCustomer-Centered Design Organizations
June 8, 2017
"The single most important thing we can do at the table is expanding the boundaries of knowledge for decision makers."
Dalia El-ShimySo You've Got a Seat at the Table. Now What?
March 31, 2020
