A short monologue/internal dialogue by Matt D. Smith about whether to create wireframes before visual design. The speaker weighs project complexity and feature/flow understanding: if features or flows are not fully understood, wireframe first; for low-complexity projects, designers may skip wireframes and start designing directly. The content emphasizes trade-offs between time spent wireframing and time lost by redesigning mistaken visuals.
I'm not sure if I should wireframe this project first or just start designing. How complex is it? I don't know. Medium? That's not really an answer. What makes it medium? It has a few features. Designers who skip this step typically regret it. High complexity wireframe, low complexity. Jump right into the design. Wireframes take forever. So does redesigning everything when you realize it doesn't work. All right, I see your point. But how do I know if it's complex? Do I fully understand every feature and flow? If not, wireframe first. Got it. That's useful because.
