Wireframing Tool is the Means; Imagination is the Key

One doesn't become an accomplished chef just on the basis of their knife work. It's what they put on the table that counts.

Several people obsess about what wireframing tool they should learn.

That's fine but the real (and harder) question is how to produce an elegant, functional design using the tool.

The tool is just a means of expression, not a replacement for imagination.

My first wireframe in 2009 was terrible.

I made it in Paint but the issue wasn't the tool. It was my shallow design sense. I was drawing oval circles for buttons.

* cringe *

I got better only by studying thousands of product designs & practicing.

I'd try out every product that came my way. I would crop out screenshots into a OneNote folder whenever I'd encounter something interesting.

It wasn't just the aesthetics I was looking at. I was interested in the narrative. The fusion of copy, web elements, layout, placement & interactions to lead a user to a goal.

Design sense is like a muscle. You need to put in the work at the product gym to grow it.

By all means, learn the theory. But there is really no replacement for relentless, ruthless practice and exposure.