Blogs

5877

With Data Science emerging as the hot new career option for the 21st century, it is attracting both young aspirants and professionals like a moth to a flame. While a career in Data Science is highly promising, the part where freshers tend to get astray at the beginning itself. If you’re just starting with Data Science, the question that will first pop up in your mind is: Where do I begin? We’ll put a rest to your confusion. You begin with Python. Now, you might ask – Why learn Python? What’s so special about it? Why choose Python for Data Science? It might sound cliched, but Python is a perfect choice for beginners trying to get started in Data Science. There are numerous reasons for this. But before we dig in deeper into those reasons, let’s look at some stats to back our claim. According to a recent study, Python is the most popular programming language choice among Data Scientists. Python has been at the top for quite a while now – nothing surprising about that. Why? A report by Cloud Academy maintains that: “Python is known to be an intuitive language that’s used across multiple domains in computer science… It’s easy to work with, and the data science community has put the work in to create the plumbing it needs to solve complex computational problems. It could also be that more companies are moving data projects and products into production. R is not a general-purpose programming language like Python.” It is an intuitive language with simplistic vocabulary stacked with full-featured libraries (also called frameworks) which helps produce the desired results faster than any other language. Python is a high-level language that is independent in itself – you don’t need any prior programming experience to learn Python. And the best part – it can do everything. Here are 5 reasons that’ll show you why Python is great for beginners! Easy to learn  The foremost reason that makes Python a perfect choice for beginners is its simplicity and smooth learning curve. Its syntax is very simple and beginner-friendly. Scalability Python is a highly scalable language and is also much faster than other languages such as R, Stata, and Matlab. Its scalability further enhances its flexibility quotient, which is extremely useful in problem-solving and app development. Wide choice of libraries When it comes to libraries, nothing can beat Python. The language is also an appropriate choice for Game Development. Python comes with a host of Data Science and Data Analytics libraries including Pandas, NumPy, SciPy, Scikit-Learn, StatsModels, and many more. Thanks to such a vast canvas of libraries, Python can always come up with great solutions for addressing specific problems. ActivePython community An active and robust community backs Python. No matter what your issue is (we’re talking about coding problems here, not life issues!), you can always count on the Python ecosystem to help and support you. The Python community is regularly contributing, developing libraries, and creating new Python tools. This is one of the major reasons for Python’s popularity. Also read: Learn python online free! Myriad options for visualization Python is loaded with several visualization options. A good case in point – Matplotlib, that has further provided the foundation for the development of other libraries such as Pandas Plotting, Seaborn, and ggplot, to name a few. These rich visualization frameworks allow you to make sense of the data at hand and also visualize your findings through pie charts, graphical plots, graphs, and even web-ready interactive plots. How to learn Python for Data Science? Now we’ll show you how to learn Python in a few simple steps. Set up your machine. You cannot possibly learn Python without prepping up your machine for it, can you? The most convenient way to do it is to download Anaconda from Continuum.io, and you’ll be good to go since it is equipped with almost everything you’ll need down the road. Start with the basics of Python. The best way to start learning Python would be to find a suitable Python course specifically designed for Data Science. Python courses introduce you to the fundamentals of Python, including variables, data types, functions, loops, operators, conditional statements, among other things. You will not only need to understand what these concepts are but also learn about their specific purpose. Get comfortable with Python Libraries. As we mentioned before, Python libraries are immensely helpful in programming. So, once you’ve mastered the fundamentals of the language, you must move on to the next best thing – Python libraries. Some of the widely used libraries are Pandas, NumPy, SciPy, PyTorch, Theano, Scikit-Learn, Keras, and Eli5. Master Data Analysis, Manipulation, and Visualization with Pandas. If you wish to work with Python, you must know the nitty-gritty of Pandas. It comes with a high-performance data structure, known as a “DataFrame” that works best for different types of tabular data. In addition to that, it also has many useful tools for reading/writing data, handling missing data, filtering data, cleaning raw data, merging datasets, and visualizing data. Once you know Pandas inside-out, your efficiency will increase by leaps and bounds. But there’s a catch – Pandas incorporates many functionalities for accomplishing the same task. Your goal should be to find the best practices. upGrad’s Exclusive Data Science Webinar for you – ODE Thought Leadership Presentation document.createElement('video'); https://cdn.upgrad.com/blog/ppt-by-ode-infinity.mp4   Work on mini Python projects. By the time you will reach this step, you will have known all the basics of Python, its libraries and their uses. Now’s the time to put your theoretical knowledge to practical use – working on Python projects. You don’t have to build something too complicated; you can start working with APIs and developing small applications with Python. You could also try automating small routine tasks with Python. Bottom line – try to put your knowledge to good use and build something! Keep practising and upskilling. “Practice makes a man perfect.” It’s the same for Python as it for everything else. With regular practice, you’ll hone your programming skills. The more you practice, the better you’ll get. Apart from developing personal Data Science projects, you could always take part in Kaggle competitions, enroll in advanced online courses, attend Data Science and tech conferences/seminars, read journals and books, etc. There are many ways of learning – you have to be open to the idea of learning! Check out all trending Python tutorial concepts in 2024. Different Libraries of Python Used for Data Science Python is used for data science primarily because of its libraries. Python has numerous libraries that make data analysis, data cleaning, data visualization, and machine learning tasks easier. Some popular Python libraries are as follows: NumPy: This library makes using Python for data analysis worthwhile by offering support for different mathematical tasks on multidimensional matrices and arrays.  Seaborn: This data visualization tool offers visually-appealing statistical graphs. It helps you view distributions, confidence intervals, and other graphs.  Pandas: The Pandas library is extremely popular and easy to use. It enables easy analysis and cleaning of tabular data.   Matplotlib: This library in Python for data science enables the creation of static or interactive line graphs, box plots, bar charts, scatterplots, and more.  Scipy: This library is useful for scientific computing to provide help with statistical tasks, optimization, and linear algebra.  Requests: This library can help with data scraping on websites. It comes with a user-friendly and responsive method of configuring HTTP requests.  Statsmodels: It is a statistical modeling library for statistical tests and models. It can help with generalized linear models, time series analysis models, linear regression, and more.  Apart from all the general data manipulation libraries, data science experts also find various powerful machine learning libraries in Python. These machine learning libraries make it easy for data scientists to offer solid, open-source libraries for any desired machine learning algorithm. These libraries make data analysis without compromising performance.  The different machine learning libraries can also help data scientists to build precise and powerful neural networks. A few popular machine learning and deep learning libraries in Python are as follows: Pytorch: Created by Facebook’s AI research group, Pytorch is a popular framework for deep learning. It offers a lot of flexibility and high speed. However, the low-level API of Pytorch makes it a little complex for beginners.  Keras: It is a comparatively easier deep learning framework with a high-level API. It serves as an interface for the TensorFlow library. The framework can be used for building neural networks with a Tensorflow backend.  Tensorflow: It is a high-level library for creating neural networks. It was primarily written in C++. But it also combines the simplicity of Python without compromising performance and power. However, Tensorflow is not appropriate for beginners.  Scikit-learn: It is an extremely popular machine learning library to support your needs for supervised as well as unsupervised tasks. What Does the Future of Python for Data Science Look Like? Professionals will continue to leverage the power of data science using Python as the programming language becomes more popular. With advanced machine learning, deep learning, and similar data science tasks, you will notice an increase in the use of Python libraries. Even top companies are adapting Python libraries, and the programming language will be relevant in the industry for a very long time. Read our popular Data Science Articles Data Science Career Path: A Comprehensive Career Guide Data Science Career Growth: The Future of Work is here Why is Data Science Important? 8 Ways Data Science Brings Value to the Business Relevance of Data Science for Managers The Ultimate Data Science Cheat Sheet Every Data Scientists Should Have Top 6 Reasons Why You Should Become a Data Scientist A Day in the Life of Data Scientist: What do they do? Myth Busted: Data Science doesn’t need Coding Business Intelligence vs Data Science: What are the differences? To conclude… Follow these steps and keep practising religiously, and you are sure to master Python in about three months. However, you must remember that Python is evolving every day, even as we speak – someone somewhere is actively contributing to the Python community. Python’s easy learning-curve, its high-scalability factor, and of course, its simplicity makes it a beginner’s language. And as it goes in programming, once you master one programming language, picking up other languages won’t be an arduous task anymore. Learn data science courses from the World’s top Universities. Earn Executive PG Programs, Advanced Certificate Programs, or Masters Programs to fast-track your career. Happy learning! Frequently Asked Questions

by Aditya Sharma

24 Jun 2023

Blogs

5340

Today, people around the world are quick to complain about the fact that technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are a threat to jobs. But can we really deny the truth that innovative software, machines, and robots powered by AI and ML technologies are enhancing businesses and creating scope for endless possibilities? Although we may refuse to acknowledge it, the harsh truth of the modern age is that emerging technologies are fast replacing routine jobs, eliminating the dependency on manual labour. So, how does one maintain his/her relevancy in this digitally progressive world? The answer – continuous upskilling. Organizations today are constantly looking for talent, whether it is from humans or technology – the ultimate aim is to get the job done. However, the sad thing is that even today, many organizations do not believe in upskilling. In a Deloitte survey of 1200 organizations, nearly 74% of organizations stated that they choose traditional learning methods than encouraging employees to acquire new skills at their workplace. Richard Rayne, Chief Executive of iLearn, said: “These figures are of concern. In a country like ours where there are critical skills gaps in several key sectors, workplace learning is necessary. Organisations need to start realizing that great value lies in empowering and upskilling employees through learnerships. It’s the perfect way to develop employees and to ensure they are equipped to do the work employers need them to do.” Vocational training and educational programs should be a part of every organization as these programs offer excellent opportunities for upskilling. Employees not only get a chance to learn new things, but they also get acquainted with innovative ways to carry out organizational processes more efficiently.    7 Jobs That Didn’t Exist But Are Hot Right Now According to an Oxford study (2013), in the next 10-20 years, around 47% of jobs in the US will be replaced by automation. Also, a PwC report maintains that 44% of job positions in Australia will be computerised within the next 20 years. Although these statistics apparently show that jobs are disappearing, they are merely  ‘transforming’ rather than disappearing altogether. Since the digital revolution and digital disruption of industries have already begun, the wise thing would be to train individuals in the nitty-gritty of technologies such as AI, ML, Deep Learning and so on. By upskilling your knowledge and talent base, you can ‘create’ demand for yourself in the industry. As you adapt to the wave of change that technology is bringing today, you become an indispensable part of an organization. For instance, data is the goldmine now. Every organization around the world is leveraging Big Data to uncover meaningful insights that can add value to the business. Thus, the demand for trained professionals who can juggle with massive data sets, analyze it, and visualize valuable trends and patterns within the enormous data pool is exponentially increasing. Data scientists, data analysts, statisticians, ML engineers, are a few job avenues opened by data. Infographic: What After IT? Top 5 Transitions You Can Make If you wish to stay relevant in this fast-changing world, you know that upskilling is the only way to go. Be curious. Be willing to learn new things and skills. Change is inevitable and to survive in the tech jungle you need to adapt and upskill continuously!  

by Aditya Sharma

02 Jul 2018

Blogs

899013

Spearheaded by technology and innovation, our world is progressing by leaps and bounds today. Rapid advances in the fields of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Robotics, Biotechnology, coupled with the exponential growth of the Internet, smartphones, and Big Data have ushered in the era of the “Digital Revolution”. We now live in the age of AI-powered robots, driverless cars, smart personal assistants, smart homes, and so much more. All of this resulted in the job sector undergoing massive change with a lot more opportunities that were unheard of a decade ago! Let’s see what they are. Data Scientist Although Data Science has been around us since the 1960s, it is only now that ‘data’ has become the hottest buzzword of the day. Since companies across all major industries are now investing in data, the demand for Data Scientists is on the rise. It has been ranked as the Best Job in America by Glassdoor. Who is a Data Scientist, a Data Analyst and a Data Engineer? Cloud Architect Obviously, there was no cloud ten years ago, and hence, there was no need for trained professionals dealing in cloud platforms. Now, Cloud is a legit and mainstream platform that is used by more than half the business in the US. Cloud Architect basically takes charge of a company’s cloud computing strategy. Mobile App Developer The job position of a Mobile App Developer was brought about by the rapid growth of smartphones. Ever since Android and iPhone made it big in the market, the demand for resourceful apps has risen exponentially. From online shopping to searching for informational content online, we have apps for everything today, thanks to the talented Mobile App Developer community! User Experience Designer Now that web apps and mobile apps have become a mainstream phenomenon, the time is lit for User Experience (UI/UX) Designers. With a flair for technology, UX Designers ensure that apps are free from glitches and bugs to offer a unique digital experience to the users. Their job is to make applications visually appealing with quick-response time. Social Media Manager Ten years ago, social media was just beginning to gain pace with Facebook and Twitter coming to the fore in 2006. Today, these two social media magnates along with Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest have created a massive online global social media community. As brands have started to harness the potential of social media for business, they are always on the lookout for skilled Social Media Managers. 6 Steps to Build a Successful Career in Social Media Marketing SEO Analyst Rewind back to ten years ago, and an SEO Analyst was nowhere to be found. However, ever since Google made it clear that a well-designed SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategies are the key to good rankings, companies are hiring professionals who possess extensive knowledge of SEO. SEO Analysts ensure that a brand’s online content has the potential to attract customers through organic searches. Big Data Analyst As the name suggests, Big Data Analysts deal with Big Data, that is massive data sets. Their job is to gather, process, and analyze the data with proper technical and statistical tools to uncover meaningful insights hidden within the data. They help businesses discover the latest market and consumer trends, and other such information that can benefit businesses. The Difference between Data Science, Machine Learning and Big Data!

by Aditya Sharma

28 Jun 2018

Blogs

5381

We all know and live with Facebook in our lives. With more than 1.4 billion daily active users, this social online property is growing leaps and bounds every day and influencing our lives immeasurably. Today, it is an obvious irony to say that every business needs to have its presence on Facebook. Almost a decade back, Facebook launched its Facebook Page, the new model of marketing and advertising. The Facebook Page is one of the most popular features used by all startups, entrepreneurs, and established business organisations. In the present scenario, every business firm, whether it is small or large, must leverage Facebook Shop for its business growth. The F-Commerce or the new Facebook Shop challenges the traditional brick and mortar shops and also other e-commerce firms, high street outlets and malls. The Facebook Shop is an alternative channel for all the e-commerce outlets, along with enabling the audience to shop at one digital destination. A phenomenal idea to augment and leverage the optimum use of a Facebook Page and offering an exclusive shopping experience for the consumers with exceptional luxury and comfort. The latest ‘shop’ section of the business’s Facebook Page is a significant augmentation, allowing business owners to merchandise and exhibit their products directly on the page. This fresh idea of social commerce is allowing the merchants to transform the engagement into revenue, creating millions of opportunities in the fast-paced business ecosystem. Consumers today invest exponential time online to browse and learn about their needs. With the ‘shop’ as an option, merchants can convert this organic traffic into their potential customers instantly. Digital Marketing on a Zero Budget Facebook is changing the game of selling. Selling on Facebook is a new way to augment the profits of the business and ensure your audience are glued to the brand forever. For instance, you have a one-person company or you’re an entrepreneur who sells fashion apparel for women and children. The ‘shop’ feature of the page not only allows the targeted and loyal audience to see the new collections and products but allows them to make an immediate purchase. Guess what? All this happens on the page with just a few clicks. The consumer doesn’t have to get out of the Facebook world to make a purchase, offering the best technological and shopping experience. The shop section has different features depending on the geographic location of the business. The proprietor can add products and product information without any limits. This feature also enables the user to curate and customise a product inventory for the brand and offer a seamless, user-friendly exhibition of the goods and services. The user can also communicate directly with the targeted audience instantly from the page. Besides this, the clutter of a real-world store can be avoided and a better distribution pattern can be established with this virtual shopping sophistication. Having a shop in a virtual world has always been a hazy scenario with respect to the profit and loss incurred for the business. In order to have a clear and structured path and picture for the merchants and business owners, the ‘shop’ option can help analyse the traffic of the page, the number of people viewed the product, and purchases made on each product. The orders can be shipped, canceled or refunded right from the page. The owners must be vigilant about the Facebook content guidelines in order to make the optimum benefit of the ‘shop’ feature. Remember, this feature is slowly rolling out and it is available in only a few countries such as Thailand, Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, India, Argentina, and Taiwan. What the Digital Industry Can Learn from Netflix The post-purchase services such as ratings and reviews can also be handled on the page itself. The ratings and reviews help to build trust and credibility of the brand among the potential customers. Shopify, WooCommerce and BigCommerce are the third-party partners of Facebook to integrate Shop section on the Facebook Page. The products from these third-party pages would instantly appear on the Facebook Shop section of the page once integrated. This integration with Facebook provides almost 50% of their online sales and is evidenced to be as active as email marketing. What started as a simple way of communicating and generating the fan following for business and brands, has turned to be an established digital purchase portal. The small and medium enterprises are making incomparable benefits with this new ‘shop’ feature as it is easy to set up with zero investment. If you already have a Facebook Page with the loyal followers, shop feature can be added with just a few clicks and information of the product. Ensure you follow all the guidelines for setting up the shop section. Once this feature is added, the user can share the products on the timeline and schedule it as per the availability of the product. When a consumer makes a purchase online, there are always questions and apprehensions about the quality and reliability of the brand. Some of the best practices that merchants can follow are responded quickly, encourage customers to leave ratings and reviews, adding the address of a physical store (if you have one), and share the products regularly on the timeline of the page. Switch to Digital Marketing from Senior Conventional Marketing Role Best Digital Marketing Courses Online Advanced Certificate in Brand Communication Management - MICA Advanced Certificate in Digital Marketing and Communication - MICA Performance Marketing Bootcamp - Google Ads from upGrad To Explore all our courses, visit our page below. Digital Marketing Courses Just adding an image of the product is never enough. A substantial content with necessary information about the product availability, product description, product price, and a complete context for the product. For instance, if you are having a festive sale or a yearly sale, it is better to mention it and create an urgency amongst the audience. Showcasing the products effectively is the way to reap maximum benefits of the ‘shop’ feature. The fully integrated Facebook store with the ‘shop’ feature is the modern sophisticated approach to growing the business reach, enhance the community and leverage giveaways and promotions during special occasions. The vast spread and outflow of the internet and technology have enabled many Indians to disrupt this digital platform and take optimum advantage. Today, starting a business has become far easier than ever. With this new feature, business owners have a lesser headache of finding the potential customers to sell their products and services. Not just in urban, but also rural India has stepped into the digital world and leading to a path of the connected world. A decade back, who would have thought that a textile merchant from rural India could sell his products to the Indians living in the western world. Could you imagine, selling the native Indian homemade medicinal products or traditional eatery delicacies to travel all over the world? The power of Facebook ‘shop’ section is immense and the future looks like the ‘Amazon of Rural India’. The Facebook targeted e-commerce platform along with the latest addition of ‘shop’ section to the matured Facebook Page is giving a stiff competition to other market players such as Amazon, Flipkart, Olx, QuikrBazzar, Paytm, etc. If you are a merchant, you got to skin in this social business game and reach new customers and markets across the world. Every business firm needs to rethink the marketing strategy with exclusive ‘Facebook Strategies’ to be designed and deployed immediately. In order to make the best of the Facebook page options, users must participate in Facebook Groups and listen to the changing needs of the audience and strategies to target these needs. The Facebook Page owners can tap into Facebook Ads for topical and targeted advertising. In-demand Digital Marketing Skills Advertising Courses Influencer Marketing Courses SEO Courses Performance Marketing Courses SEM Courses Email Marketing Courses Content Marketing Courses Social Media Marketing Courses Marketing Analytics Courses Web Analytics Courses Display Advertising Courses Affiliate Marketing Courses upGrad’s Exclusive Digital Marketing Webinar for you – What’s new in Marketing? document.createElement('video'); https://cdn.upgrad.com/blog/rumi-ambastha.mp4   The Advent of Chatbots is Creating a Stir in Social Media The decisive objective of this ‘shop’ feature is not just increasing the sales and leveraging social business, but also reducing the resistance of the audience to make a purchase in the place they love to hang out at their leisure. In short, business going to customers world, then the customers coming to the business world. The F-commerce revolution has begun and it is going to stay for a while, challenging the traditional way of marketing and selling of products and services. Learn digital marketing courses online from the World’s top Universities. Earn Masters, Executive PGP, or Advanced Certificate Programs to fast-track your career. Digital Marketing Free courses to Learn Influencer marketing free course Introduction to advertising free course Influencer marketing right free course SEO basics free course SEM basics free course Email marketing free course Social media marketing introduction free course How to leverage user generated content free course Content marketing free course Fundamentals of marketing free course Brand marketing masterclass free course Popular Digital Marketing Blogs Beginners Guide to YouTube Marketing : Complete List How to Monetize Your YouTube Channel? Top 5 Actionable Steps The Complete Guide on setting up a LinkedIn Company Page Everything You Need To Know About Digital Marketing A Complete Guide to Digital Marketing Strategy: What it is and How to create it? Digital Marketing Tutorial: A Step-by-Step Guide To Become an Expert Future of Digital Marketing: How It Goes From Here Importance of Digital Marketing: Top 10 Reasons Your Business Needs it Digital Marketing Challenges: How to Win Amidst the Challenges in Digital Marketing

by Aditya Sharma

19 Apr 2018

Blogs

10033

A web development project has a lot in common with building a house. When you build a house, you naturally choose the best person who can do this job. You would want somebody with the experience, profound knowledge and you would want to make sure that the builder has the right process in place to get the job done within prescribed time and within a sanctioned budget. What makes you sure of this? A blueprint, right? Well, in the field of web development it is wireframing. What is wireframing? In simple words, wireframing is an illustration of a webpage. A wireframe is a layout of a web page which articulates what kind of interface elements will find a place on important pages. It is an important part of the interaction design process. The major goal of wireframing is to offer a visual understanding of a page at the earliest stage in a project to get the approval of all the stakeholders and members of a project team. Wireframes are also used to create the global and secondary navigation to make sure that the terminology and structure incorporated in the site meet user expectations. Check out our management programs to upskill yourself. The difference between wireframes, mockups and prototypes? Wireframe A wireframe is just like a skeleton or a basic structure of a site. Wireframing is more concerned with functionality. For example, a wireframe of a site or an app will depict the navigation, the main buttons, the columns, etc. It can be equated with a blueprint of an architectural design. Explore our Popular Management Programs Leadership and Management in New-Age Business Post Graduate Certificate in Product Management Executive Post-Graduate Programme in Human Resource Management Professional Certificate Programme in HR Management and Analytics Executive Post-Graduate Programme in Healthcare Management Executive Management Programme in Strategic Innovation Digital Marketing and Business Analytics Certificate Programme in Finance for Non Finance Executives Certificate Programme in Operations Management and Analytics Global Master Certificate in Integrated Supply Chain Management upGrad's Job Linked Advanced General Management Program from IMT Ghaziabad Global Professional Certificate in Effective Leadership & Management Advanced General Management Program Strategic Human Resources Leadership Cornell Certificate Program Digital Transformation Cornell Certificate Program Executive Leadership Cornell Certificate Program Management Essentials Management Programs Mockup Mockups, on the other hand, are more realistic representations of products. Unlike a wireframe mockup focuses on details. All aspects like colours, fonts, icons, charts, images are looked out for. Prototype Prototypes offer a high fidelity visual representation of your project. You can think of a prototype as a valuable addition to a mockup. Prototype, as the name suggests, shows exactly how the product will look like. Prototyping involves connecting your wireframe together, connecting buttons to their respective landing pages, layering drop-down menus, etc. To simplify it further, these are all the stages of the process in product designing, starting from the sketching (a simplest primary phase of designing – hand drawing) ending with the creation of a prototype. Explore our Popular Management Programs Leadership and Management in New-Age Business Post Graduate Certificate in Product Management Executive Post-Graduate Programme in Human Resource Management Professional Certificate Programme in HR Management and Analytics Executive Post-Graduate Programme in Healthcare Management Executive Management Programme in Strategic Innovation Digital Marketing and Business Analytics Certificate Programme in Finance for Non Finance Executives Certificate Programme in Operations Management and Analytics Global Master Certificate in Integrated Supply Chain Management upGrad's Job Linked Advanced General Management Program from IMT Ghaziabad Global Professional Certificate in Effective Leadership & Management Advanced General Management Program Strategic Human Resources Leadership Cornell Certificate Program Digital Transformation Cornell Certificate Program Executive Leadership Cornell Certificate Program Management Essentials Management Programs The Hard Skills of a Product Manager Wireframing for a mobile app Wireframing for a mobile app offers similar benefits to that of doing it for a website. It gives a clear idea of how an app will look and how it will function. Nobody likes to buy a vague idea. Wireframing offers a great deal of ease while project transitioning. It also reduces the overall cost of the product development as changes can be made at an early stage. One important thing to keep in mind while wireframing for a mobile app is to consider the platform (iOS or Android) onto which you will be launching your product. Important things to keep in mind while wireframing While creating wireframes it’s important to keep in mind that they are just guides to where the major content and navigational elements of your site will appear on the page. As the aim of the illustration is not depicting visual design, it is always preferable to keep it simple. It saves time and efforts. Here are some tips that will come handy while wireframing: Start with simple, low-fidelity wireframes. Avoid using colours. You might want to stick to grayscale to depict difference. No need of using images. Just use a geometrical shape instead of images to offer a general idea. Use generic font and keep it same throughout while wireframing. Typography is not an essential part of the process.   There is no need to wireframe each and every page. Wireframing is a procedure of thinking through problems and specifying interfaces. Remember, like other forms of a development process wireframing can have its perils if not done properly. Top Management Skills to Learn SL. No Top Management Skills to Learn 1 Consumer Behaviour Online Programs Financial Analysis Programs FinTech Programs Online 2 HR Analytics Programs Online Communication Programs Online Effective Communication Programs 3 Research Methodology Programs Mastering Sales Programs Business Communication Programs 4 Fundamentals of Journalism Programs Economics Masterclass Online Programs upGrad’s Exclusive Product Management Webinar for you – How to craft GTM Strategy for a Product? document.createElement('video'); https://cdn.upgrad.com/blog/panel-discussion-on-crafting-gtm-strategy-for-a-product.mp4 Essential elements exemplified in wireframes Elements of wireframing depend largely on the type of site you are aiming to build, client requirements among other things. However, there are certain elements which are often incorporated as standard wireframing elements, like Header, Footer, Logo, Search field, Navigation systems, Body content, Share buttons, Breadcrumbs. Types of wireframes Wireframes can differ from their production processes (paper sketches vs computer-drawn images) to the amount of detail they contain. The two terms widely used to denote the wireframing production are – low and high-fidelity wireframes. Low fidelity wireframes – They are easy and quick to develop. They help to facilitate team communication. Often low fidelity wireframes contain simple images, lorem ipsum text as a filler. High fidelity wireframes – They are more suitable for documentation due to their heightened level of detail. These wireframes hold information about every small item on the page. Why do we create wireframes? Here are some significant benefits of wireframing: Wireframing plays a pivotal role in communication during web or app development. It offers an opportunity to all the stakeholders; clients, developers, designers to visualise and get the clear picture of the structure of the website. It is easier to communicate and convey your ideas with wireframes. Wireframes add clarity to the projects, it also allows you to work through all the interactions and layout needs. Wireframing makes content development design friendly. Wireframes trigger the client to think about their requirements and aids them to define their project goals and their primary focus. It helps to gather feedback on your product at a very early stage. Wireframes allow designers to create layouts for many sections of the website, which leads to a more fluid creative process. 5 Challenges for a Newly Recruited Product Manager Our Top Management Articles Top 7 Career Options in Management To Choose [For Freshers & Experienced] Online Product Management Courses to Kickstart your Career Top 10 Career Options in Business Management in India 8 Crucial Business Management Skills Every Manager Should Have Future Scope of Management: Scope, Salary, Career Opportunities Career Options After MBA – Highest Paying Management Jobs 5 Key Skills Required for Successful Management Career & How To Achieve Those Skills? What is The Nature and Scope of Management? Importance of Management in Every Organisation – [A Complete Guide] Important steps in the wireframing process Some important steps to follow while wireframing include: Research – A little idea about how other designers are wireframing will help you a great deal to find an inspiration. Select your tool – There are multiple tools available to create wireframes. You can pick one based on your convenience. Setup a grid – There are several grid templates available for free download, you can even customize your own grid template with the help of Telerik, UI-grid, etc. Determine a layout – Lay down boxes, add content if available, involve your client at this stage to communicate discrepancies if any.   Convert it into a prototype. Some popular tools to create wireframes No matter what kind of wireframing you are aiming for, low fidelity or high fidelity, using wireframing tools helps you to come out more professional and work in more prioritized and organised way. Here’s the list of seven wireframing tools you can effectively use: Balsamiq Mockflow InVison Wireframe.cc HotGloo Pidoco Axure su_button url=”https://www.upgrad.com/blog/10-most-effective-wireframing-tools/” target=”blank” style=”flat” color=”#ffffff” size=”5″ icon=”icon: external-link”]10 Most Effective Wireframing Tools[/su_button] Wireframing is one of the essential skills to acquire as a product developer. To become a successful product manager you need to possess a holistic approach towards wireframing and other product development skills which is the foundation for understanding the fundamentals of product design. This will certainly be your gateway to a prosperous career in product development. Study Product Management Courses online from the World’s top Universities. Earn Masters, Executive PGP, or Advanced Certificate Programs to fast-track your career. If you are highly intrigued by what you read, you can enroll in the Post Graduate Certificate in Product Management offered by upGrad. The certification program delivered by experts will help you kickstart your career to be a successful product manager.

by Aditya Sharma

12 Apr 2018

Blogs

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Wireframing can ideally be defined as an activity to visualize the layout of a screen. There are many wireframing tools present in the market today, but the easiest and the most widely used is Balsamiq – our topic for today. But, before that, let’s first understand why do we need to wireframe? When it comes to software development, it’s vital to know how the final product will look, even before the development starts. This initial visualization of the product serves as a guideline for all the stakeholders plus helps in avoiding any ambiguity that might arise in the future. In older days, paragraphs of texts were used to elicit the software requirements. However, these chunks of text were not enough to get the visualization going – as each person reading the requirements would visualize it in some way that might be different from the rest. This ambiguity leads to a lot of mix-up and results in wasted time, money, and efforts. To help the cause, wireframing comes into the picture. Owing to the ease it brings to the overall development process. In this article, we’ll help you understand questions like: What is Balsamiq? How to get started with it? How to export the final wireframe/mockup? What is Balsamiq? Wireframing, in all essence, can be carried out on a napkin using a pen. At the end of the day, it’s just a sketch after all. However, when it comes to collaborating and sharing it with professionals, it’s a better idea to switch to one of the many tools present in the market today. One such tool is Balsamiq – it is straightforward to use and provides lots features to build a useful wireframe. Balsamiq is an excellent tool and fulfils all the requirements of wireframing and collaboration. It has a unique set of features that enable you to do rapid wireframing, get real-time feedbacks, incorporate those feedbacks, and improve the wireframe. This eventually gets the whole team aligned with the functionality of the application regarding the layout. With Balsamiq, collaborating with remotely located team members is also a breeze as it can export wireframes in PNG or PDF formats that allows flexibility while sharing the wireframes. 10 Most Effective Wireframing Tools Getting Started with Balsamiq Balsamiq is available for Windows and Mac OS and can be downloaded online. Once you’ve downloaded the tool and opened  it up, you’ll see a screen like: As shown in the above screenshot, the user interface for Balsamiq is divided into the four following parts. Navigator UI Library Inspector Wireframe space/Area The section highlighted in red is for toggling between sections inspector and project information. The features are included in the UI library, let’s take a look at it in depth. The UI Library The UI library is categorized based on different screen elements. Let us get acquainted with the different screen elements categories available in Balsamiq. All − Clicking on this will show you all the UI elements that Balsamiq offers. Scrolling horizontally will allow you to view or use them. Assets − This section includes the things you can upload and later for use in your wireframes. Big − This includes the reasonably bigger screen elements like placeholders, browser window, iPhone, and iPad. Buttons − This section includes all the button controls that you’ll need in a wireframe, like – action buttons, checkboxes, etc. Common − This section comprises of the shapes used to denote the most common interactions. Containers − It includes the options like Window, FieldSet, Browser, etc.As the name suggests, it is inclusive of the Window, FieldSet, Browsers, etc. Forms −  This category contains all the controls related to forms, like input elements, radio buttons, submit button, and such. Icons − This contains the set of icons that you can use to denote a particular operation. For instance, a floppy icon instead of the save button, etc. Balsamiq offers a huge collection of free icons that can be used for various actions. iOS − This contains the UI controls specific to the iOS. Layout − Layouts are extremely important when you need to represent a basic page/feature. This category includes most of the layouts like Vertical / Horizontal tabs, accordions, etc.. Markup − This is used for adding a comment on a particular control in the wireframe. It also contains callouts that are used to show connectivity in many of the scenarios. Media − All the media-related UI controls are available in this section that helps in showing an image/video/sound in the wireframe. Symbols − This is a collection of reusable components which can reduce the time to create the common components. Text − As the name goes, this contains all the UI controls related to the text. Features like a block of text, combo box, link bar, etc., are available under this category. The knowledge of these components coupled with the fact that Balsamiq allows you to easily drag-and-drop the components will help you create wireframes of your choice quickly, and effectively. Which of These Product Management Tools are You Already Using? Now, suppose for your website, you’ve created a wireframe of these four pages – Home, Products and Services, Contact us, and About us. Now, we need to perform another essential task that’ll get our wireframe look a bit more like a full-fledged website and less like a sketch. For that, we need to link our pages, as they would ideally be linked in a website. Linking also helps you go back and forth between the wireframes easily. Linking the Pages This step will help your wireframes appear in order – like they would on any website. To achieve this navigation, click the link bar on the top right corner. First, let us start by connecting the Homepage to the Products and Services page: Go to Homepage Click on the link bar on the top right corner Refer the properties pane The green highlighted section shows the various wireframes you’ve created till now. Let us start by linking the Home page. Click on the drop down to see the list of available mockups. It’ll show a list like below: From the dropdown list that’s displayed, select Products and Services to create a link from Home to Products and Services. Similarly, repeat the same procedure for the other pages. The Art of Decision-Making: For Managers, Leaders & Product People Exporting The Wireframe The wireframe you’ve just created is of no good use if you can’t present it to your client/end user in a more common format, like PDF or PNG. For this purpose, Balsamiq allows you to easily export mockups in either of these formats. In this example, we’re exporting our mockup in a PDF format. For this, click on the Project menu, then click on Export to PDF. You’ll get a screen like the one shown below: Select the checkbox – “Show linking hints”. Then, click Export to PDF. It will show a popup where you can specify a local where you want the PDF exported. The progress will be shown in a progress bar like below. When the export is complete, there will be a confirmation box. On clicking the box, you’ll be able to view the PDF along with all the navigations you set up. Building Minimum Viable Products – How Much is Too Much? Wrapping Up… There is no denying the importance of wireframing in the world of application development today. They provide many features which end up easing your overall workload – there’s absolutely no dearth of wireframing tools but Balsamiq is one of the few tools which caters your all-around requirements! Learn Online MBA Courses from the World’s top Universities. Earn Masters, Executive PGP, or Advanced Certificate Programs to fast-track your career.

by Aditya Sharma

10 Apr 2018