Wireframe From Copy

Wireframe From Copy

Turns an approved web-copy document into an annotated lo-fi wireframe, the artifact the Week 5 brainstorm reviews and the design team builds from. It carries approved copy into structure and flags contradictions before designers build on top of them.

When to invoke

• "I need a wireframe" with a copy doc in hand
• Week 5 of an L/XL launch, after the copy round the team is aligned on
• The copy exists but no page structure does ("we're approved on sections, no wireframe")

Conventions (the deliverable's contract)

• Grayscale is deliberate. The wireframe specs structure; design direction belongs to the design lead. A styled wireframe preempts the designer and gets thrown away.
• Copy is placed verbatim from the source round, with the round and date stated in the header and footer. The wireframe never silently improves copy — improvements are flags.
• The source is a locked content manifest. Preserve every approved string, explicit omission, placeholder, annotation, and section order. Do not invent helper headlines, sample statements, labels, proof, or microcopy. Layout work does not silently authorize rewriting.
• Placeholders are typed: solid ✕-boxes for static images/screenshots; dashed hatch for motion/video. Every motion placeholder is numbered as a motion-scope item so the motion brief can be written straight off the wireframe.
• Every section carries an annotation bar: number · name · the section's job in one line. Sections are renumbered sequentially if the source doc's numbering drifts (state that it was done).
• Flags live inline where the problem lives — an unsourced stat flags on the proof bar, a price conflict flags on the pricing section. Flags come from an actual careful read of the copy: contradictions with the strategy/messaging spine, duplicate or orphaned blocks, truncated bodies, banned terms, unverified claims. The flag set is handed to claims-clearance and to the copy owner for R-next.
• Provenance footer: source doc + round, build date, what gate it serves, who signs off, where the motion-scope items are.
• Match the output to the next job. Use an editable Figma artifact when the design team will continue production in Figma; use a browser prototype when interaction behavior is part of the decision; use HTML, images, or PDF for static review and archival comparison. A PDF is not a Figma handoff merely because it can be imported.
• After import or export, compare every string and placeholder with the source manifest. For editable handoffs, verify that text and key objects remain selectable, expected structure survives, and the primary interaction works in the live file.

Reading the copy carefully (the actual job)

The wireframe is the excuse; the careful read is the value. Before drawing anything: check the hero against the messaging spine's ruled hero line; check every stat, logo, quote, and price for a source; check feature sections for copy-paste artifacts; check the doc's internal numbering; check pricing against the strategy doc in the same file. Each finding becomes an inline flag, not a silent fix.

Separate structure from behavior. A static stack can show the FAQ's place in the page, but an accordion requirement needs an explicit state model and a live prototype check. Record which interactions are represented, which are merely annotated, and which remain open.

Dependencies

• foundation/marketing-os
• launches/canonical-process.md (Week 5 placement, sign-off roster)
• brand-voice/{product} (dynamically — hero-line and banned-term checks)
• launches/claims-clearance (receives the flag inventory)
• craft/* as relevant to the copy's format

Quick checklist

• Source round + date stated on the artifact
• Source manifest reconciled: copy, omissions, placeholders, annotations, and order
• Copy verbatim; improvements expressed as flags, not edits
• Static vs. motion placeholders typed; motion items numbered for the brief
• Annotation bar on every section: number, name, job
• Careful-read flags inline: spine contradictions, unsourced claims, copy artifacts
• Flag inventory handed to claims-clearance and the copy owner
• Output format matches the next operator's job
• Text, editability, structure, and primary interaction verified after handoff
• Provenance footer; static export verified if produced