What is a wireframe in the context of designing a website?

A wireframe is a visual representation of a website's layout and design elements. It serves as a blueprint for the site, outlining the placement of various components such as headers, footers, navigation menus, and content areas without going into the full details of design or content. The purpose of a wireframe is to convey the structure and functionality of a website at a conceptual level, which allows designers and stakeholders to focus on usability and the overall flow of the site before jumping into detailed aesthetic choices or coding.

Using a wireframe helps in understanding how different elements interact with each other, what the user experience might feel like, and how content should be organized. This abstraction is particularly useful in the early stages of design, facilitating discussions among team members and aiding in the identification of potential design issues before they become more costly to rectify.

Other options represent different aspects of website development but do not capture the essence of a wireframe in the same way. A functional prototype illustrates interaction but is more advanced, while a user flow diagram depicts the steps users take through the site. A coding structure focuses on the actual implementation of the site in code, which comes much later in the development process.