Alex Walker - UX: Essential Tools

This book outlines the best tools available for UX professionals today. It contains:

• A Roundup of the Best Prototyping Tools by Dave Kearney & Daniel Schwarz
• A Roundup of the Best Mind Mapping Tools by Daniel Schwarz
• A Roundup of the Best Design Handoff Tools by Daniel Schwarz
• A Roundup of the Best Wireframing Tools by Daniel Schwarz

This book is for anyone interested in UX. You won't need any technical experience in order to read it.

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As the number and variety of prototyping tools continues to grow, its becoming harder and harder to figure out which tools meet what needs, and who theyre suitable for. Since we first wrote this article back in 2015, countless design apps have dominated (and changed) the prototyping space.

Stakeholder feedback and user testing is now taking a far greater role in UI design and this new generation of tools aims to connect these two previously separate stages of the design process. Clients want to be involved, and email isnt cutting it anymore. Some apps like UXPin are also taking care of the wireframing stages, whereas others like InVision App are bridging the gap between designer and developer by offering design handoff tools.

Plus, theres now a clear divide between desktop tools with cloud sharing (Adobe XD, Axure, Balsamiq, Sketch+InVision) and collaborative online tools (Figma, UXPin, Fluid UI, Proto.io).

Many of these tools appear to be converging on a feature set that defines the role of the modern user experience designer. TL;DRheres a swift comparison of prototyping tools.

Adobe may have been caught napping during the rise of Sketch, but theyre rapidly making up for it with Adobe XD. Launched in March 2016, its the latest addition to Adobes Creative Cloud Suite. While you can prototype interactions in Sketch with the help of the Craft Plugin, Adobe XD impressively offers these tools right out of the box, so designers are already comparing Adobe XD to Sketch like longtime rivals.

Its definitely worth a look if youre interested in a tool that covers all your bases (low-fidelity prototyping, high-fidelity prototyping, user flows, sharing and feedback) in a single app.

Strengths

• Available for macOS and Windows
• Everything you need in a single app

Weaknesses

• Still in beta (although pleasantly mature as a design app)
• Plugin workflow non-existent, youre locked into the Adobe ecosystem

InVision is the primary go-to tool for serious designers and enterprise teams alike. With tools like whiteboard collaboration, dynamic prototyping, comments, device preview, video calling, user testing, version control and design handoff, InVision is already a colossal force in the prototyping space, but when you factor in its Sketch and Photoshop integrations, it becomes an all-in-one design suite, especially when you throw in Craft, the Sketch/Photoshop Plugin that brings a lot of that functionality directly into your design app of choice.

Strengths

• Powerful, mature platform
• Fully-integrated with Sketch for high-fidelity design
• Constantly being updated with new features

Weaknesses

• Feature-set can be a little overwhelming at first
• Sketch is only available for macOS users only (but you can pair InVision with Photoshop on Windows, although Photoshop isnt strictly a UI design tool)

A very strong favourite for those looking for simpler, friendlier alternatives to InVision App. Marvel App has excelled at creating a prototyping tool that works for both advanced UX designers and those simply looking to communicate high and low fidelity concepts. Plus, while they champion working with Sketch, they also offer component libraries to allow for a complete online workflow in Marvel. Marvel App also recently integrated fan-favourite POP, which allows designers to transform their pen/paper ideas into iPhone and Android apps.