6 Best UX/UI tools every designer needs to know
User experience (UX) is one of the key elements in the creation of digital products. Today, it is no longer enough for mobile applications or websites to be visually impressive, but they must be, above all, functional, intuitive, and tailored to users’ needs.
Once a product is launched on the market, users get a solution that meets their expectations and provides them with a smooth and pleasant experience. But to make it happen, the real magic happens first in the design team, where UX researchers and designers work together to create the final version of an application or website. To do this, they need professional UX/UI tools.
So if you’re looking for tools that will come in handy in the phases of creating user-centric product solutions, this is it! In this chapter, we share the UX/UI tools we use at Clarika for prototyping.
Our favorite tools for UX/UI designers
1. Figma
If you are a Designer or part of a product design team, probably you heard a lot “ Hey did you try Figma? Not yet? Oh no! you should try it now!”
Yes, Figma has become a “must” in designers’ worlds when it comes to prototyping ideas in every user-centered design process. It is not trending, it is an amazing, helpful and collaborative tool that understands user’s needs and makes us as designers fall in love with it!
UI designers don’t usually work in isolation. After all, the best results are achieved when the skills of several designers are combined and different points of view are taken into account, right? And that’s exactly what the creators of Figma had in mind when developing a great collaborative UI design tool.
Why do we love Figma? It’s a cloud-based solution: there’s no need to download the app to your desktop (although you have that option) and, as we mentioned before, you can work with your team members simultaneously.
2. Sketch
It surely is one of the most popular tools for creating high-fidelity interfaces or prototypes.
What makes this vector-based design toolkit so powerful? Sketch offers a wide range of interesting features (symbols, variable font support, smart distribution, component panel – just to name a few!), easy integration with other applications, and, what’s more, it has a simple and easy-to-use interface.
Sketch seems to be a perfect UI design solution, but it has a rather important drawback that benefits its competitors: it is Mac-only. So if you use Windows, Sketch is not for you.
3. Adobe XD
If we talk about the best UX design solutions, we can’t fail to mention Adobe XD. Adobe has been the leader in design tools for years: whether it’s Photoshop for image editing, InDesign for print layout, It or Illustrator for vector graphics, Adobe never disappoints. So developing a tool dedicated to user-friendly interface design was a matter of time, and here Adobe has succeeded as well. This tool is easy to use, offers all the features needed to create high-quality prototypes, and integrates seamlessly with other Adobe products.
4. Zeplin
Would you like to involve the designers on your team, and UX copywriters, developers, project managers, or product owners in your design workspace? With Zeplin, it’s super easy. Once your design tools project, such as Sketch, Photoshop, Adobe XD or Figma is ready to be shared with your teammates, all you need to do is publish it on Zeplin.
This tool is a great help for everyone involved in your projects. With it, web developers can easily check the complete frontend code and copywriters can leave comments on specific interface elements.
5. InVision Studio
If you’re looking for a professional tool to create fully functional prototypes with the possibility to include dynamic elements and even animations, then InVision is the great solution for you. With this tool, you can design an interactive and responsive layout that you can present to your team or stakeholders at every stage of the digital product creation process. This way, you can easily show what the final version of your mobile app or website would look like.
6. Miro
Team collaboration is one of the most fundamental aspects of creating a digital product. But how do you collaborate effectively when virtually everyone works remotely these days? In this case, Miro – a great collaborative whiteboard platform – comes in handy.
It allows you to create a whiteboard where you use several pre-built or customized templates, build an infinite canvas, use sticky notes, add some comments or embedded videos: the possibilities of applying Miro to teamwork are endless.
Keep in mind ????
Creating successful products with a User-centered approach would be impossible without the right set of UX/UI tools. These can be of great help at every stage of creating mobile apps or websites, and after launch.
These are just some of our team’s favorite tools. Of course, there are many other solutions to choose from it would be difficult to list them all here.
If you want to know more about our designs and digital solutions, you can check our projects.
