Having the right tools is crucial for any job, anyone will tell you.
So, when it comes to you and your design process, are you setting yourself up for success from the get go? Or are you unknowingly making your life more difficult?
It’s time to find out, UX designers!
Whether you’re a seasoned pro looking for some new tools for their arsenal or a UX newbie just starting out, consider today’s blog your guide to the top 10 tools to streamline your workflow, make collaboration a breeze, and make your UX design process as smooth as it can be for the amazing results you’re capable of!
Let’s dive in!
Why a Strong UX Design Toolkit Matters
There’s a reason that UX designers can often be picky about the tools that they use for their everyday projects.
For a more enjoyable and more streamlined UX design process, the right tools in your arsenal can help you with the following:
- Boosted Efficiency — The right UX design tools streamline your process from ideation all the way through to prototyping and user testing. By automating repetitive tasks and managing your workflow, these tools let you focus more on UX research, creative design decisions, and solving problems rather than mundane tasks. This makes it much easier to focus on addressing user pain points and making sure the information architecture is well-structured and organized.
- Better Collaboration and Communication — UX design often involves collaborating with teams, including designers, developers, and project managers. The right tools make collaboration much easier through shared libraries, real-time editing, feedback loops, and integration with other tools, like project management or communication software. This keeps everyone aligned with the target audience and the overall business goals of the product or services the website is displaying.
- Consistency — Consistency across a product’s user interface leads to a better user experience. It’s that simple. And tools like style guides, design systems, and component libraries help to make sure all your visual elements and interactions across different parts of a product are uniform to reduce confusion.
- Scalability — As your UX design project gets better and more complex, having a scalable toolkit becomes more and more important. Tools that support version control, asset management, and high-fidelity prototyping can grow with the project and keep your design process manageable and organized no matter the scale.
- Higher Quality and Precision — Good tools help UX designers create more precise and higher-quality designs. These tools have advanced features that give you the ability to fine-tune your visuals and interactions, making for a better final product that addresses pain points and boosts customer satisfaction.
- Opportunities for Experimentation — With access to the right tools with all the latest features, you can be free to experiment with new ideas and technologies. This could mean trying out new interaction models, integrating voice or AR/VR experiences, or exploring different visual designs, potentially leading to something great!
- Better User Experiences — The main goal of UX design is, of course, user satisfaction. With the right tools in your arsenal, you’re better equipped to improve the usability, accessibility, and satisfaction with the final product. Tools specifically designed for UX work are designed to help you with everything from conducting user research, constructing accurate user personas, and usability testing.
- Less Time to Market — In competitive markets, the ability to move quickly from concept to launch is invaluable! A strong UX toolkit helps you (or you and your design team) quickly prototype, test, iterate, and finalize products without sacrificing quality.
10 Tools to Streaming Your UX Design Process
So, to make for a smoother UX design process and help you create the websites and mobile apps that you (or your clients) want, here is our list of the top 10 tools of the trade.
Take a look and see which works best for your platform, your design process, and your goals.
1. Figma
Figma is a cloud-based interface design tool that works for both the design and prototyping of your digital projects.
It’s a particularly useful tool because it is collaborative by nature, letting multiple team members work on the same design simultaneously and in real time. This makes it especially great for remote teams and fast-paced work environments where live feedback is crucial.
Figma’s Key Features
- Real-Time Collaboration — Multiple designers can edit a design file simultaneously, with changes visible in real-time.
- Vector Networks — An advanced pen tool that simplifies the process of drawing complex shapes and layouts.
- Component Library — Users can create reusable design components that can be dragged and dropped into any project, ensuring consistency and speeding up the design process.
- Prototyping Capabilities — Figma allows you to create interactive prototypes without the need for additional software. These prototypes can be shared via a link and include transitions and animations to mimic user interactions.
- Design Systems — Support for creating and maintaining design systems to ensure brand and design consistency across projects.
- Plugins and Integrations — Extensive support for plugins and integrations that enhance functionality, including plugins for accessibility, design linting, and more.
- Cross-Platform Accessibility — As a web-based tool, Figma works across different operating systems without the need for any downloads, making access for all real users and team members.
Pricing Information
Figma offers 4 plans to choose from; a free Starter plan, a $12/mo Professional plan (that is free for students and educators!), a $45/mo Organization plan, and a $75/mo Enterprise plan.
Have a look at their pricing page linked above to see which best fits your needs!
2. Adobe XD
Adobe XD is a vector-based UX design tool for web and mobile apps.
As part of the Creative Cloud, Adobe integrates with other commonly used Adobe products like Photoshop and Illustrator, making it easy to import and use pre-created assets and layouts.
This integration simplifies your design process and keeps your workflow efficient and consistent!
Adobe XD’s Key Features
- Repeat Grid — Designers can quickly replicate elements such as lists and galleries by using the Repeat Grid tool. This tool automatically reflects changes made to one instance across all others.
- Prototyping and Animation — Create interactive prototypes without needing third-party software. These prototypes can be previewed on mobile devices and include transitions and micro-interactions to simulate the flow of an app.
- Coediting — Real-time collaboration similar to Figma's, allowing multiple designers to work on a document simultaneously.
- Voice Prototyping — Unique to Adobe XD, designers can prototype voice commands into their designs, making it ideal for UIs that involve voice interactions.
- Auto-Animate — Adds animations between artboards to add transitions and micro-interactions to enhance the user experience.
- Content-Aware Layout — Automatically adjusts and scales content as designers add or modify elements, speeding up the responsive design process.
- Plugins and Integrations — Extensive support for plugins that extend functionality, including user testing platforms, data importers, and more.
- Cross-Platform Accessibility — Available on both macOS and Windows, with mobile apps for previewing and testing on iOS and Android devices.
Pricing Information
While you can no longer purchase Adobe XD as a standalone app, you can still get it as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps subscription, which is $59.99/mo.
3. Sketch
Sketch is a vector-based UX and UI design app for Mac.
Known for its ease of use and vector editing capabilities, Sketch is a very popular choice for designers creating both web and mobile app interfaces. And if the rest of your team doesn’t operate on Mac, that’s okay too because Sketch operates as a web app to allow for browsing, giving feedback, and handing off to your client or another teammate.
Sketch’s Key Features
- Vector Editing Tools — Provides a comprehensive set of vector editing tools that make it easy to create complex shapes and icons tailored to high-fidelity interfaces.
- Symbol & Component Library — Allows designers to reuse elements across their projects, ensuring consistency while saving time. Changes to a symbol are applied everywhere it’s used, streamlining the design process.
- Collaborative Features — Supports real-time collaboration with colleagues, enabling teams to work together on designs simultaneously.
- Prototyping — Includes built-in prototyping features that allow designers to transform static designs into clickable prototypes that can be shared and tested across devices.
- Plugin Ecosystem — Offers a huge range of plugins and integrations that extend its functionality, from adding accessibility features to importing real data into designs.
- Cloud Syncing — Keeps all files backed up on the cloud for easy access and sharing with team members no matter where they are.
Pricing Information
Sketch offers three plans; a standard subscription for $10/mo designed for solo designers and small teams, a Mac-only license for $120 a seat for solo designers, and a business subscription for medium-sized teams and larger organizations for $20/mo.
4. InVision
InVision is an extremely popular online whiteboard and productivity platform with tools for UX designing and collaborating on digital products.
Built “by designers, for designers,” its UX design board, Freehand, encourages collaboration at every stage of the process from prototyping interactive mockups for web and mobile apps to testing them out before launch.
InVision’s Key Features
- Freehand — A digital whiteboard that supports real-time collaboration, allowing teams to brainstorm, iterate, and align on design concepts visually and interactively. (Now part of Miro!).
- Boards — Provides a flexible space to create mood boards, present designs, and consolidate feedback for clear communication across design and development teams.
- Prototype — Tools that enable designers to build interactive, high-fidelity prototypes that look and feel like the final product, facilitating a deeper understanding and better decision-making during the user testing phase.
- Inspect — Converts design files into a development-ready format, giving developers direct access to measurements, assets, and code snippets, thereby streamlining the hand-off process.
- DSM (Design System Manager) — A centralized system that allows teams to maintain consistency across all digital products by managing design tokens, elements, and standards in one place.
- Extensive Integration — InVision integrates with a wide range of other popular tools like Sketch, Adobe, Figma, Trello, Slack, and more.
Pricing Information
When you sign up with InVision, you’ll automatically be on the Free plan.
If you want to upgrade, however, you can do so at any time to three additional plans; a Starter plan ($15/mo) that lets you work on 3 projects at a time, and Professional plan ($15/mo) and Team plans ($100/mo) that lets you work on unlimited projects.
Take a look and choose the one that best suits your needs!
5. Axure RP
Axure RP is a powerful tool for creating prototypes and detailed wireframes for interactive websites and mobile apps.
It’s particularly useful for UX/UI designers for its ability to test functions and interactions before any code is written, making it ideal for teams looking to streamline their workflow and work the bugs out before writing code.
Axure’s Key Features
- Advanced Prototyping — Allows designers to create highly interactive and functional prototypes that can include conditional logic, variables, and calculations without any coding.
- Dynamic Content — Designers can create dynamic content that changes depending on user actions or data input, closely simulating a real application's behavior.
- Masters and Repeater Widgets — Use Masters to create reusable design elements and Repeater widgets for data-driven designs that can simulate lists, grids, and other data-rich interfaces.
- Team Collaboration — Axure RP Team Edition enables multiple people to work on the same file simultaneously, providing a check-in and check-out system to keep everyone in sync.
- Documentation Tools — Generate comprehensive documentation, including user flows and annotated wireframes, directly from the project files, aiding in the handoff to development teams.
- Integration with Other Tools — Seamlessly integrates with major file sync services like Slack and Microsoft Teams for easy sharing and communication, as well as tools like Jira and Confluence for project management.
- Mobile Prototyping — Preview prototypes on real devices with the Axure Share app, which can adjust views to fit different screen sizes for iOS and Android devices.
Pricing Information
Axure RP offers 3 different plans to choose from, each with different features.
There’s the Pro plan for $25/mo, the Team plan for $42/mo, and an Enterprise plan that you’ll need to contact Axure for to get custom pricing. Note that these prices are when billed annually. If you decide to pay month-to-month, your price will be slightly higher.
6. Balsamiq
Balsamiq is a user-friendly tool made for quick wireframing and prototyping and is particularly helpful for teams looking to whip up mockups of their website or mobile app interfaces.
It’s easy to use too, making it a popular choice for brainstorming design and interfaces with the whole team during the early stages of development.
Balsamiq's Key Features
- Drag-and-Drop Interface — Enables quick and easy creation of wireframes with a library of pre-built widgets and UI elements.
- Low-Fidelity Wireframes — Focuses on simplicity and clarity, which helps in prioritizing functionality and user experience without distractions.
- Real-Time Collaboration — Balsamiq Cloud allows multiple users to collaborate on projects in real-time, ensuring seamless team integration and communication.
- Revision History — Tracks changes and allows users to revert to earlier versions of wireframes, facilitating better control over the design process.
- Sketch-Style Wireframes — The sketch-like aesthetics help stakeholders focus on functionality and user interaction rather than design specifics.
- Integration with Other Tools — Offers integration capabilities with Google Drive, Confluence, and Jira, enhancing workflow efficiency across different platforms.
- Interactive Prototypes — Though primarily a wireframing tool, Balsamiq also allows users to add simple interactions to wireframes to better demonstrate the flow of an application.
Pricing Information
Balsamiq charges users per Space. And for each Space, you can choose between 3 different plans with varying features.
There is a 2-project plan ($9/mo or $90/year), a 20-project plan ($49/mo or $490/year), and a 200-project plan ($199/mo or $1,990/year), and all come with a 30-day free trial, so try it out to see if it’s the right fit for you!
7. UXPin
If you’re looking for an interactive design tool for interactive and responsive prototypes, then UXPin might be the tool for you!
Its powerful functionalities make it very useful for teams that need to bridge the gap between the design and development stages of the project, making handoff easy and hassle-free.
UXPin's Key Features
- Advanced Prototyping — Create detailed, interactive prototypes that can integrate real HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
- Real-Time Collaboration — Facilitates teamwork with features like simultaneous editing, live commenting, and document history.
- User Testing — Directly gather user feedback from prototypes with built-in user testing tools.
- Design Systems — Maintain consistency with robust design system capabilities, ensuring all team members adhere to set guidelines.
- Integration with Popular Tools — Seamlessly integrates with Slack, Jira, and Microsoft Teams for enhanced communication and project management.
- Accessibility Inspection — Automatically checks and ensures that designs comply with accessibility standards, promoting inclusivity.
Pricing Information
UXPin offers several plans to meet your prototyping needs:
- Free — For anyone wanting to build interactive prototypes!
- Essentials — For beginners with standard design needs. $8 per editor/mo.
- Advanced — For designers and small companies looking for more advanced prototyping. $39 per editor/mo.
- Merge AI — For UI developers looking for AI-powered interactive prototyping. $49 per editor/mo.
- Company — For companies with big development needs. $149 per editor/mo.
- Enterprise — For organizations looking to scale their product design. Chat with UXPin’s sales team for pricing.
Each plan includes a free trial to help you decide if UXPin is for you and all plans can be paid annually to save 20% of your yearly costs.
8. UXCam
UXCam is a powerful app performance management tool that lets users do deep analysis to optimize the user experience of their mobile apps.
It also offers qualitative analytics, allowing your team to understand not just what happens on the app, but the all-important why. This makes it very useful for product teams and developers who need to closely monitor user behavior for ongoing improvements and refining.
UXCam’s Key Features
- Session Replay — Allows teams to watch user sessions in real-time or recorded to gain insights into user behavior and potential issues.
- Heatmaps — Provides visual heatmaps of where users are interacting with your app, helping identify popular areas and elements that might require further optimization.
- User Journey Tracking — Tracks and visualizes the complete user journey within the app, identifying friction points and opportunities for enhancement.
- Crash Reports — Automatically captures detailed reports when an app crashes, including the stack trace, device info, and user actions leading up to the crash.
- Event Tracking — Customizable event tracking to analyze user interactions, feature usage, and critical milestones within the app.
- Real-Time Analytics — Delivers analytics in real-time, allowing teams to make data-driven decisions quickly.
- Integration with Other Tools — Seamlessly integrates with popular tools such as Slack, JIRA, and others for efficient workflow management.
Pricing Information
UXCam offers three plans to choose from: a Free plan, a Growth plan, and an Enterprise plan.
Request a demo on their website for a custom quote!
9. Framer
Framer is a popular prototyping tool that lets designers create complex animations and interactions for their websites and mobile apps without the need for coding.
It’s a great choice for designers who like to prototype closer to the final product, letting teams test and iterate with high-fidelity prototypes. Its integration of design and code also makes it a favorite with developers looking to quickly refine and validate their work!
Framer’s Key Features
- Advanced Animation Tools — Framer’s animation tools allow for creating detailed, complex animations that can bring your prototypes to life.
- Code-Based Design — Enables designers to use real code or visual scripting to build interactive and responsive components.
- Component Library — Includes a vast library of ready-to-use components that can be customized and reused across different projects.
- Interactive Prototyping — Allows the creation of interactive prototypes that can simulate the functionality of the final product.
- Collaborative Design — Supports real-time collaboration, allowing multiple team members to work on the same project simultaneously.
- Integration with Design Tools — Easily integrates with other design tools like Figma and Sketch, allowing for seamless workflow transitions.
- User Testing — Provides tools for user testing within the app, enabling immediate feedback on prototype usability and experience.
Pricing Information
Framer offers several plans to choose from, with more features available the higher you go:
- Free — Perfect for hobby sites!
- Mini — For simple sites. $5/mo.
- Basic — For personal sites. $15/mo.
- Pro — For larger sites. $30/mo.
- Custom — For enterprise sites. Contact Framer for specific pricing.
10. Marvel
Marvel is a convenient and easy-to-use design and prototyping tool that lets designers quickly create high-fidelity prototypes.
If you’re a team on a deadline, you’ll find it particularly useful for rapidly bringing your ideas to life in testable models that can be shared for immediate feedback. With a user-friendly interface and powerful features, Marvel is easy to use for both beginners and seasoned pros, making it a favorite for teams of different experience levels.
Marvel’s Key Features
- Design Tool Integration — Marvel integrates smoothly with tools like Photoshop and Sketch, allowing designers to import and sync their designs effortlessly.
- User Interface Design — Provides a simple drag-and-drop interface for building user interfaces quickly from a comprehensive library of elements.
- Interactive Prototyping — Allows designers to create interactive prototypes that mimic the final application, complete with transitions and animations.
- User Testing — Offers built-in user testing features that enable real-time feedback collection directly from the prototypes, helping teams gather insights quickly.
- Team Collaboration — Supports team collaboration features such as project sharing, feedback collection, and version control, making it easy for teams to work together efficiently.
- Handoff Documentation — Automatically generates design specifications and assets for developers, simplifying the transition from design to development.
- Mobile App — Includes a mobile app to view, test, and share prototypes on actual devices, enhancing the mobile user experience.
Pricing Information
Marvel offers 4 plans to choose from; a Free plan, a Pro plan ($12/mo), a Team plan ($42/mo), and an Enterprise plan (contact sales for a quote!).
Each plan offers a varying number of users and projects so you can start small and work your way up as you scale!
Looking for a Place to Put Those Tools to Good Use?
Did we miss your favorite UX design tools?
If so, reach out and let us know!
And if you’re looking for a place that will let you put all of your favorite UX design tools and processes to work, then … reach out and let us know. Because Designity is always looking to add more talented UX/UI designers to our team, and we think you’d be a perfect fit.
As a Designity Creative, you’d enjoy perks like a remote work environment, the flexibility to schedule your own hours, competitive pay, and a full pipeline. And with an experienced Creative Director managing each and every account and all client interactions, you can do what you love without any administrative hassle.
How about it? Are you ready for your next big challenge?
Put your skills to the test with our one-of-a-kind application process and let’s see where Designity can take you!
