UI (User Interface) and UX (User Experience) are two interdependent terms. UI generally deals with the interaction between users and computer systems, software, and applications, while UX deals more generally with a user’s overall experience with a brand, product, or service for UI/UX.
According to Forbes, the pandemic has transformed the way of paying bills, performing banking transactions, and shopping for necessities. UI/UX design, the modern-day equivalent of in-store visual merchandising, has become more critical than ever in this current situation. In gradual progress, UX and UI design tools are evolving faster than before.
Various tools help each stage of the design and product development process. Below is a list of the best UX/UI design tools that help designers improve their work productivity.
Adobe XD
Adobe is arguably one of the top companies that creates the best UX tools for creatives. With Adobe XD, you can design, prototype, share and collaborate within their enterprise-grade app. Its slick asset management library allows you to design a master element with customized properties to be used across your site or app. It works well on both Windows and macOS.
- Sketch
The sketch is an established standard UX tool. It is used to design hi-fi prototypes and interfaces with an instant preview on mobile devices. Additionally, it comes with a Symbols feature that helps create UI elements for reuse purposes. With the Symbols feature, it’s feasible to build design systems and maintain consistency in the interface design. It also lets you export the design into a functioning prototype.
- Flow
Your UX design can be more engaging, intuitive, and fun with a bit of animation thrown in the mix. Flow helps you design UX animation and turn it into ready-to-use code. The app’s intuitive interface saves you time and effort in mastering this new animation tool. Flow allows you to import your work directly from other tools such as Figma, Sketch, SVG, etc.
InVision
This app is a collection of three UX/UI tools. It provides users a single platform to collaborate and rapidly prototype screen designs. Also, the app’s cloud makes all prototypes, sketches, and designs accessible in one location. It is an essential tool for UX designers and their partners across the product marketing organization.
- Craft
Created by InVision, Craft is a plugin designed to streamline your design workflow with Sketch and Photoshop. Free UI/UX design tool. It allows you to completely revolutionize the design process by automating actions, pulling sample data, and simultaneously updating your work. It also promotes collaboration by updating changes across the board to notify everyone collaborating.
- Maze
Another incredible user interface or UI designing tool is Maze. It is well known for its testing software which includes- rapid prototype, usability, A/B, and remote testing. Maze’s design software is a great tool to validate concepts and mobile app ideas. It also supports different testing types in any stage of the development process.
- Axure
With this UI design tool, you can rapidly make prototypes with dynamic content, conditional logic, and adaptive views features that perform like the real thing. Axure can connect popular design tools such as Sketch to share designs with stakeholders. It works great on both Windows and Mac.
- Figma
Figma is among the leading UI designing tools. Its drag-and-drop user interface editor allows collaboration across your organization. Figma is one of few UX tools that bridge the gap between designers, developers, and project managers. Some of its most powerful features include constraining graphical elements to an on-screen position, Boolean operations that lets you combine multiple shapes with precision, and 60fps interactive editing to view your design in crisp previews.
- Marvel
Marvel is a top UI/UX tool perfect for creating various lo-fi and hi-fi wireframes, prototypes, and HTML and CSS handoffs. It helps designers refine the prototype interface and make it look like a final product. The app’s design software has a slight learning curve and works best on web browsers, iOS, and Android.
- Framer
Users formerly knew this app as Framer X. It is one of the most advanced UX tools. It shows close to real-life examples of a product-to-be and how it will work, feel, and perform. Framer is an excellent choice for pro UI designers. It also has a very slight to no learning curve, so it’s beginner-friendly.
Origami Studio
Origami Studio is a highly sophisticated software designed explicitly for professionals, unlike other UX design tools in this list. It was initially built for designers on Facebook but is now available for free. One of the state-of-the-art UX tools in the market with a learning curve, which makes it a complex prototyping tool for beginners. It renders real-like interactions while offering seamless integration with Sketch and works on macOS, iOS, and Android devices.
Each UI/UX tool in the list mentioned above offers designers something valuable and productive. All you need to do is map out your requirements and budget and choose a software that meets the parameters.