The following is a guest post by Cherryl Pereira, Head of Content at Chisel Labs
The UX tools that people use to make their lives easier are endless. In this blog post, we will take a look at some of the UX tools for designers and discuss what they can do for you.
There are many UX design software to choose from when designing your next app or website.
We recommend trying them all out to see what works best for you personally.
If you are a designer, there is no doubt that you’ve come across some of the following tools in your day-to-day life.
Some designers might not use all of them, but they are great for any designer to know about. In this blog post, we will introduce some UX tools that are being used by designers.
UX design is a new trend in the internet industry and it’s been gaining popularity with more and more people joining the field of UX design.
To make their lives easier, many designers have begun using UX tools available on the market for different purposes such as wireframing, prototyping, or testing.
Read More: UX Research vs UX Design – What’s the Difference?
UX tools can be difficult to learn and master, so we have gathered a list of the most popular UX design software being used by designers.
Some of these UX design software include Axure (recommended for prototyping), Sketch (for wireframing & mockups), and Adobe XD (also recommended as an all-purpose space and its efficiency in UX design).
We live in an era where innovation is at its peak.
People are coming up with new ideas and designs, apps, and websites daily. With so many inventions being created regularly it’s hard to keep up with all the latest trends.
The UX tools that people use to make their lives easier are endless.
In this blog post, we will take a look at some of the UX tools for designers and discuss what they can do for you. There are many UX design software to choose from when designing your next app or website.
But which one is best?
SKETCH
Sketch is one of the most amazing UX tools that a designer can use to make their work easier.
Sketch is an app for Mac and it has been gaining popularity among designers recently because it allows you to design your layouts quickly without having to worry about the code.
Why this has been a hit in the market is because it is a simple and fun application to use. Sketch has been gaining popularity with UX tools for designers, but Sketch isn’t as popular as Axure yet.
However, this may change soon since Sketch has been improving its features.
AXURE
Axure is a very strong UX design software that allows you to create prototypes of your designs and test them out with the user before actually launching.
Axure also provides its users with many options for creating wireframes, which can be helpful when designing an app or website. This tool is great because designers have excellent control over their designs.
Axure is a great UX design tool for prototyping, but Sketch with its simplicity may be the better choice in some cases. We recommend trying all of these tools out to see what works best for your project.
Why this has been a hit in the market is because it is a simple and fun application.
Axure has been around for quite some time, but it remains one of the most used UX tools in the industry today.
Axure works like Sketch because you can create your design without having to worry about coding too much or find someone else that knows how to code.
You get all the required inputs from the client before you design your website or app so that it fits their needs.
Axure allows you to create a prototype of what your final product will look like and gives clients an idea of how the site works as well.
PHOTOSHOP
Photoshop is another popular UX tool for designers because it’s been around forever. Photoshop has various uses, but one of its most premium purposes is to design your website or app.
Photoshop is used by many designers because it’s easy to use and the interface is simple enough for people who are new to designing. Not just that but Photoshop is also great for creating mockups. Photoshop has so many tools that can help designers design
PowerMockup is one of the extensions of PowerPoint that is used by many designers. PowerMockup allows you to add UX elements such as buttons, forms, dropdown menus, and more, which can then be exported into an image file or a PDF file.
This tool saves lots of time because not only does it speed up the process of designing mockups but also makes them more efficient. You can create wireframes and mockups very easily using this tool.
Designers always complain that they have to use a word processor and a UX/wireframe design software at the same time whenever they are making wireframes or mockups for their clients.
This makes it difficult because then you have to open two different programs with two separate workspaces, which is why people have started using tools like Invision.
Thanks to this tool, you can upload your mockup or wireframe right into the online platform and then share it with others. It also allows users to comment on specific elements of a design so that changes can be made quickly.
This is another great UX tool for designers because they can create user interfaces and products that give you the perfect user experience.
POST-IT NOTE TOOL
Another amazing application is the Post-It note tool that allows designers to create ideas on sticky notes.
These can be moved around and even resized so you can arrange your idea in the best way possible! There is also a digital version of this UX app available now as well!
HOTJAR
Hotjar is a comprehensive application that can be used to improve your user experience and to see how users interact with your website.
This tool allows you to record videos of what people are doing when they visit certain pages on your site so that the design can be improved where necessary.
It also allows users to comment on specific elements of a design so that changes can be made quickly and with a little more direction.
BALSAMIQ WIREFRAMES
It is a web-based wireframing application, which provides fast interactive wireframe mockups for websites or applications.
This is great because it allows the designer to quickly create basic templates for the user flow.
Not just that but the designer can also iterate their mockups as they go and include comments on the page to communicate with the team.
This is not to say that Balsamiq is the best wireframing tool out there, but it definitely has its pros.
JUSTINMIND
This tool provides the power of HTML/CSS prototyping but also it can add in a user flow which is great for testing the interactive parts of your design.
This is the way it works: when you are in the design mode, it allows you to arrange your pages and then connect them with interactions. Have you seen anything like it?
FLINTO
This is another prototyping tool for designing interactions.
It allows designers to animate their designs in real-time, allowing them to get a better understanding of the flow and experience that users are going through when they interact with their product.
If this was not enough, there is also the Flinto Viewer which allows you to share prototypes on the web.
What is unique about this tool is that everything you do in the design mode will be automatically saved as a prototype.
The moment you launch it again, your work will appear just as before and all of the changes you made to it are already there.
Conclusion
There are many UX design tools in the industry, and it can be hard to know what tool is best for you when designing a new app or website.
We recommend trying out all of these great apps until one works for your needs perfectly. These applications will make your life as a designer much easier if used correctly.
What is important is to understand that each tool can be helpful in a different way for different people.
No one tool will work for everyone, but several tools can help you become a better designer.
Cherryl Pereira is the Head of Content at Chisel. Chisel Labs is a premiere agile product management software company that brings together roadmapping, team alignment, and customer connection.
