Mastering the principles of UX design enables the creation of exceptional products, websites, and apps that genuinely captivate and delight users. 

However, the challenge lies in navigating the extensive array of UX design tools available for tasks ranging from research to prototyping. 

The key is to identify the optimal combination of tools and understand how to leverage them within a user-centric UX design strategy to achieve optimal outcomes.

This article outlines the optimal UX design software for the ‘make’ phase, assisting you in addressing challenges faced by both you and your users. It further provides insights into the usage of each tool or its combination to ensure the delivery of an exceptional user experience.

Read more to understand what ‘Make Phase’ is in this blog - What is UX Design: Everything You Need To Know and More.

Why Do You Need a UI/UX Design Tool?

The necessity of UI UX design tools arises from their ability to assist designers in creating interactive and visually appealing digital applications. Throughout the design process, these tools provide significant benefits in areas such as UX design testing, wireframing, prototyping, visual design, optimization, and facilitating the handoff of design elements.

Demonstrating the impact of effective design, Forrester's research revealed that a well-executed UI has the potential to elevate website conversion rates by as much as 200%. Impressively, enhanced UX design can lead to an even more substantial increase, with conversions soaring by a remarkable 400%. Additionally, a study indicates that an overwhelming 94% of initial impressions of a brand's website are influenced by design-related factors.

Top 18 UX Design Tools

Now, let's explore the leading 18 UI/UX design tools commonly employed for both UI and UX design purposes.

1. Sketch

Individuals with UI design expertise are familiar with Sketch, a highly acclaimed UI design tool. Sketch simplifies the design process by allowing for universal modifications through its library of symbols, text styles, layer styles, resizing, and alignment features. 

Sketch saves designers valuable time in producing consistent prototypes and streamlining their workflow. Additionally, Sketch supports various plugins, enabling designers to seamlessly integrate and use other tools in conjunction with it.

2. InVision

InVision Studio provides a comprehensive suite of UI software essential for designers to develop fully functional prototypes featuring dynamic animations and elements.

Facilitating communication, InVision Studio is equipped with collaborative features that enable designers to share their work in real time. This allows for instant feedback and keeps everyone updated on document changes throughout the design process. Additionally, InVision Studio includes a digital whiteboard, promoting team collaboration by allowing members to share ideas, interact, and seek approvals.

3. Axure

​​Axure serves as a valuable tool for UI/UX designers, aiding in the prototyping process and workflow management. It presents a seamless documentation interface for designers, ensuring well-detailed prototypes.

In addition to prototyping, Axure includes features for testing functionalities and streamlining the developer handoff process. The tool facilitates smooth communication, allowing all project contributors to stay informed about real-time changes and progress updates.

4. Figma

Figma is a versatile tool used for creating dynamic mockups and prototypes, allowing for usability testing while ensuring continuous synchronization of progress. Its collaborative environment supports concurrent work by multiple designers on a project, akin to the functionality found in Google Docs.

Figma operates through web browsers, enabling universal accessibility. Moreover, it offers a free version, making it conducive for individual learning before engaging in team collaborations.

5. Adobe XD

As a leader in design software, Adobe has a prominent presence in the realm of UI/UX design through its offering, Adobe XD. Tailored for UI/UX designers, Adobe XD provides vector-based UI tools for crafting prototypes and mockups. The software's interface, consistent with other Adobe products, instills a sense of familiarity, enhancing the user experience. Real-time collaboration further contributes to Adobe XD's popularity among UI designers.

Adobe XD equips UI designers with a range of tools, empowering them to create interactions and integrate various elements seamlessly into their mockups and prototypes.

6. Proto.io

Proto.io is a comprehensive platform catering to designers' needs for organizing, creating, testing, and integrating precise mockups. It enhances collaboration by facilitating smooth communication among team members through video feedback and comments. Moreover, Proto.io seamlessly integrates with leading testing tools in the market.

Notably, Proto.io is highly favored by students due to its user-friendly interface, making the learning process exceptionally accessible.

7. Marvel

Marvel's design software is renowned for its user-friendly approach, catering to both beginners and seasoned professionals in the design field. It facilitates the creation of both high- and low-fidelity wireframes, in addition to supporting the development of interactive prototypes and the execution of user testing.

Marvel's interface is notably intuitive, ensuring ease of use. A noteworthy feature called Handoff enables designers to retrieve all the necessary CSS styles and HTML code efficiently, streamlining the initiation of the design creation process.

8. Framer X

Initially a code-only prototyping application, Framer X has evolved to offer a diverse range of UI design tools for constructing functional prototypes and conducting usability tests. Its compatibility with React makes it particularly appealing to UI designers seeking to stay abreast of the latest innovations.

Framer X boasts numerous plugins that furnish UI designers with a variety of features, including UI kits, players, and other valuable components. UI kits facilitate the integration of social media channels like Twitter and Snapchat, while the Player allows designers to embed various media. Notably, Framer X is relatively easy for UI designers to learn and navigate.

9. Origami Studio

Originally developed by Facebook for its designers, Origami Studio stands out as a slightly more intricate tool compared to Sketch or InVision. Ideal for designers seeking advanced prototyping capabilities, Origami Studio provides a comprehensive set of tools for constructing complete prototypes.

The platform features a sophisticated path editor, empowering designers to integrate advanced functionalities seamlessly. The resulting prototypes are not only functional but also closely resemble actual web pages or applications.

Furthermore, Origami Studio offers integration with Sketch, allowing for the effortless importation of layers directly from Sketch through simple copy-paste functionality.

10. FlowMapp

In the development of a UX strategy, significant emphasis must be placed on structure, flow, and sitemaps. While numerous tools combine UI and UX features, FlowMapp distinguishes itself by solely dedicating its capabilities to UX design. This exclusive focus enables designers to concentrate on crafting a comprehensive UX strategy.

FlowMapp offers functionalities that facilitate the creation of user flows and the construction of visual sitemaps, streamlining the process of developing an effective and user-centric UX strategy.

11. Balsamiq

Balsamiq boasts an exceptionally user-friendly interface, making it easy for users, even those without prior wireframing experience, to create appealing low-fidelity wireframes. While proficient in both UI and UX design, Balsamiq's unique selling point lies in its ability to effortlessly generate low-fidelity wireframes. The inclusion of a whiteboard feature further enhances accessibility, ensuring the tool is user-friendly for a wide range of individuals.

12. Craft

Craft, a plug-in developed by InVision, seamlessly integrates with both Photoshop and Sketch. Its synchronization function ensures real-time updates to the ongoing work, thereby saving valuable time for designers. Craft extends its utility by providing a range of features essential for prototyping and collaboration.

With Craft, changes, styling adjustments, and edits are swiftly updated for all team members, ensuring everyone is aligned with the latest version of the project. Additionally, Craft includes its own placeholder content, allowing users to enhance visuals using resources like iStock and Getty. The tool also supports data importation from various sources or allows the creation of custom content.

13. Webflow

Webflow empowers users to design without requiring expertise in CSS or HTML. Featuring an intuitive interface and convenient drag-and-drop functionality, Webflow enables users to create prototypes that can seamlessly transition into real websites. Notably, the platform generates precise HTML and CSS code, particularly when implementing micro-interactions.

Webflow further facilitates the design process by offering template options, sparing users the need to initiate projects from scratch. This versatility makes Webflow an accessible and efficient tool for website design and development.

14. Justinmind

Justinmind is a valuable tool for designers, aiding in the easy creation of wireframes and prototypes of varying fidelity levels. Its user-friendly interface makes it a suitable choice for both beginners and seasoned UX designers.

With Justinmind, designers can develop applications and preview their appearance across desktop systems, smartphones, and tablets. This feature is particularly beneficial for designers aiming to deploy their creations across diverse platforms. Additionally, Justinmind includes collaboration features and facilitates easy sharing, enhancing the collaborative aspects of the design process.

15. VisualSitemaps

VisualSitemaps is dedicated to the creation of visual sitemaps, providing a specialized tool for this purpose. The tool stands out with its complete automation, enabling it to navigate password-protected websites that are yet to go live. 

Notably, VisualSitemaps offers seamless integration with Sketch, enhancing the overall process of creating visual sitemaps. This tool is particularly beneficial for UX designers, developers, and other stakeholders involved in the creation of visual sitemaps, offering a streamlined and efficient approach to the task.

16. Treejack

While visual elements in the design are crucial, they become meaningful with high-quality content presented in a well-organized structure. Merely having good content is insufficient; it must be arranged in a way that enhances accessibility, and this is where information architecture plays a vital role.

Treejack is specifically designed for information architecture, allowing users to test the tree structure of a website with real users. The tool generates results showcasing a user's path and navigation through the content, providing valuable insights for editing and refining the organization of content. This process aids in optimizing the accessibility and effectiveness of the presented information.

17. Wireframe. cc

Wireframes serve as a straightforward means of communicating the structure of a design, and they don't necessarily need to be intricate. Wireframe. cc maintains a focus on minimalism in its wireframing tools. 

By intentionally restricting the color palette and employing simple rectangular elements coupled with an uncomplicated interface, UX designers can effortlessly create low-fidelity wireframes. The tool's simplicity is further demonstrated through an in-browser demo, allowing users to easily understand its functionality.

18. Optimal Workshop

For a comprehensive UX design platform, Optimal Workshop offers a suite of tools essential for usability analysis, information architecture development, and design testing and evaluation.

Optimal Workshop stands out by delivering insightful data and in-depth insights into user interactions with a design. This meticulously crafted UX platform encompasses various testing methods, including tree testing with Treejack, first-click testing with Chalkmark, online surveys, and qualitative research with Reframer. The bundling of these tools creates a comprehensive package that proves beneficial for any UX designer.

UX Design Testing

Qatalyst

Qatalyst serves as a swift testing platform, allowing designers to conduct comprehensive tests, whether with or without prototypes. It proves valuable for validating and testing ideas, copy, or concepts.

Notably, Qatalyst provides a multitude of integration options, seamlessly connecting with tools such as Figma, InVision, Adobe XD, Sketch, and Marvel. This integration enables designers to consistently justify design decisions, facilitating the early identification and elimination of unfavorable ideas in the initial stages of the design process.

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How to Pick the Right UX/UI Design Tool for You?

To assist in selecting the appropriate UX tool, consider the following factors during the shortlisting process:

Prototyping

Seek features like a no-code interface, easy export and sharing capabilities, support for animations, and responsiveness in design.

Wireframing

Choose tools that provide free components such as icons, shortcuts for processes, and straightforward controls.

Mockups

Ensure the selected tool offers a variety of built-in tools to efficiently create design recreations for mockups.

Collaboration

As design often involves teamwork, opt for a tool that supports collaboration on projects, allowing for features like commenting, tagging, and marking.

Plugins

Check for plugin support in your chosen tool to enhance functionalities, enabling designers to perform additional tasks that may be missing in the tool's native capabilities.

UI Kits and Resources

Look for tools that come with UI Kits and resources, including templates and themes, to expedite the design process by eliminating the need to create everything from scratch.

Integrations

Ensure the UX tool offers integrations with various platforms such as CRM and Cloud, facilitating a streamlined process and efficient data sharing between different applications.

Bottom Line

To excel in UX design, it's essential to extend beyond metrics and data and delve into creating an emotional connection with users.

While utilizing the mentioned tools, always keep the broader perspective in focus: you're constructing and executing a comprehensive UX design strategy tailored for your website, app, or product, and most importantly, for your audience. Shift your focus beyond mere numerical enhancements and strive to assist users in reaching their objectives as their success aligns with yours.

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