Level Up Your UX Design with the Top 7 Prototyping Tools
Discover the power of UX prototyping tools and enhance your design process.
Bringing a concept to life is never an easy task! Tremendous work needs to be done before the final product. But what if the final product is not up to standard? All that effort would have gone to waste! Luckily, there is a way around it through UX prototyping tools. UX prototyping is the process of creating prototypes that mimic the user interface of the final product. By creating a UX prototype, the developers are able to get an idea of the interactivity of the final product, thus enabling them to make critical adjustments very early on in the design and development process.
- Table of Contents
- What Are UX Prototyping Tools？
- Key Considerations for Choosing UX Prototyping Tools
- The Top 7 UX Prototyping Tools for Design Success
What Are UX Prototyping Tools？
UX prototyping tools are the applications that designers can use to create prototypes for the concepts in development. These tools can be used to combine transitions, and seamlessly weave in interactions and navigation to create a solid mock representation of the final product. The prototypes created through UX prototypes look, feel, and behave very similar to the end product.
There are two core types of UX prototyping tools: low-fidelity and high-fidelity. The main difference between these two categories is the complexity of the prototypes and the creation process.
Low-fidelity UX prototyping focuses on the core aspects of the design. Low-fidelity prototypes contain rough representations of the expected user interface with a low priority given to visual clarity. These prototypes follow the design’s basic flow, structure, and layout. The simplistic nature of these prototypes allows them to be created quite early on in the design process and are used to gather initial feedback to validate ideas in play. Low-fidelity UX prototypes are made using simple tools and often include paper prototypes and sketches.
High-fidelity UX prototyping is a bit more complex when compared to its predecessor. These high-fidelity UX Prototyping tools are used to create detailed prototypes that accurately mimic the user interface of the design. The main focus of these tools is to create a prototype that preserves visual accuracy, interactivity of elements, and the realism of user interactivity. The complexity of these prototypes and tools restricts their use to the later stages of the design process. Designers use these prototypes to assess usability, improve aesthetics and refine user interactions. To create a more realistic user experience, high-fidelity prototypes also contain advanced micro-interactions, animations, and transitions.
It is important to understand that high and low fidelity prototypes are important in their rights. They are crafted at different stages of the design process depending on the constraints and requirements and hold significant value in streamlining the end product.
Key Considerations for Choosing UX Prototyping Tools
There are a wide variety of UX prototyping tools out there in the market. This section is all about helping you make the correct decision to pick the right one.
Project requirements and complexity
The tool should be picked to match the project! The tools utilized and the type of the UX prototype will change depending on the complexity of the project and the level of accuracy needed. Certain projects will need accurate prototypes that closely mimic the functions and interactivity of the expected result. In order to create such a prototype, we will have to use high-fidelity UX prototyping tools or turn to app prototype services that have advanced features capable of supporting its creation. However, if your product doesn’t need an extra high-functioning prototype, using an advanced high-fidelity prototype tool will be a waste of resources. Therefore, make sure to pick the tool to match your project.
Learning curve and usability
UX prototyping tools have varying levels of complexity and these advanced features introduce a steep learning curve for its users. If you are a beginner at UX prototyping, it’s better to pick a tool that is easy to use. But a complex situation arises where tools that are easy to use don’t have the features necessary to facilitate a “complete” development of the prototype. Therefore, it’s important to pick a prototyping tool that satisfies both of these conditions. The tool should be easy to pick up while having the capacity to complete the prototyping process.
Collaboration and sharing capacities
Creating prototypes is not a one man job. It takes a team to pull off a successful project, and therefore the tools that you use should have the features to incorporate all the team members. It should be possible to send the work being done to the remaining members of the group. The process of sharing should seamlessly incorporate itself into the development process.
Integration with other tools
Often, the prototyping tool might not have the features required to carry out a task. This issue is especially common in the simpler prototyping tools designed for beginners. In such an instance, the tool should be able to integrate other tools into its system in order to assist the prototyping process.
Cost and pricing
The cost of UX prototyping tools differs from one another. Tools that have more features are able to create and implement complex prototypes. Tools with more features also require less third-party tools, which in turn makes the UX prototyping tools a great single investment. Therefore when picking a tool to design your UX prototype the cost of the tool should be justified by the features provided by it.
Also read: Full Guide to Prototype Design: Definition, Types, and Usage
The Top 7 UX Prototyping Tools for Design Success
Sketch
Sketch is a powerful UX prototyping tool that uses the concept of vector designs to create prototypes. This application contains an extensive list of features and tools to create scalable and precise designs. The designers in the team can utilize the image creation tools in Sketch to create icons, shapes and illustrations.
- Powerful vector design capabilities.
- Sketch belongs to a massive ecosystem.
- Sketch also offers features that are exclusive for Mac users.
- Sketch requires the user to make a one-time purchase of $99 for the base application. Any major updates and upgrades that the program receives aren’t free, requiring additional purchases.
- Collaboration features are limited which makes the application ill-suited for larger teams.
- Sketch’s features and simplicity prevent it from being effective at creating complex interactions in prototypes.
Adobe XD
Adobe XD is a vector design tool belonging to the Adobe ecosystem. Unlike most other design tools, Adobe XD is available on both mobile and PC allowing users to continue designing on multiple devices. The application is available for both MacOS and Windows users with a limited free plan and a subscription offer.
- Adobe XD belongs to the Adobe ecosystem that is packed with applications through the creative cloud tools which can help designers.
- Clear tutorials available for designers.
- Clean and simple interface with extensive collaboration features.
- No native code export support.
- Third-party plugins often malfunction.
- Expensive subscription plans.
Figma
Figma is an online whiteboard that allows users to create and design interfaces using a web application. The tool helps to bridge the gap between designers and developers. Figma also has a few offline features which are supported on both Windows and macOS devices.
- Real-time collaboration features allow users to work together in real time on the same screen.
- Easy file sharing capabilities.
- Massive community with a large number of plugins.
- Less features when compared to other design tools.
- Almost completely based online, offline functionality is limited.
Marvel
Marvel is a lightweight UX prototyping tool that is great for small scale projects. The web-based design tool is easy to use and supports design imports through Sketch. Marvel is a great tool for beginners that are making an entry into prototype creation.
- Extremely easy to use.
- Ability to create CSS for developers to use later on.
- Clean interface.
- Limited in functionality.
- Costs more than others.
- Bad performance when creating large projects.
Invision
Invision is an online whiteboard and workflow application that is completely web-based. The application can create functioning prototypes of concepts without needing a single line of code. Designed to increase productivity and encourage collaboration, Invision prototype is packed with features that enable team members to work effectively.
- Can design fully interactive prototypes.
- Amazing collaboration features.
- Availability of wireframes.
- One project per account on the free version.
- Laggy web-application.
- Limited transactions in items.
Miocreate
Miocreate is an amazing online whiteboard that allows professionals to create designs and stunning visuals with ease. It’s easy to use and allows teams to use one application for everything; say goodbye to Zoom and Teams. The freehand whiteboard in Miocreate is great for mind mapping that streamlines the designing process. The program has both a free and paid version.
- The whiteboard can be used for collaborative designing.
- Increased support for collaboration promotes healthy brainstorming and better user flow.
- Top-notch whiteboard that comes at a reasonable price.
- Lacking in the fields of design.
- Miocreate is not built exclusively for prototyping.
UXpin
UXpin is a professional designing platform created for UI/UX developers and website developers. The program completely supports large projects enabling team members to effectively communicate at all points in the designing process. UXpin has both paid and free versions for designers to use.
- Extremely good collaboration features.
- Rapid prototyping.
- Cloud-based.
- The tool is built around developers and is not suited for designers.
- Large-scale designs can significantly slow the application.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, choosing the right UX prototyping tool is crucial for a successful design process. As you explore your options, don't forget to try Miocreate. With its intuitive interface, versatile features, and seamless collaboration, Miocreate empowers designers to bring their ideas to life. Take the leap and experience the power of Miocreate today by visiting our website and starting your free trial.
