At the heart of UX design is a central question: How do you create something that gives your intended user the best experience possible?
UX designers hold a rare position in a company, existing at the intersection of high tech and creativity. The tools they use allow them to bring great ideas to life, from the first brainstorming session to the moment they hand off a beautiful, easy-to-use prototype to the development team.
User-centered design is the future. Join the movement with our hands-on certificate program. Build and test prototypes with Figma, learn the principles of good UX/UI design, and prepare for the industry with 1-on-1 mentoring sessions.
Today’s UX design tools are designed to support UX and UI teams every step of the way, offering a structured framework for bringing concepts to life. While early tools like Photoshop were great for designing, they lacked the ability to collaborate across teams and often needed to be combined with other tools in order to achieve the team’s end goal.
In this article, we’ll take a look at a number of common UX design tools teams can use in order to bring a great idea to life. We’ll discuss the pros and cons of each tool and take a look at pricing as well.
7 common UX design tools to know about
Below, read about seven of the most widely used UX design tools out there. Though they vary based on features and offerings, they’re the ones that kept coming up over and over again in our research, and the names our experts trust for their day-to-day design tasks.
Figma
First released in 2015, Figma is a popular UX design tool that allows users to design and prototype user interfaces. It’s a widely used UX tool, mostly thanks to its cloud-based infrastructure and best-in-class collaboration features. Teams across different divisions (and even from different corners of the world) can use Figma to design and iterate in the same space at the same time, from the earliest brainstorming sessions to design handoff. This makes it a perfect design tool for remote teams.
Perhaps its most notable feature is FigJam, a whiteboard space for users to brainstorm ideas in an informal environment, that allows multiple users to make changes in real time. The results of these sessions can then be loaded directly into Figma’s design platform. Teams can use Figma for wireframing and prototyping for websites or mobile apps, and it integrates seamlessly with Photoshop.
Pros
- Offers real-time collaboration
- FigJam functions as a whiteboard area for ideas, which can then be loaded directly into the UI
- Entirely cloud-based
- Suitable for designers of all skill levels
Cons
- Free plan has limited functionality
- Must have an internet connection to access all of the platform’s features
Cost:
- Free: Basic wireframing for up to three projects
- Professional: $12 per editor/month includes starter features plus unlimited files, and version history, advanced prototyping features and dev mode
- Organization: $45 per editor/month includes professional features plus more in-depth libraries, advanced features and provide plug-ins
- Enterprise: $75 per editor/month includes organization features plus dedicated workspaces, guest access controls, onboarding and account support and more
Used by:
- Atlassian
- GitHub
- Microsoft
- Slack
Canva
Canva is a budget-friendly UX design tool that’s great for novice users thanks to drag-and-drop capability that doesn’t require any coding expertise to use. That makes Canva, released in 2013, ideal for a small company that doesn’t yet have the bandwidth to support a team of professional designers. Canva allows you to quickly and easily design just about anything using the tool’s huge selection of design templates and stock photography.
Aside from the ability to create a basic project by dragging and dropping elements like quotes, video clips, and graphics, you’ll also find templates for pamphlets, business cards, logos, posters and much more, along with templates for social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. This makes it simple to create a cohesive brand look and feel. Canva’s simple interface doesn’t require coding skills to get up and running, but you’ll trade a bit of advanced functionality found in other UX design tools for all the ease and simplicity Canva offers.
Pros
- Zero coding skills required to create a project
- Tons of templates, design elements and stock photography
- Templates can be customized to suit your individual project and taste
- Free plan features robust features
Cons
- Limitations for exporting and downloading
- Collaboration tools aren’t as robust as those found in other UX design tools
- It lacks advanced design features and does not allow you to create unique design elements. Instead, you must use the ones provided
- Canva retains ownership of intellectual property
Cost:
- Free: Basic functionality, access to the template library.
- Professional: $119.99 for one year with premium features and AI capability
- Team: $300 for one year for up to 5 people with premium and collaboration features
Used by:
- Salesforce
- Marriott
- Coca-Cola
- X, formerly Twitter
Adobe XD
Adobe XD is a robust, vector-based UX design tool that’s fully integrated into the Adobe Creative Cloud suite of products. Users who have experience using Adobe should have a relatively simple time navigating XD, which was released outside of a Beta version in 2017. Teams can create designs on the tool’s artboards and then wire them together to create a shareable prototype.
Some of this tool’s advanced features include plug-ins, animated transitions, dynamic elements and even the ability to create 3D models and use voice commands. This makes it the perfect UX design tool for teams looking to do voice design and animation. Adobe XD is supported on Windows, MacOS, and Android devices.
Learn more: UX vs. UI design
Pros
- Seamlessly compatible with other popular Adobe products like Photoshop and Illustrator
- User-friendly interface offers robust capacity for both designing and prototyping
- Compatible with both Windows and Mac
Cons
- Animation features are limited compared to other UX design tools
- Novice designers will experience a learning curve, especially if they haven’t used Adobe products before
- Larger projects with layering can take longer
- No further updates to the tool as of 2022
Cost:
- Single app: $9.99 per person/per month
- Team app: $22.99 per month for small teams
Used by:
- eBay
- Fujitsu
- MitraTech
- Infosys LTD
Miro
Miro, released in 2011, is a UX design tool known for its robust features and seemingly endless design possibilities. With Miro, users can create a design from scratch on an infinite canvas or use one of the templates from Miro’s vast offering. This end-to-end solution allows teams to use one product from the earliest brainstorming sessions all the way to design hand-off. Miro’s comprehensive digital workspace offers many of the same features as Figma, and has four different pricing levels depending on your team’s needs.
Pros
- Interface is relatively simple and requires little setup in order to get started
- Four pricing plans to meet the needs of teams of any size
- Excellent collaboration tools and features
Cons
- Novice designers may find Miro’s vast offerings confusing and difficult to grasp
- There’s no way to save custom templates in order to use them again
- Free plan is quite limited in offerings
Cost:
- Free: One workspace with up to 3 editable boards
- Starter: $8 per member/month with free features plus unlimited boards, export ability and public board sharing
- Business: $16 per member/month with starter features plus more advanced collaboration, sharing and issue management features
- Enterprise: contact for pricing, business features plus sharing/licensing across your organization, enterprise-level security, and centralized account management
Used by:
- Best Buy
- Cisco
- Macy’s
- Deloitte
Sketch
One of the first dedicated UI/UX design tools, Sketch has been around since 2010. While it remains available to Mac users only, Sketch has been an industry staple for years. Robust, cloud-based collaboration tools like a shared library, the ability to choose with whom to share certain information, and real-time syncing make for easy iterating, no matter what size your team is.
Pros
- Provides Mac users with a consistent look and feel to other Apple products
- Great collaboration tools
- Robust mobile features
Cons
- Only available for MacOS
- Mac-only license is limited, with no collaboration or hand-off features
Cost:
- Standard subscription: $10 per person/month includes native Mac app and web app
- Mac-only license: $120 per year, Mac app only
Used by:
- Ticketmaster
- Deutsche Bank
- Designit
JustInMind
Founded in 2005, JustinMind is one of the older tools on our list. It’s an excellent UX/UI design platform that can support design teams from start to finish. It’s still desktop based, rather than cloud based, which makes it not quite as cutting edge as competing tools like Figma and Miro, but JustInMind is still a robust tool. Teams can sketch, create wireframes and design prototypes in the same interface. JustInMind offers teams the ability to input actual or simulated user data (without writing code) into a prototype to test how it will “behave,” cutting down on guesswork before handing off to a development team.
Pros
- Teams can input actual user data into prototypes
- Easy to navigate once familiar with the platform
- Accurate, full-color representations of wireframes and prototypes
- Four pricing models to suit any team’s needs
Cons
- Lacks integration with other design tools
- Lacks collaboration features
- Lacks tutorials for using the tool
Cost:
- Free: Basic unlimited wireframing
- Standard: $9 per editor/month includes collaboration features
- Professional: $19 per editor/month includes standard features plus export ability, integration with Jira and Azure DevOPs, user testing integration and support features
- Enterprise: $39 per editor/month includes professional features plus ability to host/own all designs on your own local servers
Used by:
- Internal Revenue Service
- Siemens
- Verizon
Origami Studio
Released in 2015 as a completely free and open-source prototyping platform by the developers at Facebook, Origami Studio is a viable UX design tool for teams looking to easily design workflows and mockups without a monthly or yearly payment. The tool offers a useful freeform drawing platform for teams looking to create unique and personalized design elements. You can also save time by using one of the included templates.
Origami Studio runs on iOS, Android or web devices and integrates with Figma via an included Figma plug-in. Recent updates include the addition of Canvas, which allows for more dynamic layout options and vector-based graphics.
Pros
- Offers a Figma plug-in
- Easy imports from other design tools like Sketch
- Completely free to use
- Regular updates add enhanced features and capabilities
Cons
- Novice designers may experience a rather steep learning curve
- Knowledge of Quartz Composer will be helpful since Origami is basically a collection of patches from that platform.
Cost:
- Origami Studio is free to use.
Used by:
- Airbnb
- Pitch
- Spotify
UX design tool features
Josh Sroufe, the design director of PulseLabs, lays out a few must-haves that he looks for when choosing which UX design tool his teams will use. “First and foremost, I look for something that offers a well-rounded experience from iteration to planning,” he says.
“Collaboration is key, especially in this increasingly remote work world. It’s also great when a design tool considers the importance of handing off to a development team. After all, we’re designing for developers, so the ability to hand off to a dev team is key,” Sroufe adds.
Other features to look for in a good UX design tool are as follows:
- Whiteboarding. The earliest ideas come together here, before any real design takes place.
- Wireframing. This is where early design flows take shape.
- Prototyping. A key feature of UX design tools, this is a concept of the product.
- Ease of use. A shorter learning curve means more productivity and efficiency.
How UX/UI teams use UX design tools
Design teams rely on UX design tools to help them create accurate, life-like and scalable designs that present well and offer a seamless hand-off to a development team. Collaboration is key during the design process, allowing many people to add ideas and make changes simultaneously.
Years ago, teams would sketch out ideas on paper, on a physical whiteboard or with tools like Adobe Photoshop. But the problem with these methods was an obvious lack of collaboration with people or teams outside of the room.
What’s more, the ability to conceptualize what the site or app would look like on a screen was somewhat lacking. UX design tools have given teams the ability to design, create, and iterate on a visual model or prototype in order to see how their product will work.
And when it comes time to hand off to a development team, a seamless transition can save time, money, and effort. “The members of a design team are essentially designing for developers, so the ability to hand off to a dev team is key,” Sroufe says. “Design tools should allow you to build in a way that will be well-received by your dev team.”
In the near future, teams may see design tools begin to incorporate artificial intelligence into their functionality. “AI is good at recognizing patterns, so it could possibly be used to find patterns across the conversations design teams have with customers. These patterns can then inform design decisions,” says Benjamin Humphrey, CEO and co-founder of Dovetail.
Learn more: Is a UX BootCamp worth it?
Master the art of UI design for websites and mobile apps in this comprehensive program. Learn essential concepts like composition, typography, color, and interactivity using tools like Figma, Photoshop, and Illustrator. Create responsive designs and build a professional portfolio to showcase your skills to potential clients and employers.
