The tools you are using today may not be ideally suited for the next web or app design project you take on. Newer tools are constantly being introduced on the market and have the potential to make your work easier and faster, as well as more professional in appearance.
As you browse through this list, you will find good tools and resources that focus on rapid prototyping, powerful project team collaboration functionality, or on usability testing of your design or the finished product. If you do not see anything you might consider using at this time, keep in touch. There is more to come.
Proto.io
Proto.io takes prototyping to the next level. In addition to the option of uploading your own designs, here you will find one of the most realistic interactive UI libraries put together by a prototyping tool. Creating a prototype with this tool is easy since you have to option of dragging and dropping elements without writing a single line of code.
Moreover, multiple touch and mouse events can be applied to any one of the UI elements in order to create prototypes making static mockups and hotspot prototypes obsolete. There is no need to download anything since it works in your web browser. You can test your prototype on an actual device and give it the look and feel of the real app. Finally, Proto.io gives you the ability to share it with team members, clients, and your stakeholders, and receive feedback in real time.
Pidoco
Pidoco’s powerful collaboration capacities enable you to create, share and edit an unlimited number of wireframes, mockups or prototypes in real time with clients and team members. Its feedback and discussion functions make it possible to receive information when and where you need it.
The drag and drop wireframing feature makes the creation of clickable wireframes fast and easy. You can even design your own customized building blocks by positioning elements on global layers. When you’re done, you have the ability to save them as customized design templates. Because the layers are global, a change to one layer is automatically displayed on all pages that contain it. With Pidoco, you can also test your prototypes on real devices like smartphones and tablets.
Vonn Mobile Material Design UI Kit
The Vonn Mobile Material Design UI Kit by Visual Hierarchy makes building mobile Android apps quick and easy. It consists of 100 beautiful UI templates organized into eight categories that allow you to rapidly select the template that will best fit your project.
Vonn’s full compatibility with Google’s material design guidelines makes it easy to start creating stunning Android apps. Furthermore, its drag and drop feature will prove to be a real time saver when you’re putting together a prototype or an awesome app design.
Firefly
Firefly is a useful design management tool that provides its users with the ability to upload mockups, app designs, photos, UI ideas, and even entire webpages during the design process.
What a user uploads can be annotated and shared. Firefly is also capable of managing multiple design versions. Collaborators can be brought into the picture at any stage of the design process, and information sharing is particularly useful for those companies who have global teams.
InVision
InVision is a vital tool to have in a design-driven environment due to its ability to rapidly transform static screens into clickable, interactive prototypes. The drag and drop functionality makes rapid prototyping at any point during the design process especially easy and straightforward whenever a workable product is needed. InVision’s information features enable real-time design presentation, collaboration, and team feedback which can be displayed as convenient to-do lists. With InVision, the user is given prototyping, task management, and version control capabilities in a single package.
AppCooker
AppCooker makes user interface design easy and it enables you to build and share beautiful iPhone and iPad prototypes and mockups through the use of native iOS widgets. The app helps create great iOS wireframes and saves you time and money in the process. It is the ideal tool to let your clients and coworker play and make feedback on your app idea before coding. With AppCooker you will be able to design pixel perfect apps like a master chef. By the way, this month a new release of AppCooker will let you design for the i?????, stay tuned.
OmniGraffle
OmniGraffle for iOS is packed with a series of decent features. You can choose among different objects, templates, stencils and more that allow you to design your projects in a comprehensive manner. The features include advanced document control, flexible inspectors for the iPad and the Mac and a rapid prototyping capability, while keeping all of your design work in order.
Ace iOS 8 Mobile UI Kit
The Ace iOS Mobile UI Kit makes it easier than ever to design an iPhone mobile app. Over 1000 different apps can be created using the available templates. Features include 75 .PSD templates, over 300 UI elements, and more than 100 different icons. The templates are created for Retina HD 4.7size and work flawless on iPhone 6.
Maxymiser
Maxymiser is a multivariate analysis and testing tool that measures customer experiences and customer satisfaction. The user can build and launch tests from any page on any site, whether desktop, mobile or tablet, to determine optimal user experiences for a given product or service. This application’s A/B and multivariate testing capabilities allow the user to gain greater insights into his or her online customer base for the purpose of increasing conversion rates and revenue.
Gridset
Gridset can be used for design, prototypingor production. You can create layout grids to use on the web without having to resort to calculations. As a prototyping tool, it offers the ability to create grids on an easy-to-use interface. You will also be able to set up and manage all the grids that will be needed for a site or app, and in all possible column configurations.
Solidify
Solidify provides the fastest way to prototype interface screens and test them across distinct devices such as desktop, smartphone or tablet. Gathering feedback is easy thanks to clickable prototypes that can be shared with users. Finally, generating reports in order to highlight problematic interactions is a very useful feature of this tool.
A/B Test Master
A/B Test Master is an open source (under MIT license) split testing tool used to study end-user behavior, identify changes to end-user behavior, and measure the effects on conversion rates. This tool serves as an intelligent virtual assistant. It was developed with ASP.NET MVC development in mind to determine what customers want..
IntuitionHQ
IntuitionHQ is a tool that allows the usability of a design to be tested without over-involving the end user. It will provide feedback as to what is working and what is not with respect to customer preferences and conversion rates. This tool tests designs quickly and easily, and displays the results clearly. It is a decent tool to use in supporting user-centered design projects.
PowerMockup
PowerMockup is a prototyping tool with a twist. It provides the templates and functionality that enable wireframing to be done right in PowerPoint. By using PowerPoint, end users and non-technical users can follow the design process with greater ease, as designs can be iterated and refined in real time, while remaining focused on the functionality and usability of the end product.
Notism
Notism brings to the table a UX capability that makes sharing design progress with others in real time remarkably easy. The capability to collaborate by video allows team members to streamline the design iteration, sign-offs, and usability testing processes. Notism’s video collaboration capability has been viewed by many as a true game changer.
I have listed a number of top-rated UI and UX tools and resources. Included in the list are also several online tools that can prove handy in testing a design’s usability at any time during a design or prototyping phase. Don’t forget to share your thoughts about this list in the comments section below.