Best UI Design Tools in 2024
UI design tools are apps used by designers to create, prototype, and refine user interface design for digital products such as websites, mobile apps, and web apps. These tools facilitate various aspects of the design process, from wireframing and prototyping to creating high-fidelity mockups and interactive designs.
These tools are essential for UI designers as they provide the capabilities needed to create user-friendly and visually appealing interfaces. The choice of tool often depends on the specific needs of the project, team preferences, and workflow integration. Let’s go over the most popular UI design tools.
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UXPin
UXPin is a comprehensive design tool known for its robust real-time collaboration capabilities, allowing multiple users to work simultaneously on the same project.
It excels in supporting design systems, enabling designers to create and manage reusable components and styles efficiently. UXPin’s advanced interactivity features allow for the creation of high-fidelity prototypes using conditional logic and variables.
Despite its powerful capabilities, UXPin has a steeper learning curve, though it provides extensive resources and templates to help users get started.
The tool also facilitates the design handoff process with detailed specifications with HTML and CSS code to copy, and includes functionalities for collecting user feedback through usability testing as well as integrations (like the one with testing tool – Fullstory.)
The tool has a Mac app, Windows app, but it also works in the cloud.
UXPin Merge
If you need a single source of truth, UXPin has also another solution — UXPin Merge.
UXPin Merge is a powerful extension of UXPin that allows designers and developers to work with the same components, ensuring consistency and accuracy throughout the design process. This feature is particularly beneficial for collaboration and responsive design.
UXPin Merge excels in supporting design systems by allowing teams to sync components directly from a Git repository, such as those using React. This ensures that the design components used in UXPin are the exact same ones used in the final product, maintaining consistency and reducing the risk of discrepancies.
Figma
Figma is a web-based product design tool, highly regarded for its exceptional collaboration features, allowing real-time multi-user editing and commenting.
It offers strong design system support with shared libraries, UI kits and design tokens that can be easily updated across projects.
While Figma’s interactivity features are sufficient for most UI/UX design needs, they are not as advanced as some other tools. The tool is intuitive and easy for beginners, offering a user-friendly interface and a variety of templates for layouts, user journeys, and more.
Figma supports design handoff through detailed specs and code snippets accessible to developers, and facilitates user feedback collection directly on designs. Although it has limited native support for real data, you can easily find various plugins for this.
Figma also offers a digital whiteboard tool called FigJam that’s perfect for brainstorming, uniting team members and stakeholders with a mutual vision of their design before project kickoff.
Axure
Axure is a powerful prototyping tool known for its advanced prototyping capabilities, supporting detailed interactions and conditional logic. It allows for collaborative work, though it may not be as seamless as tools like Figma.
Axure supports design systems with reusable widgets and styles, but its primary strength lies in its detailed prototyping features. The tool includes features for data-driven prototypes, using variables and datasets, and provides comprehensive design handoff documentation.
Axure has a steeper learning curve but offers robust capabilities for creating complex and interactive prototypes. It also supports user feedback collection through shared prototypes and annotations, making it a versatile UI/UX tool for highly interactive design work.
Sketch
Sketch is a favorite UI design software among Mac users, offering a powerful set of vector editing tools tailored for UI/UX design. It supports real-time collaboration through Sketch for Teams, although it is limited to macOS users.
Sketch excels in design systems, providing reusable UI kits and shared libraries that can be easily updated. Its prototyping capabilities are basic but can be enhanced with plugins. Sketch integrates well with tools like Zeplin for detailed design handoff processes.
The tool is user-friendly and offers many templates and resources, making it easy to start designing quickly. Sketch supports adding real data through various plugins and facilitates user feedback collection using third-party tools.
Sketch is one of the most cost-effective choice, with prices starting from $10 per month.
UIzard
UIzard is distinguished by its AI-driven design capabilities which streamlines the design process for low-fidelity and high-fidelity designs.
It provides collaborative features but might lack the depth found in more established tools like Figma. UIzard focuses on AI-driven design systems, which can be useful for quick prototyping but may not offer the same level of customization as the leaders on the market of UI design.
Its reusability features are primarily driven by AI, which can streamline the design process but may require further refinement for more complex UI/UX design projects.
UIzard offers basic feedback features and integrates AI to create interactive elements, although it may not provide the same level of manual control as other tools mentioned here.
Marvel
Marvel is known for its simplicity and ease of use, making it an ideal choice for quick design iterations. It offers real-time collaboration and commenting, allowing teams to work together seamlessly.
Marvel supports basic design systems with reusable components and style guides, making it suitable for straightforward projects. The tool provides interactive prototyping features that are good for simple interactions but may lack the depth required for more complex designs.
Marvel facilitates design handoff with specifications and integrates with development tools. It supports basic integration of real data and includes user testing and feedback collection capabilities, making it a well-rounded tool for rapid design and prototyping.
Justinmind
Justinmind is a versatile prototyping tool that supports advanced interactivity with conditions and events. It allows for collaborative work with version control and commenting, making it suitable for app or web design projects. Justinmind offers design system capabilities with reusable UI elements and templates, enhancing the efficiency of the design process.
The tool provides detailed specifications for design handoff and integrates with tools like JIRA. Justinmind supports real data integration for dynamic interactions, allowing for more realistic user experience design.
It also facilitates user feedback collection through shared prototypes and annotations, making it a comprehensive tool for detailed and interactive design work.
About InVision and AdobeXD
While both InVision and Adobe XD have been popular tools in the UI/UX design community, they faced significant competition from other tools that offer more advanced features and better integration with modern design workflows.
InVision has been a significant player in the design collaboration space, offering tools that were integral to many design workflows. However, as of 2024, InVision has announced the discontinuation of its design collaboration services, including prototyping and its Design System Manager (DSM), effective by the end of the year.
This decision marks a significant shift in the industry, as InVision was once a frontrunner in providing tools that bridged the gap between designers and developers. The shutdown is attributed to increased competition from other tools like Figma, which have surpassed InVision in terms of functionality and user adoption. As a result, InVision’s focus will shift away from these services, leading to its exclusion from the list of recommended tools for 2024.
Adobe XD, another major tool in the UI/UX design field, is also being discontinued in 2024. Adobe has decided to phase out Adobe XD in favor of focusing on other products within their Creative Cloud suite.
Despite its strong integration with other Adobe products and a comprehensive set of features, Adobe XD has struggled to keep pace with the innovative features and real-time collaboration capabilities offered by its competitors. Consequently, Adobe XD will no longer be available, prompting designers to migrate to other tools that continue to receive support and development.
Which UI design tool will you try?
Among the tools reviewed, Marvel and Sketch are the cheapest options for 2024, with Marvel being particularly accessible due to its free pricing tier. Sketch remains a strong contender for macOS users looking for an affordable, professional-grade tool. Adobe XD and InVision offer competitive pricing but face discontinuation, which may impact their adoption moving forward.
For enterprise teams, UXPin and Figma are the strongest contenders due to their robust collaboration, design system support, and ease of integration with real data and feedback mechanisms. Axure excels in advanced interactivity and detailed prototyping but may have a steeper learning curve and less seamless collaboration compared to the other two UI design tools.
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