Software developers have created hundreds of tools that your team could use. Most of them don’t come close to meeting the expectations of a professional agency, though. If you want to choose a new UX/UI tool for your designers, take some time to learn more about the following five options. All of them work well, but you will likely find that some stand out as better options for your unique needs for the better UX Design.
UXPin
Few design platforms have collaboration tools that work as well as the ones from UXPin. The cloud-based platform makes it easy for designers to work together in real-time from practically any location. (You can also use the platform without internet access, but you can’t collaborate.) As long as your employees and freelancers have internet connections, they can collaborate on the UX design process.
Your designers can also get feedback from stakeholders who don’t have UXPin accounts. As long as someone has the right link, they can view and comment on your prototype.
Other features that make UXPin an excellent UX/UI tool for agencies include its:
- Design systems that ensure consistency and improve efficiency.
- Interactive components like carousels, pop-ups, sliders, and menus.
- Ability to make prototypes that use real data instead of stock images and lorem ipsum.
- Built-in libraries that make prototyping fast and easy.
- Flexibility that lets you import designs from other applications.
UXPin has a free trial that doesn’t require a credit card, so you can try the UX/UI tool without any commitment.
Sketch
Sketch has several great features that make it a popular UI/UX tool for agencies. Many design teams like that the software lets them customize their workflows to make sure everyone meets their milestones. If you want to manage your design team closely, then it makes sense for you to choose Sketch.
Other noteworthy features that come with Sketch include:
- Cloud-based design libraries.
- Developer tools that let code-savvy professionals inspect designs from a technical perspective.
- Prototype tools that teams can share with stakeholders.
- A real-time environment for collaborative editing.
Everyone on your team must use a recent version of macOS to run Sketch. That can cause problems when you need people to work from home or you want to hire a freelancer for special projects.
Sketch offers a 30-day free trial for individual and team accounts.
Marvel
Anyone who has tried Marvel will tell you that it works reasonably well for UI/UX design teams. It will give you the basic designing, prototyping, user testing, and handoff features that you need to finish a project. Marvel also has collaboration features like shared folders, activity notifications, and places to leave annotations and feedback.
If you run a small agency, Marvel might suit your needs. A larger group, though, will run into problems because Marvel doesn’t offer:
- Offline access to projects.
- Prototypes with videos and sound effects.
- Team libraries that can include interactive components.
- Real data that lets designers test prototypes for accuracy in the real-world.
Marvel lets you create a free account for one user, but you can only work on one project at a time until you upgrade to a paid membership.
Zeplin
Zeplin takes a pared-down approach to UI/UX design. It doesn’t come with a ton of features, but it could meet the basic requirements of a small agency that doesn’t want to get too involved in the details of UI and UX.
Some of the best things about Zeplin include:
- Design systems that you can share with other team members.
- A multi-platform system that works on browsers as well as Mac and Windows computers.
- Integrations with more robust designing and prototyping software.
Unfortunately, you will need to integrate with other apps to make excellent UI/UX designs. Since that’s the case, growing agencies might as well choose platforms that already come with the features they need.
Zeplin lets you create a free account, but it limits you to working on one project at a time until you upgrade to a paid membership.
InVision
InVision is one of the only design platforms that comes close to meeting UXPin’s abilities. It lets you create design systems, turn designs into interactive prototypes, and a digital whiteboard that lets your team members explore ideas without any risk. The cloud-based collaborative environment also works better than those from most design tools.
You will find that it lacks a few of UXPin’s top features, though. InVision would compete with UXPin much better if it had:
- Libraries that can hold thousands of responsive components and icons.
- Animated states that let you flip between multiple versions of your elements.
- Spec mode that lets developers inspect your design’s CSS and other technical features.
You can get a free plan from InVision, but it only has features suitable for individuals and small teams. It’s a good way to experience the app, but agencies will need paid plans to let all of their team members work together.
Conclusion
You have plenty of UX/UI tools for agencies to explore. As long as you stick to the ones on this list, you will find an option that helps your agency make more effective designs.
