10 Prototyping Tools for Designers in 2021
There is no shortage of ways to showcase a design’s interactivity with the numerous prototyping tools available to designers. Ready to try a new way to prototype in 2021? We will take a look at the top 10 latest tools of the trade that can help UX/UI designers to develop the ideal interactive model for their design or product concept.
10 Prototyping Tools for Designers in 2021
There is no shortage of ways to showcase a design’s interactivity with the numerous prototyping tools available to designers. Ready to try a new way to prototype in 2021? We will take a look at the top 10 latest tools of the trade that can help UX/UI designers to develop the ideal interactive model for their design or product concept.
Let’s Talk About More Than the Weather
Imagine all of the things we could do with voice technology outside of setting a timer and asking about the weather. It’s foreseeable that voice technology is going to become a key feature of our everyday lives. One of the main reasons why there hasn’t been a lot of progress with voice tech is due to the fact that designers and creatives haven’t been able to prototype with it. They’ve not been able to take ideas and make them a testable reality, but updates from Adobe XD, Voiceflow and ProtoPie are making this former inability a possibility.
Cut Your Design Sprint Time in Half
Traditionally, design sprints involve developers, designers, product managers, and other stakeholders coming together over the course of 5 days with the purpose of prototyping ideas, gathering insights on users, and validating them before building solutions with company resources. Like most start-ups, we are always extremely busy, and getting people to work for 5 days felt like a lot, even 2 days was a stretch for some so we decided to see if we could come up with a way to get the same results in a fraction of the time.
Cut Your Design Sprint Time in Half
Traditionally, design sprints involve developers, designers, product managers, and other stakeholders coming together over the course of 5 days with the purpose of prototyping ideas, gathering insights on users, and validating them before building solutions with company resources. Like most start-ups, we are always extremely busy, and getting people to work for 5 days felt like a lot, even 2 days was a stretch for some so we decided to see if we could come up with a way to get the same results in a fraction of the time.
Behavioral Science Can Help to Create the Right Mental Model for your Users
Mental models are a bit like windows in a house. If you look outside from one window, your view is different from another. As product designers, we get to build the windows, and the customers get the view! The good news is that it’s incredibly easy to build windows on Day 1 – the customer’s view is unobstructed. On Day 2, the customer is already used to the window and the view. To change it, you’d need to build a new mental model for them. It’s possible, but it’s much harder than on Day 1. In other words, build the right mental model from the beginning, and you’ll be a model of success.
The Era of UI Unification
Back in the early days of the Web, a lot of UI decisions were made on the fly, often having completely different sources of inspiration. There were few boundaries set: no pattern libraries, no widely-used design systems, pixelated raster graphics, and distracting Flash-based animations. Design unification is a sign of progress – the Web has become more accessible, friendly, and structured. A set of standardized patterns makes it possible to pay more attention to tasks instead of reinventing the wheel. At the same time, when every product and experience looks the same, we risk making them bland and uninteresting. Design is about communication and impact, and there’s less impact when everything is the same.
The Era of UI Unification
Back in the early days of the Web, a lot of UI decisions were made on the fly, often having completely different sources of inspiration. There were few boundaries set: no pattern libraries, no widely-used design systems, pixelated raster graphics, and distracting Flash-based animations. Design unification is a sign of progress – the Web has become more accessible, friendly, and structured. A set of standardized patterns makes it possible to pay more attention to tasks instead of reinventing the wheel. At the same time, when every product and experience looks the same, we risk making them bland and uninteresting. Design is about communication and impact, and there’s less impact when everything is the same.
The Conversational Experience Playbook: Part 2 – Design And Build
In part 1 of the playbook, we covered research areas required for conversational experiences and established frameworks for defining an experience. Once designers have built a good foundation of knowledge around conversational experiences and defined what the experience will be, the next step is to create it. In Part 2 – Design & Build, we will discuss the framework to create a conversational experience including: selecting the right platform, technology, and tools, and then designing and building the experience.
The Conversational Experience Playbook: Part 2 – Design And Build
In part 1 of the playbook, we covered research areas required for conversational experiences and established frameworks for defining an experience. Once designers have built a good foundation of knowledge around conversational experiences and defined what the experience will be, the next step is to create it. In Part 2 – Design & Build, we will discuss the framework to create a conversational experience including: selecting the right platform, technology, and tools, and then designing and building the experience.