Omnigraffle, because it’s the one that gives a huge amount of tools in a very efficient, fast and cost-effective package, with an impressive flexibility:

• You can use it for IA
• You can use it for Wireframes, from high-level to detailed ones
• You can use it for prototypes
• You can use it for presentations
• You can use it to draw diagrams and graphs
• You can import seamlessly data into Keynote
• You can export do clickable PDF
• You can export to hierarchic HTML (and then you can add note-taking javascript)
• You can build your shapes, patterns, stencils
• You can use it to build any PDF

Basically, any User Experience Designer or Interaction Designer need is covered with just one tool. 😉

However, even if I usually suggest this to every UXD/IxD, sometimes other tools are better for the environment they are put in:

1. Balsamiq: great for collaboration and integration of early prototypes, it’s harder to go into details
2. Axure: great for quick sketches, it’s harder to build custom interfaces outside the “normal” widgets
3. Keynote: very effective for visuals and interactive demos, it’s harder when you need to move on from its constraints and you need to keep somewhere the stencils you keep using
4. HTML/CSS: very effective when there’s a strong knowledge of programming within the team, it’s slower than a proper prototyping/wireframing tool when comparing two experts head-to-head
5. Illustrator: great for its flexibility, but it’s harder when you need to create long and exhaustive documents.
6. Fireworks: excellent tool for moving from prototype to visual, works marvels if the same person is doing these two phases, good support for symbols abstraction, adherent to the Adobe UI, it a little complex exactly because it covers a wide range of tasks and has the risk of making “too good” visuals.

Each one of these tools is usually preferred to Omnigraffle when there’s already some kind of proficiency: if you already know a software, you usually work in that software.
I’d however suggest to any UX designer to get skilled in Omnigraffle too (and maybe a couple more) to have always the best alternative. 😉

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For the last 5 years, I’ve been working at Salesforce.com as a designer and design manager. In that time, our team has grown from 8 UX people to nearly 40 highly qualified and highly productive UX professionals. There are several factors that I believe are key to attracting great designers in the enterprise space:

1. Find designers that thrive on challenging design problems. Enterprise software offers a cornucopia of complex problems to solve.
2. Create a collaborative atmosphere where designers can learn from each other and where they play a significant role in the product development lifecycle from product definition through to production.
3. Seek out recent graduates from top schools. We have had great candidates from CMU, Stanford and Berkeley. Consider taking on summer interns to help develop a relationship with the school and its students.
4. Don’t settle for “B” players. Top talent attracts top talent. Keep your standards high and don’t compromise.
5. Ship great products often! Great designers want to build a portfolio of work that actually made it to market. Too many enterprise companies have release cycles measured in years, not weeks or months.

These are just a few of the things that I think help Salesforce.com attract great UX talent. There are many more factors such as company culture, being a leader in your space, and having a clear company objective that also play a big part in attracting top talent. Best of luck to you.

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