Krystal Higgins: The Tools I Use

The latest in our series “The Tools We Use” features Krystal Higgins, Staff Interaction Designer at Google Australia.

Whiteboarding, diagram sketching, and sketchnoting are key parts of my personal and professional workflows. Since I have a lot more virtual conversations these days, I’ve moved to digital sketching tools. The Bamboo Paper iPad app from Wacom is what I use for quick sketching on the go. In the office, I use a Microsoft Surface Studio to sketch larger diagrams for discussions with the local and remote team. Most sketches also get dropped into Google Docs or Slides for commenting.

I use Procreate’s iPad app to draw illustrations for my personal posts and presentations. It’s also great for exploring colors and layouts for watercolor paintings.

With an active community of contributors and powerful plugins, Sketch is my go-to app for quickly exploring UI variations and keyframes in an experience.

I’ve enjoyed rediscovering keyframe-based prototyping tools like Principle. What makes Principle helpful is that it imports Sketch files and retains the layer stack for easy object manipulation.

Keynote is still my default presentation app because of its built in recording and rehearse modes.

The Samson Go Mic vastly improved my ability to record high-quality podcasts and webinars, and has become my default laptop mic.

F.lux saves my eyes (and sleep patterns!) from the harsh blue glow of my laptop by adapting its color based on time of day.

And Skype has been a lifesaver, helping me keep in touch with everyone back home.