Thoughts on Prototyping Tools
Choosing the Right Tool for the Right Job
There’s a plethora of prototyping tools out there: Invision, UXPin, Axure, Origami, Framer…are just a few examples. There’s also Hype, Google Web Designer or Webflow which are designed mainly for web design purposes but some people use it as prototyping. Some designers use Keynote for prototyping as well. Tools like Edge reflow and Muse require no knowledge in coding and is easy to pickup, but spits out awful spaghetti code that is not production ready. If you know how to code though, it might be easier to just code with HTML and CSS. This is my preferred method as it allows more freedom and code is more well-crafted. Plus, it’s free!
With so many options, it can be very overwhelming for a designer to decide on which prototyping tool to go with for a project. It’s easiest to stick with what you know for expedience sake, but it’s also worth trying out some new tools. There is no best solution and my intent is not to recommend a one size fits all tool. It really depends on so many factors. So I created this flow chart illustration in an attempt to guide your decision process. I hope you find this useful!
There’s a lot more prototyping tools not mentioned here but it can get out of hand pretty easily so I tried to pick the tools that are representative. Tools will constantly be created in the future. While it is a good idea to make time and invest in new tools that can help with a more efficient workflow, there’s no need to try and learn every new app/software/tool that is new and trending. Sketch may be the industry leading tool for UI/UX design today, but Adobe will soon be releasing Comet. Flash was a big deal many years ago and I was an expert in AS3.0 but now it is pretty much dead. You get the gist. Don’t worry so much about mastering a tool. Creativity is tool independent. What is more important is to learn the essential skills like typography, design principles, UX, basic coding (HTML, CSS), and thinking creatively. Then you can tackle any project and be flexible enough to take on any tool that suits your particular needs.
As Albert Einstein says, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” I am sure the future will have robots and artificial intelligence doing most of the work, but creativity and imagination is something machine’s cannot do. I think the challenge is not how can we build things faster and more efficiently, but how can we make a better product quality wise and what is the most interesting/best way to present that story?
Thanks for reading.
I’d love to hear your workflow! Leave comments below :)
