You have opened an app and found an unappealing and haphazard design, the first approach might be to uninstall the app. Statistics depict that 39% of people stop engaging with content and apps if the images won’t load on time or take longer. 88% of users are less likely to come back to a website if they find it unappealing or face any awful user experience at the initial stages.
If the users are frustrated or unsatisfied with your app, they would delete it without using it and probably add negative reviews that can influence others. Beyond it, the customers who have negative brand experience decline purchasing from the website and even from apps and have a negative headstrong towards the brand. Designing is an integral part of an app and contributes a lot more than just success. It manifests brand loyalty, boosts credibility, and creates natural organic traffic. Luckily, you don’t have to crunch numbers; simple, reliable, and effective tools can entail powerful and impactful appealing designs for your app. Mobile app design is one of the landmark techniques that can elevate your mobile app development to reach new heights.
While sketching your wireframes and product prototypes on paper is preeminent, app designing software can make your tedious job more accessible and better. Let’s glance at the top mobile app design tools that are imperative to your app mobile development process and alleviate your app to the next level.
1. Sketch
The Sketch is poised to dominate Photoshop and its interface prototyping tools simplify to the point that designers opt to hand off Sketch files rather than layering Photoshop files. Hailing from the Netherlands, the designers can create prototypes, collaborate their ideas, and translate them to incredible products with a definitive platform for digitizing designing concepts.
The lightweight software is quick to download, and it is compatible with iOS-based modern app designers tools which costs $99 per year with a 30 days free trial. Comparatively to other apps, learning and developing on Sketch is easier. However, mastering the tool takes time and effort. Not occupying much of your resources, it consumes about 20 megabytes and exports assets fast.
- Simple and easy to use
- Powerful and effective tools
- Sharing and exporting with multiple resolutions is a matter of few clicks
- Amazing integration and blending with other apps and plugins
- Affordable
While Photoshop can be cumbersome and have other limitations, Sketch straightforward design jobs streamline the process and save time, stress, and significantly reduce costs.
2. Adobe XD
Adobe XD is a robust prototyping app with a minimal interface and straightforward tools with an aggressive development cycle. It is designed to meet the needs of modern UX/UI designers with intuitive tools that strive to deliver breakthrough precision and performance while making everyday tasks feel effortless. It is considered the optimal choice amongst developers for creating websites and app mockups with high-end visuals.
The tool is a bitmap, and it is pixel-based to provide a perfect layout for interface or experience design. If you are a novice, it provides a tutorial that’s laid out as artboards. Designers can collaborate to add animations, create prototypes and get feedback in real-time. Its interface is clean and straightforward, and standard commands with great plugins greatly expand the app’s functionality. There is an option of sharing libraries to sync resources between files and allows sharing between users.
Though it’s not as good as Sketch, it definitely has higher chances and opportunities to be amongst leading brands that leave behind its counterpart in the foreseeable future.
- Solid infrastructure and reusable elements
- Files from adobe tools and Sketch can be integrated and opened with Adobe
- Vector tool for precise design functionality
- Ability to save on the cloud
- A plethora of plugins and app integrations
- Constant updates
- Repeat grid features for easy to replicate similar content
- Seamless toggle between workspaces
3. Marvel App Designing Tool
Iterate somewhat like Photoshop and Sketch, the designing tool has an amalgamation of everything that a design needs to contemplate ideas to life and transform into their work. Whether you are a novice or veteran designer, both can perform advanced-level animations with few clicks and functionalities. The tools blend different elements, including prototype, design, and team collaboration.
Without any restrictions, users can add animations and designs collaborating from other tools like Sketch or Photoshop. When inspiration strikes and creativity rises, there are no limitations. The integrated POP feature allows designers to transform their pen/paper ideas into iOS and Android apps. With this, you can turn conceptual ideas into an accurate wireframe with quick drag and drop templates. Also, predefined layouts are easy to create visual hierarchy.
In a nutshell, the marvel is formulated for everyone in mind to use this tool to create beautiful assets and mockups. Free plans are available, while for paid, you need to spend $12 per month.
- Intuitive and clean interface
- Integrated wireframing tools
- Allows Syncing your project prototypes
- Can upload doodles and drawn pictures
- Create interactive prototypes for almost any device
- Simple collaborations
4. Invision
It is a robust mobile app design tool that translates your ideas into effective screen designs with vector-based drawings and flexible layers. Instead of focusing on User Interface factors like Sketch, the platform gives the flexibility to create interactive mockups. Its versatility can amplify your creativity and add interactions, animations, gestures, transitions to transform your static screens into working prototypes. It gives you the ability to navigate and keep everyone fully engaged seamlessly.
The tools and functionalities allow hassle-free designing and prototyping. Users can build prototypes from scratch quickly with drag and drop features and can integrate an image with their work. When you upload these on your screens, it looks like an actual web browsing experience. Collaboration is the most vital attribute of the app, and the designers can collaborate without any hitch or hassle and communicate with others streamlined.
- Collaborative, interactive interface
- Intuitively designed with drag-and-drop functionalities
- Real-time design meetings and whiteboard
- Workflow, collaboration, and prototyping
- Animations, transitions, and gestures for Android and iOS
- Without any coding, designs come to life.
5. Figma
Though Sketch is the dominator in the industry and has been delivering the best features and functionalities, many competitors attempted to dethrone it, and Figma has met the expectations. Cloud-based tool is similar to Sketch in aspects of functionality and features. Figma is versatile and can operate on multiple platforms: Macs, Windows PCs, Linux machines, Chromebooks, and more.
The unique design tool with web-based functionality with flexible styles and components to optimize the workflow of designers. Designers stay organized using a layers panel; it offers real-time collaboration for your team. This is effective when you have multiple stakeholders involved and want to bring out the creativity in collaboration.
The Figma tool ensures consistency which is one of the major UX design principles. With several useful plugins to improve the functionality, it is used for developing animations, user flows, and many others. Figma is integrated with Slack as a communication channel. Any changes to mockup are immediately vetted, and feedback is instant.
- Plethora of plugins, templates, and design formats
- Wireframing and prototyping
- Intuitive with good exponential learn curve
- Strong API support
- Real-time updating and in-app commenting in designing and prototyping model
In a nutshell,
Designers have profoundly immersed their creativity and leverage their tools and functionalities to meet the demands of customers and brands. Prototypes translate new ideas and give life. Mobile apps are evolving, and you also need a partner who can help you translate your ideas and vision into reality. The best mobile app design tools can help you build your app in simple steps and diminish all the challenges of coding associated.
