Design Workflow
Over the last year, I have made it a goal to continue to refine my design process. Iterating on design includes the process and tools as well as the art that you are creating. As a user experience and user interface designer, I have be able to work efficiently. These are the tools that I use on a day-to-day basis:
Sketch
I’ve used many programs over the years: Photoshop, Illustrator, Fireworks, etc. None really hit a sweet spot for me in terms of creating mockups, prototypes, and user interface elements. Once Adobe announced the decision to kill off Fireworks, I made the switch to Sketch. I have loved every moment of it.
The app is completely vector and Mac native. Thoughtful features include: multiple art boards, infinite canvas, retina support ( @2x, @3x ), SVG generation, OSX Versions support, etc. Highly recommended.
Download: http://www.bohemiancoding.com/sketch/
InVision
This service is truly indispensable. It allows me to share mockups with clients, get feedback quickly, test out prototypes for apps, and give front-end developers comments on interactions + code. All about collaboration.
One of the newest features they have introduced is InVision sync for Sketch. I will say this has saved me about 30% of my time on projects. InVision sync will generate / export mockups right from Sketch, create image assets from Sketch files automatically, and keeps them in sync across multiple computers. Seriously amazing and this saves so much time.
Sign up: http://www.invisionapp.com/ ( 3 months free too! )
Zeplin
I’m currently using the beta for this app. This app also syncs with Sketch. It really works – like magic. It has a plugin for Sketch. That plugin generates previews of each mockup that sync with the Zeplin app. Then the front-end developer, can click around on the preview of the mockup and see everything from font values to pixel dimensions of elements on the page. It is as amazing as it sounds and it really works.
My recent suggestion was for them to add InVision sync support. I’m hoping that this gains some traction. Imagine if Zeplin could add those values to InVision as developer notes automatically. This would save so much time and make the process that much more efficient.
Download: https://zeplin.io/
Those are the three tools that I use every single day. Hope this inspires you to give them a try.