It's not often that you stumble upon something truly invaluable. A product or service so remarkable that it actually makes you question how anything ever got done before it. But when you do, it can completely change the landscape of your work and open up brand new possibilities for you, your team, and your clients. This has been my experience with Adobe XD.
Adobe XD is something we've been happily using at Antidote 71 to design and prototype websites, apps, and email templates ever since it was first launched as a beta back in 2016. Through that sometimes-clunky beta, all of the updates and advancements, to where it is today, it’s quickly becoming one of my favorite programs to work in. Here are some reasons why...
DESIGNING FOR MOBILE
One of the first things we noticed about XD was how seamless it made the transition from designing desktop to mobile. Mobile design is something we pay a lot of attention to at Antidote 71, so this is definitely a standout quality.
Functions such as the “Responsive Resize” and the way it scales objects give realistic feedback as to how code will actually affect those objects when it’s built. With XD, mobile design never has to be an afterthought.
ANIMATIONS AND TRANSITIONS
In one of the latest updates XD introduced new animation and transition functions; further blurring the line between an XD prototype and a final programmed site. These new functions include animating in-between artboards, simulating clicks and menu animations, dragging and swiping objects, time-triggered animations, as well as voice recognition and speech playback.
This gives our team and clients a much better idea of how the final site will feel before development ever begins. Ultimately saving us time and money. Oh, and our clients love it!
BETTER PROTOTYPING
One of the things XD has always been great at is prototyping our designs. By creating URLs that bring our concepts to life in a browser, we can easily share our concepts and ideas internally or with our clients to review. They even have a comment function built into the link that allows for feedback and notes that go directly to the team.
FASTER EXPORTING OF ASSET
At the end of the design phase of a website project, one of the last things a designer has to do is export all of the images and assets so they are ready to be uploaded to the website. XD makes this sometimes-time-consuming process extremely quick and efficient. Definitely something you won't see me complaining about.
ALWAYS IMPROVING
Probably my favorite thing about XD is how they are regularly updating and adding new features. It’s always exciting to come in to work and see a notification about the next big update. Digging into all the new features is a ton of fun! It also continues to push me forward as a designer and is a great stream of inspiration and creative ideas.
Of course no tool is without its flaws, and that includes XD. But it's a tool that inspires us to continue evolving the way we think about and create websites for clients. I can't wait to see where things go from here!