You’re struggling to improve your product’s UX design. What are the top-rated tools to help you?

Outside of specific products, the best tool you can use is getting your entire team rallied around the user research itself to understand why we're building what we're building and the context around the member problem. It's great if you can invite engineers, designers, and other xfn stakeholders to the UXR sessions, but at the very least should share the insights with them directly.

There are various user research tools available in the market like InVision, Figma, Loop11, Hotjar etc. however it is important for any Product Manager to first understand pain areas of users and exact problem statement as a prerequisite to be able to provide optimum solution. Below is quick glance of some of the user research tools: Figma - this tool not only helps in creating wireframes but also enables designers, PM's, Business users to work collaboratively. InVision - this tool helps in prototyping and designing wireframes. Loop11 - this is an online usability testing tool that offers multiple UX research solutions.

InVision: Collaborate seamlessly from prototyping to user testing. InVision sparks vibrant team communication, bringing designs to life effortlessly. Crazy Egg: Delve into user behavior through heatmaps and scrollmaps. Identify clicks, track scrolls, and uncover user engagement on your website. UsabilityHub: Swiftly gather design feedback. With preference tests, first-click tests, and navigation tests, understand user reactions before implementation. Figma: Your go-to for collaborative interface design. Real-time collaboration on UI/UX projects is a breeze with Figma, ensuring teamwork at its best. Why They Matter: -Prototyping Power -Behavior Insights -Instant Feedback

Design, Test, Iterate: Streamline Your UX Workflow. -Prototyping Powerhouse: InVision fosters seamless teamwork, bringing designs to life through effortless prototyping and user testing. -Behavior Decoded: Crazy Egg's heatmaps and scrollmaps unveil user engagement, identifying clicks, scrolls, and hidden insights. -Feedback Fast Lane: UsabilityHub's quick tests (preference, first-click, navigation) gather instant user reactions before launch. -Figma: Teamwork At Its Best: Real-time collaboration on UI/UX projects within Figma ensures every team member is in sync.

- Figma: Collaborative design tool for creating interactive prototypes and user interfaces. - Sketch: Vector-based design tool with a focus on simplicity and ease of use. - Adobe XD: Enables design, prototype, and collaboration in a single platform. - InVision: Facilitates prototyping, collaboration, and user testing. - UsabilityHub: Conducts quick user tests and collects valuable feedback on designs. - Optimal Workshop: Offers tools for information architecture and user flow optimization. - UserTesting: Provides insights through remote usability testing. - Axure RP: A powerful tool for creating interactive prototypes and wireframes. - Miro: Collaborative online whiteboard for brainstorming and visual collaboration.

Using tools is fancy. But one of the most important questions is whether you have a clarity of thought yourself. Till now, I prefer using a paper and pen to create the low fidelity designs and then to any other tools.

In the realm of UX design, the efficacy of prototyping tools becomes apparent through their application in diverse scenarios. For instance, a small startup once faced the challenge of illustrating a complex app idea to potential investors. Lacking the resources for full-scale development, they turned to a prototyping tool. By creating an interactive mockup, they not only clarified their vision but also garnered significant investment, speeding up their development process. In another case, a freelance designer used these tools to collaborate remotely with a client, efficiently iterating designs based on real-time feedback. This not only streamlined the design process but also enhanced client satisfaction.

The process of improving the UX of a product starts with the research. While tools provide different functionality, they are eventually a means to an end. What matters is the mentality and culture of your team to always have your ear to the ground to what your users are saying. As a PM the most important thing is to translate those conversations with users into quick wireframes that can be shared with your designers and engineers for them to work on the solution. In my experience while Figma is very good when it comes to detailed prototypes, when I am looking for speed and rapid prototypes, Whimsical has been my tool of choice.

Figma, Canvas and Whimsical has always been a go to for me for prototyping as it helps me to communicate the user interface clearly to the design team. As a PM, you don't have to know how to do the High level fidelity framework, you can always do the low or mid level fidelity framework. The low level is okay if you are an entry level PM as it only implies sketching the user interface out , probably 2 to 3 screens. However as you progress, it is important to start embracing the mid level or high level framework. In short, to prevent struggling with the user interface of your product, just embrace prototyping tools from ideation to development of the product.

I think Figma is great for collaborative UX design, but to make it even better, I would consider customer insights gathered from interviews and usability testing . Testing different versions and getting ideas from the team would help make the design even better. I usually start with pen and paper to get the basics down before moving to Figma for the digital touch-ups.