Axure remains the top wireframing tool for UI/UX design
Rating: 10 out of 10
September 19, 2017
DR
Vetted Review
Verified User
6 years of experience
Useagility's four interaction designers and visual designers use Axure every day to illustrate and visualize findings from direct user research. Weekly design studio meetings allow each designer to present current work and receive collaborative feedback from each other. A Slack channel is used to share insights, ideas, plugin recommendations, and best practices for improved productivity with Axure.
- Axure allows designers to build wireframes and mock-ups across the full range of fidelity from low-fi sketches to high-fi prototypes. This allows designers to respond to user feedback throughout the project and ensure that the design tracks with real research results.
- Almost any interaction workflow or widget is doable in Axure, including the use of variable data for complex applications. This not only allows end users to better understand the experience, but helps developers give input and provide critique on feasibility and potential technical issues.
- The large and helpful user base is a great source of ideas and inspiration to increase skills and effectiveness with the tool. The numerous free and paid widget libraries are an invaluable resource for improving productivity and saving time.
Cons
- Because so much is possible with Axure, there is often a temptation to build more complex wireframes than may be needed, especially at the early stages of a project. Building a highly interactive prototype may undermine the goal of simply understanding the user's mental model and approach to how they get work done.
- While much has improved to accommodate responsive design, the adaptive views feature is often confusing and difficult to maintain as changes are made through the design process. In some cases it is easier to use shared masters with dynamic panels to illustrate different viewport layouts.
- Sharing designs through Axshare is a powerful and critical component, but I'd love to see more interactive and social features to facilitate better discussion and feedback.