Sprint 6 :: Design tools for Product Management
"Design is intelligence made visible." - Alina Wheeler
A product manager is not a designer at all, but it seems undeniable that having some bases and interest in the area can help us A LOT in our day-to-day tasks. Even if it is to create non-professional mockups to convey an idea to a developer or a stakeholder. 🎨
During the last few years many design tools were born and many died. After trying them all, there are two that we think are the most relevant for product managers - Figma & Zeplin - either because of the ease of access to the tool or the possible cooperation with other people/teams.
Let 's do a review!
Disclaimer: We are not sponsored by any of these tools! ⚠️
General info:
Company: Figma, Inc.
Launch date: 2016
Country: United States
Pros:
Perfect for mocking up and designing apps and websites
Really collaborative environment: everyone has access to the same projects and can make changes
A lot of output formats options: PNG, JPG, HEIC, SVG, GIF, etc
Shared Figma prototypes are really interactive
Easy to use interface
Browser-based app in case you don’t have hard disk space
Cons:
No offline app is provided, you always need connection to internet
Slow uploading of large files
A nice graphic card is required to work smoothly
General info:
Company: Zeplin
Launch date: 2014
Country: Turkey & United States
Pros:
Organize artwork/design by name or tags
Supports files from other softwares like Adobe XD, Sketch, etc
Developer friendly
Intuitive usage
Cons:
It’s focused on sharing assets
Only static design sharing mode
Taking into account everything mentioned above, it is clear that the two tools have different purposes.
It is also possible to notice that working with the two together can be a very pleasant experience: on the one hand, figma gives the creative freedom that designers need. On the other hand, Zeplin provides the pixel specificity so necessary for a developer's job.
Figma for exploring options and concepts 💡, Zeiplin for clarity on what to build ☞ .
The Product Land ⛰️
Wanna know more? Stay tuned and subscribe for the next sprints! ☟
And also.. get in touch with us if you want to! 🌐