Website design tools
I think it’s safe to say that we’d all agree that getting back to the basics and actually writing something down is pretty darn appealing. However, incorporating cutting-edge web design software into the mix can sometimes unleash a torrent of inspiration.
It has been some time since I oversaw the design and development of anything. So, as I get back into the swing of things, I thought I’d share with you some fantastic web design tools that I think web designers and design agencies should think about using the next time they create or relaunch a website.
In this respect, I have classified the instruments into four broad classes. There are four primary steps in the design process, and each of these groups corresponds to one of those steps.
As with any creative endeavour, the first step in the design process is to generate ideas, samples, and colour schemes. Although it has the potential to be a highly imaginative process, it also has the potential to be incredibly tedious. When working on tasks that require creating design mock-ups and then repeating the same design steps over and over, web designers have access to a wide variety of tools that can help.
1. Requirement Gathering/Collaborating
- Trello
- Slack
2. Web Design Tools for Wireframing/Mockups
- Figma
- Wireframe.cc
- MockFlow
- Balsamiq
- Canva
- GIMP
- Pixel Dropr
- Niice
- Intuitive Color Picker
- Google Fonts
- Behance
- Place It
- Designmodo
- Mockplus
3. Web Design Tools that Support Coding/Debugging
- Bubble
- Interplay
- Eclipse
- Invision
- Creative Tim
- Foundation
- Codekit
- Webflow
4. Deployment/Maintenance Tools
- Cloudways
Collaboration Tools for Designers
At this point in the design process, it’s crucial that you have crystal-clear communication with the client. In order to make sure that the requirements are being effectively highlighted and communicated, teams frequently refer back to the client’s job brief.
Let’s take a look at some resources available to web developers and designers that make real-time collaboration and information management a breeze.
1. Trello
Create spreadsheets, send emails, and complete tasks that require significant teamwork and collaboration with Trello’s help.
Every member of the team can see the status of every project and assignment at any time by checking the appropriate board or deck of cards. This results in very high output.
2. Slack
When it comes to team communication, Slack provides a centralised hub for all relevant threads. For instance, facilitating dialogue between the digital agency’s various departments and the customer. Because of its many bots and app integrations, you can easily set up alerts and notifications whenever a task is finished.
Notifications on customer change requests and new bugs are just two of the cool things that Slack can do for developers.
Web Design Tools for Wireframing/Mockups
In this second stage of design, you will create a rough sketch and outline of the project. As a result, the work is more organised and the user journey from the start to the desired actions is more clear.
In this case, mockups are used after wireframing to create a visual representation of the final product for the client to evaluate how closely it matches the requirements outlined in the brief.
1. Figma
This web-based demo platform is adaptable to various design needs. Web designers and developers, whether working alone or in a digital agency, can benefit from Figma’s simple collaboration features and the ability to receive instantaneous client feedback.
Figma eliminates the need for any additional tools to facilitate the sharing of mockups or revisions. In addition, the app’s commenting feature makes it simpler to incorporate reviewers’ suggestions into the design process without having to repeatedly make changes.
2. Wireframe.cc
Creating basic wireframes for websites and mobile apps is a breeze with Wireframe.cc, a freemium web design tool. The interface’s minimalist design makes it easy to see all the website’s components without any unnecessary distractions. Save the wireframe’s URL to show the client later on once you’re done with it.
3. MockFlow
The tool is a web-based wireframing and website layout generator that facilitates the development of preliminary mockups for both web and software projects. MockFlow’s collection of buttons, tabs, and graphics makes it simple to comprehend the transitions between screens. Designers and developers can save time by using one of several available templates instead of starting from scratch with each new venture. This can be used as a starting point for a winning proposal to your client for web development work.
4. Balsamiq
Balsamiq is quick wireframing software that helps with mockup explanations through the use of standard paper sketches. As a web designer, you can use this tool to streamline your mockups by adhering to the minimalist design principle.
5. Canva
Canva is one of the most well-known and easily accessible design programmes, and it allows you to whip up professional-looking images in no time flat with the aid of customizable, premade templates. Visuals, social media graphics, presentations, and posters can all be made quickly and easily with the help of these editable templates, which allow for a wide range of colour and image manipulation options. The premium graphic content library and intuitive drag-and-drop interface further streamline the process.
6. GIMP
Popular freemium tool for web designers is a Graphical Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) that doesn’t hog too much RAM. In spite of its lack of Photoshop’s technical sophistication, PowerPoint is still a useful tool for making presentations and enhancing photos before they are published online.
Among UI Parade’s many successful web design tools is the plugin for Photoshop known as Pixel Dropr. The goal of the Pixel Dropr plugin is to streamline the web design process by centralising all of the most frequently used user interface elements in one place.
Web developers can make a library of elements like buttons, icons, and vectors with this plugin. You can simply drag and drop these web elements into your Photoshop PSD file.
8. Niice
Niice functions as a cross between a search engine and a social network for creative professionals. It compiles data from sites like Behance and Designspiration as well as Dribble. Do some digging around here, and you’re sure to find something that sparks your imagination. Look into responsive web design options, please.
9. Intuitive Color Picker
Easy-to-use online colour palette selector. The entire browser window will be flooded with colour as it loads. Saturation, brightness, and hue can all be modified by scrolling the mouse left to right. By clicking anywhere on the display, you can pick a colour scheme, store it, and move on to the next. A rainbow of hues is at your fingertips. A screenshot demonstrating its functionality follows.
10. Google Fonts
Google Fonts is one of many web design tools that allows you to add a specific font to your site with just one line of code. Many of the best fonts for use on the web are included. Here are the 3 easy measures to take:
- Choose
- Review
- Use
11. Behance
If you’re a freelance or in-house designer, Behance is the best online resource for creating your portfolio. It’s a great place to show off your designs to the world and look for inspiration from the works of other designers.
It’s convenient for designers to be able to consolidate and disseminate all of their latest work in one centralised location. It’s a useful tool for businesses and agencies to discover new avenues of inspiration and recruit top talent from around the world.
12. Place It
Place It’s a website builder that lets you drop in and move around elements to create an environment for your product screenshots to look as authentic as possible. Explain your product’s benefits and features with concrete examples using this handy app. Try it out, I guarantee you will enjoy it.
13. Designmodo
Create your own website or newsletter with the help of Designmodo’s handy tools. Slides and Startup are two examples of website creation tools. The latter uses Bootstrap as its foundation. With either of these editors, users can construct unique websites that can then be published through a hosting service. Postcards is an email newsletter builder. It’s a code-free way to make newsletters that actually get read. You can select a format from a variety of options and store it for future use.
14. Mockplus
Mockplus is an online prototyping and wireframing service for software and websites. Its drag-and-drop editor makes it easy to draught website wireframes and mockups. Designers can make designs that look like they were drawn yesterday using its vector tool, multiple interactions, and responsive layout features. Mockplus allows you to transfer designs with precise specifications, assets, and code snippets, and it supports exporting designs from Sketch, Figma, Axure, Adobe XD, and Adobe Photoshop. Web designers and developers can work together in real time, eliminating miscommunication.
Web Design Tools that Support Coding/Debugging
The script and actual application code are developed after the wireframing and mockups have been approved. Today’s ever-evolving codebase can make it challenging to keep up with the documentation. Consequently, it is crucial to keep up with both of these responsibilities simultaneously.
Until a prototype is made and tested, the job is not done. This is the phase where the application is evaluated and tweaked to ensure it fulfils the requirements outlined in the brief.
The following resources aid in the efficient and orderly operation of the developer’s workplace.
1. Bubble
Bubble facilitates the development of dynamic, data-driven web apps. Developers can create, design, and modify web applications with ease using the tool’s intuitive point-and-click editor.
2. Interplay
A lot of designers and developers use Interplay to communicate and collaborate with the team. This web development tool can be seamlessly integrated with code and aids in the creation of clear documentation for team members.
3. Eclipse
Eclipse is a Java IDE that makes it simple to use multiple languages at once, including C/C++ and PHP. When using the Eclipse Marketplace, programmers can add new features and enhancements without having to dive into the code and test them individually.
4. Invision
When it comes to prototyping and collaborating on designs, no other platform compares to InVision. You don’t need to know HTML to use this website builder; it instantly converts your static designs into clickable prototypes complete with transitions, animations, and functioning buttons.
Real-time design collaboration and presentations help designers sell their ideas. Before beginning development, customers can navigate the design and try out the live demo.
5. Creative Tim
Creative Tim develops Bootstrap, Vue.js, React, Angular, Tailwind, Node.js, Laravel, and many other UI Kits and dashboard templates with full source code. Their templates make it simpler and quicker to create apps for both the web and mobile devices.
It takes a lot of time and money to hire professional web designers to create a website design from scratch. If you use one of Creative Tim’s web templates, user interface design is already taken care of for you. In addition, you get to spend less money and time on it, freeing up resources for other areas of your website or company.
6. Foundation
A responsive front-end framework can be easily created with the help of the handy web layout tool called Foundation. The result is websites that are easier to navigate and load faster, improving the overall user experience. Web designers can now whip up websites, apps, and services at light speed.
7. Codekit
In order to construct a website on a Macintosh computer more quickly and efficiently, you can use the design tool software known as CodeKit. Typescript, Haml, Less, Sass, Stylus, CoffeeScript, slim, Markdown, and JavaScript are all automatically compiled. This programme also allows you to automatically refresh your web browser, eliminating the need to repeatedly press the Command+R keyboard shortcut. Are you impressed?
8. Webflow
Designers of websites can make use of Webflow. You can make a unique website with no coding experience by using the drag-and-drop editor. For artistic web designers who would rather not have to learn to code, this is a great tool.
Deployment/Maintenance Tools
In the final stage of this design process, updates will be made to the live website. Given the potential for extensive teamwork and quality control, this could take a while. Thus, documentation is useful for keeping track of the current website’s version and any changes that have been made.
Cloudways
Freelancers, in-house developers, designers, and digital agencies all benefit from Cloudways’ flexible team collaboration, testing, and publishing tools. I’ll be expanding on how exactly it accomplishes this.
Cloudways Staging
Cloudways provides a separate environment in which website modifications can be tested. This allows for the website’s changes to be beta tested before going live, reducing the likelihood of costly outages for the company. Once testing confirms that the updated features are performing as expected, they can be released to the public.
Cloudways Hosting
Depending on their performance needs and budget, Cloudways’ customers can choose from five of the most well-known infrastructure providers in the business: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), DigitalOcean (DO), Linode (Linode), and Vultr (Vultr). WordPress, Magento, Laravel, and all the PHP based applications are supported, giving customers the freedom to choose the best platform for their specific needs.
Cloudways removes the hassles of server hosting and management, allowing designers and developers to focus solely on their clients’ projects.
Cloudways Teams
Cloudways’ Teams Feature is a useful tool for account admins who need to grant limited access to specific third-party users of their platform or an external application. The owner of the account can facilitate easy communication between multiple teams by using just one email address. For designers and developers especially, this simplifies the process of teams working together on a single platform.
There are three different permission levels available on the platform:
- Invoice Access for reviewing, downloading, and making payments.
- Help Desk Login in order to submit and handle help requests.
- Access to the Cloudways platform via a restricted or unrestricted cloud console.
In a Nutshell
Several of the most well-known web design resources that designers and developers rely on are included in this article. G2 is a fantastic resource for reviews of business software and services, and I have used their reviews to compile this list of design and development tools.
From brainstorming and wireframing to mockups and coding to debugging and publishing, I’ve described useful tools for every stage of the design process.
