5 Best UX Tools to Improve the User Experience

Introduction

Your business website is an important window into your services and often, the very first interaction that potential clients will have with your brand. Having an intricate, showy website is all well and good – if it works. Having a website with a high bounce rate or one that crashes as soon as visitors begin to move around it is no good, no matter how interesting and fancy you make it. For this reason, more developers are opting for a simpler approach to user experience. This doesn’t mean that corners are being cut with website building, it purely means that simpler layouts and designs mean easier navigation and a more reliable experience.

In all likelihood, your own favorite websites are simple to use. You can click your way to where you want to be with ease, everything is quickly found, and the functionality is so intuitive you are not even consciously aware of the steps you are taking to find what you need in the first place.  All the attributes that make a website your favorite are the attributes you should be wanting for your business site. That’s why now, website design is focusing more on interactive improvements that will generate and drive business revenue – not hinder it with glitches and unnecessary clutter. 

Good UX will not only improve the experience of visitors to your site, but it will also improve your overall content marketing efforts. Better UX leads to lower bounce rates, indicating to Google that your website is relevant to users, which helps you rank better.

In this article, we’re focusing on software even though hardware like a good monitor for design is critical. That said, let’s take a quick look at some of the best UI/UX design tools to improve the user experience on your mobile app or website. 

Figma

Browser-based, Figma will allow you to collaborate in real-time with vector tools, enabling the possibilities for prototyping, illustrating, and code generating. This can let teams get their ideas out there together, as well as test and make refinements, such as click presses, cursor hovering, transitions, and so on. It also comes with style libraries for the creation – or updating – of designs. 

• No free trial – but offers a free version;
• Costs start at $15 per month (per feature).

Sketch

Made specifically for user interface design, Sketch has become very popular and is now widely used among UX designers. Only available for Mac iOS X, it is an image editor for digital design, which works in a similar manner to Photoshop and has a lot of room for maneuverability in UX building. Layers are easily applied, resulting in smoother navigation, and its Vectors adapt with ease to changes in layout, style, and size. Apps like Procreate and Sketch are very useful in improving the user experience.

• Free Trial;
• Subscription plans from $9 per month.

UXPin

One of the best tools for prototyping out there. Available in your browser or for Windows or Mac, as well as prototypes, this platform allows for mockups, wireframes, and UX and UI system design. With UXPin, collaborations are simple, providing the ability to share work with team members via a single design file. You will also be able to conduct online user testing to see in real-time how the user experience is being improved – or not. 

• Free trial and Free version available;
• Monthly plans start at $15.

Usersnap

Pound-for-pound, the most diverse customer feedback platform on the market. Usersnap allows SaaS, e-commerce or any company with a digital product to collect feedback, manage it, and make better UX decisions based on facts. Collect screenshots, screen recordings, user acceptance and usability feedback, customer requests, and satisfaction ratings on the same platform. Maybe the UX is only an issue on certain browsers? With Usersnap, collect important metadata such as URL, browser info and console logs automatically. Finally, intercept feedback mid-journey with targeted pop-ups based on URL or event.

• 15-day free trial
• Plans for 10 team members start at $69/month
• Add team members and projects, à la carte

Hotjar

A great platform for analytical feedback, Hotjar’s analytic behavior software will let you know exactly how users are experiencing your website. Great for designers and UX researchers, this platform with its Heatmaps, Session Recordings, and Incoming Feedback functions will collect up all the data you could possibly need to discover how people are interacting with your business website. These well-gathered results will give you the ability and all the assistance you need to make improvements and enhance user satisfaction. 

• Free-forever plan;
• Bundle subscriptions begin at $39 per month.

Mockplus

For web applications, mobile apps, and desktops, Mockplus is an amazing website prototyper. Not only is it good – it’s simple to use, meaning even novices can pick it up and handle the learning curve. Intuitive drag-and-drop features mean you can get stuck in right away with building interactive prototypes, fast. For an idea of its simplicity of use, graphic and media apps such as Photoshop and Illustrator – available in general to all – are harder to work with than this app specifically catering to the niche field of UX development. Mockplus will give you prototypes for websites with a slick UX in no time at all. 

• Free trial and Free version available;
• $129 per year.

In Conclusion

The services your business provides will ultimately dictate which UX development software will be best for the required functionality of your website and the needs of your target users when on it. There are a plethora of UX development apps, platforms and UX copywriting rules, and it can be hard to see the wood for the trees, especially if needing a smooth, engaging website for a start-up. But don’t panic: more often than not, the best results come from a mix of developmental software, as the push for the best customer experience will always be ongoing – be it face-to-face or online.