Prototype – This is a simulation of the final product being designed. It is where testing of a particular end product is done.
There are two types of design prototyping UI & UX. UI entails designing the user interface while UX defines the user experience. Relatively UX primary function is to get the picture of how the product feels like when interacting with it.
We look at two relatives of design programs; Adobe XD and Sketch software. The sketch came first before Adobe XD, with its features, it already inspired Adobe XD.
ADOBE XD is a light vector graphics editor previous;y now as project comet. It first launched in 2016 though it gets updated monthly. The user interface hasn’t changed for most Adobe users. Upon launch, the tools are on the left side, unlike Sketch buttons. The layers are on the right same to sketch and adobe Photoshop. The tools are more straightforward to use if one has interacted with previous versions of adobe or sketch vector editing software.
The unique part of Adobe, in this case, is the repeat grid tool where one can replicate as a group of items and edit them differently as a separate group of cards. Unlike sketch Adobe XD allows a designer to create an interactive prototype quickly without having to use any extra downloadable plugin. Once you finish prototyping, it enables you to publish as well as share it via the web or can you can view by Adobe XD software.In the Assets panel, Adobe XD has an interactive style of guiding the colors, symbols, characters in that once you change any item in the Assets Panel, the artwork changes as well automatically. Sketch as well as a way of improving the color variables, but in this case, they are in their separate panel.
Comparison of features between UX AND SKETCH
FEATURES
Vector Graphics – Present in both Software
Advanced Image Editing – Not possible in both Software
Lightweight – Yes for both Software
Prototyping – Yes for Adobe XD and NO for Sketch
Assets export – YES for both Software
Symbols and styles – YES for both Software
Repeat grid – YES for Adobe XD and NO for Sketch
Document grid – YES for both Software
Plugins – No for Adobe XD and YES for Sketch
Mac Os Version – YES for both Software
Windows Version – YES for Adobe XD and NO for Sketch
Cost – for Adobe XD is Free with Adobe ID, while Sketch is $.99 Yearly due to updates, but it’s not a must after purchase to pay for any updates
Main differences between Adobe XD and Sketch
- During prototype testing in sketch one has to sync the active boards every moment you are to test the prototypes then you can use the browser to access the given URL.
- When setting up a home screen in Adobe XD, you merely select the prototype screen you wish to set unlike in sketch where you have to arrange them in the layer panel how one wants them to appear.
- Adobe XD has a unique feature of screen recording. It is an inbuilt feature where the interactions with the prototypes you can record during testing. This feature doesn’t require any third party software installed for it to work. Sketch, however, doesn’t have such a feature installed
- Screen transitions pose a challenge to Adobe XD especially if a screen has navigation bars. If the shift changes, e.g., through dissolving, the screen dissolves with navigations as well.
- Sketch has pages and art boards. These organize the designs attributes better compared to Adobe XD. It has tool for creating cons called Bohemians Coding’s which makes it fast and more accessible to create icons, not like Adobe XD
- While exporting prototypes and final designs, Adobe XD gives predefined options where you choose. Sketch software provides an extra opportunity of creating one’s own.
How Sketch outsmarts ADOBE XD’s main challenges
- When creating prototypes, you can use Invision or Marvel which are as fast as ADOBE XD
- In case you need extra design function to Sketch during design, one can have an additional plugin to perform the required task.
- From the front end, developers can be able to see design specifications in sketch software.
Summary
Adobe is viewed to be the preferable software by the end of the day. The frequent updates give it the upper hand of the most updated features. It’s fast and lightweight which makes it even more suitable. We can’t ignore Sketch on the other side since it has an advantage over Adobe XD, in that with the sketch you can download plugins as much as you may require. It could mean, with the third party plugins Sketch could perform even better tasks than Adobe XD.
Author Bio:
In addition to being the editor at designrfix and writing about tech, web and graphic design among other subjects, I love “unplug” and be outdoors hiking and enjoying nature. If you can’t reach me, it’s probably because where I am at doesn’t have cell phone reception.
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