My 4 most used tools as a product designer
There are so many tools you can use as a designer! Tools can completely change the way you work and these tools I will mention below have transformed the way I work for the better so I wanted to share them with you. There may be some you were expecting, and some which may surprise you!
Contents
Tool 1: Figma
Tool 2: Documentation tools - Google drive vs Notion
Tool 3: My most used tool for design and personal
Tool 4: The tool that stores my brain
Tool 1: Figma
Allows me to create designs in an efficient way
My skill level is not high at all with Figma- I didn’t spend much time learning - just moved across from Sketch. However I am not the type of designer who spends days and days in Figma so for me an average skill level works just fine for what I need to do. Most of my time is spent identifying the most efficient ways to do things to speed up my work flow.
I love how much easier it is to use the Design System in Figma than it was in Sketch - more flexibility, more efficient!
Makes sharing work so much easier - as you just share a link - no more using other tools to hand over to devs - this has sped up my process drastically and helped my mental health with making changes! Ha! No more constant plugin use to upload to zeplin!
Plugins have changed my life - The 2 I’ve used the most in the past week are - 1) Round Pixels: I create illustrations so round all so Round Pixels cleans everything up super fast when I don’t snap to pixel grid. 2) Instant Android: Where our iOS designs can be turned into basic Android versions (I feel like this might be a private plugin our Design Systems Lead created!)
I haven’t had a chance to use FigJam however I have heard amazing things - Might do a Miro VS FigJam review at some point if you’re interested!
Tool 2: Google drive VS Notion
Allows me to structure all my documentation and helps improve my workflow
For documentation at my company we use Google docs.. I really don’t love Google docs! I don’t find it the easiest to use and I don’t love the interface - it isn’t easy to find certain documents or to order and arrange documents. But because we use it as a company, I don’t have much choice as the entire team is on it... also my other option would be Confluence 😱 so let’s not go there!
However the documentation tool I use for all my personal work is Notion -
Notion is an absolutely beautiful tool - it is such a joy to use! It is a clear example of good design is invisible! The interface doesn’t get in your way and really helps your content to shine.
Notion have amazing templates that I don’t necessarily make full use of for my personal work and side projects however they can be very valuable if used as a team such as their planning templates.
Notion is extremely flexible because of the ‘blocks’ you can use. Blocks include things such as pages, bullet points, toggle lists, adding link, prototypes, designs.
You can very easily integrate work from other software such as Miro, Figma, Sketch, PDF etc. Making it amazing to use for.. your portfolio also! I have actually built my portfolio in Notion because of how quick and easy it is! It was so time consuming to make changes and keep my portfolio updated however Notion makes it so incredibly easy! And it is free!
The structure of Notion provides so many options for so many different usages - which means I can use it for my personal and for my work.
Tool 3: Miro
Allows me freedom with my creative thinking
So a tool that I use pretty much every single day.. Miro. I absolutely love this tool! I even use it to plan the interior designs for the rooms in my home!
I first started using Miro around 3 years ago when it was called Realtime boards! This was before the days of working remotely so using it to collaborate wasn’t as necessary as we all worked using physical notes on boards when in the office. However I started to use it to analyse the research I did as it was easier to do it on a Miro board than on a physical board which I would have to take pictures of to have access to if I needed to change things around.
Pros
It is so versatile! I can use it for so many different types of tasks such as brainstorming, planning, designing etc.
There is no structure - just an empty board with post it notes. something about adding a post it note that makes it much easier to get ideas down than writing a line of text - a line of text creates a structure, a top to bottom, left to right structure. However post it notes can be placed anywhere.
This is why i find it so useful as it allows me the freedom to be open with my thinking and not follow a certain structure - as my thinking rarely had structure ha!
Cons
One downside to Miro is sometimes it is nice to see an overall view of everything on one big board. When you are looking at a problem that is very wide, it’s useful to have things in a physical space as you have the spatial awareness of where different things are positioned and it’s easier to refer to.
Also you do have to pay for Miro if you want to have more than 3 editable boards which is a shame.
Tool 4: Notability (iPad app)
The tool that allows me to document and save everything in my brain
I do most of my work using pencil and paper. Whenever I am thinking through something, I am noting my thinking down and drawing diagrams to help clarify my thinking.
The struggle with this was I would always have sheets of paper and post it notes with sketches and notes scattered everywhere, I would eventually lose these so I started sticking the post it notes to my monitor to remember certain things but then I had about 20 post it notes stuck all the way around my monitor like a big post it note flower. I tried to start my sketching and note taking in Notion but it didn’t work for my work-in progress thinking which I had to cross things out, move things around, throw things away. Notion was for much more finalised work.
I then purchased my iPad with my apple pencil and downloaded Notability. I can safely say I cannot live without my iPad and Notability. And I have no sheets of paper or post it notes on my desk anymore.
Pros
Notability is a digital notebook where I can create folders and have sheets of paper in each folder. The great thing about it is that there is no structure - it is just a plain sheet of paper so I can sketch, brainstorm, cross things out, delete, copy and move - I have so much freedom!
I use it to write all my meetings notes, my interview notes, feedback I get - everything I would normally document on paper and then throw away at the end of the month when I would clean up - I now have a record on my iPad neatly filed away so I can easily find it if I need.
I also do all my wireframe sketching on Notability as it so flexible and easy to edit.
Cons
You can’t really use it to it’s full potential without an iPad or an Apple pencil
Notability is a paid app, I think it is around £10 a year so not a huge amount. But it means I am paper free and feel much more organised!
Conclusion
Tools are really important for a designer to get their job done. However they shouldn’t get in our way. For example I don’t want to spend hours researching new plugins - this isn’t a good use of my time. These tools should aid you with your work, not give you more work!
So have a look through the tools you’re using, are they helping you or adding to your workload? Also do you have a huge number of tools you use? Can you reduce these down? Do you need so many?
✨ My favourite things ✨
🌱 Hobby: I have found a new hobby! I’ve started to grow my own humble vegetable garden! I’ve started with lettuce and courgettes and I got my first few seedlings this week which is very exciting!
📕 Journaling: I feel out of love with gratitude journaling when I moved to a digital journal. I have now moved back to my notebook and pencil and looking forward to feeling the impact of it again - as it genuinely changed my life when I started to do it and I’ve found I’ve lost that joy that I gained from it.
🏡 Interior design: We are currently in the process or designing the interiors in our new home. This is such an overwhelming experience as there are so many rooms to do however this weekend we picked the paints and I loved how they turned out! So excited about this journey
