A UI/UX Designer's transition from Adobe XD to Figma.
When Adobe XD came out in 2016, I tested it right away as I worked on web & app design projects. I was blown away by how intuitive it was and so easy to learn even without watching so much tutorials. To me, as an Adobe software user, it just made sense to use XD sensing they would have integrated the commands and made it easy for each of their software like Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. to communicate with each other (as many of us would think, right?)
Now that I’m experiencing a “downtime”, I realised the limitations of XD free version has kept me from progressing on my “Live CV” project, which is something I need to work on right now— being a solution I find to get past this “dry season” in freelancing quickly.
Moreover, I have found that about 80-90% of job openings related to UI/UX Design require knowledge and expertise in Figma. Although I’m quite confident that the lack of knowledge in Figma shouldn’t keep someone in UI/UX Designer position to fulfil their role, in some degree, companies who have projects who have well developed prototypes that are about 80-100% done with hundreds of pages and buttons linked together, that would be a real issue for them.
First Impressions
The solution is pretty obvious. In my previous research, the link-sharing (and updating) are limited with the free version of XD but not on the free version of Figma.
So, I decided to download it. (By this time, I have already created an account and only accessed a web version).
First of all, it was a breeze. It opened right away. The file size is less than 3 MB. Mind you, I’m working with slow internet connection this time and encountering storage issues! You can imagine just how blown away I was by that already!
Lesson #1: FigJam
I couldn’t help but start fiddling with FigJam!
This is something Adobe XD doesn’t have. Sure, it’s another program that has its own specific use. But the reason I’m ogling over this is because I’m that type of “explainer” who doodles. When I’m brainstorming or I’d like to present a thought or concept, or explain or share ideas, I like to talk and doodle and quite literally “illustrate a point.”
The Pros and Cons
The Pros to learning Figma is that it’s widely used by companies and project owners.
Learning Figma at this time would increase ones chances in getting hired. (See point #1).
For Adobe XD users, learning Figma, just makes you more powerful. “XD vs Figma” —there’d be no issue at all since you can get around with both!
It’s free and lets you do many things! You won't get stuck just because you lost a subscription.
So you learn another software. It’s only Pros.
Obviously, for me it is.
Download Adobe XD here. Why not? It's still a really good software.
Are you a UI/UX Designer? Do you use Adobe XD or Figma or both or neither?! Are you still trying to choose between Adobe XD or Figma?
Leave a comment, and share your experience if you've used any or both or if this post has helped you decide!