Exploratory Research @ InVision
Design Tool Benchmarking
Overview
InVision is a digital product design tool that covers the entire design process, from generating ideas to collaborating with developers. While InVision and other design tools like Sketch, Figma, and Adobe XD were primarily made for designers, InVision wanted to improve collaboration experiences for its customers. To do this, they sought to understand how collaboration occurred in their competitor's tools.
Research Goal
I wanted to find tools that let people work together at the same time. I decided to look at Figma and Adobe XD because they have features for collaboration. Sketch also added a feature for working together in real-time. We need more research to learn about any new discoveries or areas that need improvement in this field.
Process
What questions were we trying to get answered?
Understand if working with different design tools changes expectations and needs around collaboration - specifically, we were aiming to get to know XD collaboration patterns compared to Figma and what we know from Sketch.
Uncover opportunities for InVision as a bridge between tools / collaboration layer on top of the tools, and highlighting differences in usage / mental model that can affect how we design our tools.
Who we spoke to
12 interviewees across industries including e-commerce, education, financial services, software and consulting. There we 5 UX Designers and 7 Product Designers, equal distribution of designers using Figma and Adobe XD as their primary design tool. Also, most designers we spoke with had a design team size between 1-4 other people.
What questions did we ask in the sessions?
We wanted to better understand the designer’s full end-to-end design process:
How they intake project requirements
How they brainstorm on possible design solutions
If there are any other tools they are using in partnership with their main design tool
Looking at the full end-to-end design process and the tools they used in combination, if there was anything they felt was lacking or could be improved on?
There also tends to be a lot of nuance with when and how designers bring in collaborators and how they communicate to one another throughout the entire process. We wanted to see what collaboration looked like for designers with their design and non-design collaborators:
To see a walkthrough of how designers bring in others in various scenarios
Reviewing with Product Manager
Design review with the team
Handing off to developer
How they keep track of feedback/comments across documents
How they communicate updates or changes within a given project to collaborators
When they bring in collaborators
When is the first moment they share with their collaborators? How often do they bring them in?
What are some reasons for bringing in collaborators?
How early or late in the design process?
Top Insights
Different approaches to collaboration result in different sharing patterns: Adobe XD designers control collaboration, while Figma allows for unrestricted access. Although both are design tools, users perceive Adobe XD as exclusively for designers with complete control over who and when access is granted. In contrast, Figma is seen as a tool for broader use, always accessible to the team
Figma and Adobe XD designers collaborate with other designers. However, when it comes to collaborating with non-designers, there are some differences. Adobe XD users can choose to involve non-design partners, but they do this only when they feel it's necessary. They have a certain level of control and gatekeeping. On the other hand, Figma designers regularly bring in collaborators for feedback and visibility. They value transparency and collaboration throughout the design process.
Designers often prefer to consolidate all information within the design tool. However, their collaborators may not be comfortable using the same tool, leading to communication happening outside of it. Both Figma and Adobe XD designers go to great lengths to include relevant information within the design tool, even if it means spending extra time and effort organizing it. This is especially true for the developer handoff, where designers manually add layers to provide necessary context and information. Designers are essentially "hacking" the design tool to create a comprehensive solution for the developer handoff, despite the presence of inspect features in both Figma and Adobe XD users spend even more time on this due to the limited organizing tools available.
The “So What?”
After our research, we discovered that regardless of the design tool, it is ultimately the designer's approach that matters, not the collaborator's. Figma designers prioritize making the design process inclusive for their collaborators compared to Adobe XD designers. Unfortunately, despite their efforts, non-design partners struggle to feel at ease with the tool, resulting in inconsistent collaboration. This can have a significant negative impact on both the team and the overall business.
This got us thinking, how could…
InVision be used as a collaboration platform for Adobe XD users and their collaborators, who don't view their design tool as one?
InVision help Adobe XD users, who have similar mindsets around collaboration as Sketch users, to curate and share design content without being concerned about losing control over the visibility of the content?
Specs, our developer handoff tool, become the collaborators' tool, while not creating extra work for the designer?