More than 60 free or paid tools to leverage in your next.
In this UX series, I write about trusty UX tools I have used, or I’ve heard good things about or you folks have suggested.
In my previous articles, I focused on the categories: automated UX analysis, analytics, accessibility, diagramming, card sorting, data visualization, evaluating design, interaction and Interface design, intercept surveys, live chat with users, mobile testing, mockups, mouse/eye tracking, etc.
In this article, I will focus on: Online whiteboards, Participant recruiting, scheduling & screening, Presentation, Process aids, Project Management, Recruiting users, Remote research, Session Replay, Site map builder, User flows, User feedback & Wireframing tools.
This time as you'll see we have more categories and fewer tools. If you are reading this series, a lot of the tools should be familiar to you, but of course we have some new and free ones!
Let's start 😎.
Online whiteboards
1. Milanote
It can also be used for: Collaboration, Project Management, Online Whiteboards
Cost: Free+
What does it do best: A tool for organizing creative projects into visual boards. It is a great fit for designers who work in teams remotely.
Get organized. Stay creative. Milanote is an easy-to-use tool to organize your ideas and projects into visual boards.- By milanote.com
2.miro
It can also be used for: Collaboration, Online Whiteboards
Cost: Free+
What does it do best: A visual collaboration platform and online meeting space and whiteboard to centralise communication between collocated, distributed, or remote teams across formats, tools, channels, and time zones.
The online collaborative whiteboard platform to bring teams together, anytime, anywhere. - By miro.com
3. Mural
It can also be used for: Research Notetaking, Collaboration, Online Whiteboards
Cost: $12+
What does it do best: An online whiteboard for small and medium sized companies and teams that need to collaborate visually. Drag and drop sticky notes, images links and documents.
Let’s transform teamwork. Discover digital-first visual collaboration with MURAL. More than an online whiteboard, where everyone contributes equally and hard problems are solved faster. - By mural.co
Participant recruiting, scheduling & screening
4. User Interviews
It can also be used for: Research, Design Research, Participant Recruiting, Remote Research
Cost: Free+
What does it do best: Find participants for any kind of research, or talk to your own users faster. Use Recruit to source from the User Interviews pool of 400,000+ participants, or use Research Hub to talk to your own users in 75% less time.
The fastest way to recruit research participants. Make better product decisions with seamless access to quality participants. Get fast, targeted access to our diverse audience of over 400,000 vetted professionals and consumers. Talk to your users simply and consistently with CRM and automations to build an ongoing customer research habit. - By userinterviews.com
Similar tools that we've seen before are:
5. ARCS – Automated Recruiting and Communication System
6. Ethnio
7. Userlytics
Presentations
In this category, we have a plethora of tools and to be honest, probably you already have a favorite one! Nevertheless, let's check some more :)
8. canva
9. keynote
10. UX Pressia
Process Aids
I have only 2 known tools in this category, so if you know more feel free to share them in the comments!
11. EnjoyHQ
12. reframer
Project Management
If you have worked professionally as a developer in a team you most luckily know Jira, hence I won't include it in this list (plus Jira is more focused on developers rather than designers and researchers).
Let's go with 3 tools from the past:
13. Trello
14. ZenDesk
15. Milanote
Recruiting users
16. clarity
It can also be used for: Recruiting Users, Subject Matter Experts
Cost: $1+ (check the website for more info about the price!)
What does it do best: Get expert advice for digital and business related problems. Browse for experts by topic, request a call with them, and connect directly with them. Calls are charged by length.
How it works: 1-Find an Expert, Browse our community of experts to find the right one for you. 2-Request a Call, At this time, you will be pre-charged for the estimated length of the call, based on the expert's per-minute rate. 3-Connect Directly, Call the conference line provided. After the call, the charge will be adjusted to reflect the actual length of the call.- By clarity.fm
Note: I haven't used this tool, but it seems interesting!
Remote research
17.PickFu
It can also be used for: Remote Research, Surveying Users
Cost: Free+
What does it do best: Validate ideas, designs, and messaging in a lean way.
Seek the wisdom of the crowd. PickFu is a do-it-yourself online platform that unlocks powerful consumer research. In just minutes, you can crowdsource hundreds of opinions from the people who matter most to your business. - By pickfu.com
18.Try my UI
It can also be used for: Remote Research, Usability Testing
Cost: Free+
What does it do best: Self-moderated. Hear what users are thinking as they use your site with a narrated video as they perform the tasks you want.
Set up your test. Write a list of tasks you want users to perform on your website. Pick your target user. Choose from a wide array of demographic factors to find the right users. Watch the video. Collect videos to hear what users are thinking and see where they’re getting stuck. - By trymyui.com
19.UXcloud
It can also be used for: Remote Research, Usability Testing
Cost: $50+
What does it do best: Online platform for remote, moderated usability testing with .MP4 video recording and integrated screen sharing.
UXCloud makes remotely moderated usability testing easy with .MP4 recording and screen sharing integrated into a single cloud-based platform. Test websites and application software on any desktop OS. Test mobile apps on Android and Apple IOS. Remote observers can securely join sessions using desktop computers or mobile devices. Take notes, chat with other observers, and identify and "+1" design ideas collaboratively. Record and store MP4 session videos in the cloud. Create downloadable MP4 highlight clips in the cloud. Export notes and design ideas to Excel spreadsheet. - By uxcloud.us
20.UX testing
It can also be used for: Remote Research, Usability Testing
Cost: No Info
What does it do best: Record and watch videos of real users speaking their thoughts on your website, app, or prototype, with screen capture, facial expressions, comments and touch points.
Get Global User Insights with Reliance. The best User Experience partner trusted by designers and researchers for efficiency, cost-effectiveness and demonstrate the profession.- By uxtesting.io
Other tools you can use:
21. ethnio
22. UsabilityHub
23. User Interviews
24. User Testing
Session Replay
One of my favorite categories 🙌
25. Forsee - Verint
It can also be used for: Usability Testing, Session Replay
Cost: No Info
What does it do best: A suite of customer journey analysis apps and tools, including text analytics, replay for web and mobile, case management, etc. Measure touchpoints with a unified metric.
Measure and improve the customer experience at every step of the journey.
Empower fast, smart action and move the needle on CSAT and NPS with Verint Experience Management. - By foresee.com
26. LiveSession
It can also be used for: Session Replay, Mouse/Eye Tracking
Cost: $42+
What does it do best: LiveSession is a qualitative analytics solution for websites and web applications. With always-on session recording, it gives you a way to fully understand user behavior. Start getting answers today and improve your conversion rate.
Understand how users really use your website. LiveSession helps you analyze customers’ behavior to improve UX, increase conversion rates and boost revenue. - By livesession.io
27. Ηotjar
28. Ιnspectlet
29. Μatomo
30. Μousestats
31. Smartlook
Sitemap Builder
I'm afraid that in this category I also don't have a lot of tools to offer you. Actually, it's only one tool 😮. But it's a good, free and easy-to-use one!
32. Octopus do
It can also be used for: Sitemap Builder
Cost: Free+
What does it do best: An easy-to-use visual sitemap builder.
OctopusDo is a lightning-fast visual sitemap builder. Build your website structure in real-time using our Content Brick Method and rapidly share it to collaborate with your team or clients. Start prototyping websites or apps instantly. - By octopus.do
User Feedback
33. Refiner
It can also be used for: User Feedback, Surveys
Cost: Free+
What does it do best: A customer survey tool built specifically for SaaS, eCommerce and Membership sites.
Close the customer feedback loop with a survey platform for SaaS. Get more responses with our highly configurable in-app survey widgets, automate actions based on answers, and quickly find gaps in the understanding of your users.- By refiner.io
User Flows
34. FlowMapp
It can also be used for: Information Architecture, User Flows
Cost: Free+
What does it do best: An online tool for creating visual sitemaps and user flows.
UX tools for web design. Design exceptional UX for beautiful products, websites, and apps with online collaborative tools.- By flowmapp.com
Wireframing
That's an interesting category! We have some new and some old-time classic tools.
35. gliffy
It can also be used for: Wireframing, Diagramming
Cost: $8+
What does it do best: Drag and drop to create flowcharts, diagrams, wireframes and technical drawings. Comes with hundreds of industry standard shapes and symbols.
Help Your Team Communicate and Collaborate. Gliffy’s enterprise-grade diagramming software allows any team to visually share ideas.- By gliffy.com
36. HotGloo
It can also be used for: Prototyping, Wireframing, Diagramming
Cost: $12+
What does it do best: A wireframing and prototyping tool for web, mobile and wearables. Helps to visualize planning processes, and build and test drive interactions.
HotGloo is a UX, wireframe and prototyping tool designed to build wireframes for web, mobile and wearables. HotGloo helps to visualize planning processes, build and test drive interactions very easily. Create and share fully interactive prototypes with your team and clients and gather feedback on the process. From prototypes of the next award winning app to huge e-commerce wireframe shop solutions, HotGloo is the perfect match for every web worker. - By hotgloo.com
37. Lucidchart
It can also be used for: Mockups, Prototyping, Wireframing, Diagramming
Cost: $4.95+
What does it do best: Allows more than one person at a time to collaborate on a document and comes with widgets for UI components, icons and diagram shapes. Free for less than 60 elements and maximum 2 collaborators.
Lucidchart is the intelligent diagramming application that brings teams together to make better decisions and build the future. - By lucidchart.com
38. OmniGraffle
It can also be used for: Wireframing, Diagramming
Cost: $60+
What does it do best: Create diagrams and designs with ease. Lines stay connected to shapes even when moved. Explain anything from a simple family tree to a complex systems theory with a diagram.
With the power to diagram, rapid-prototype, and design, OmniGraffle was made for professionals who need to organize or communicate visually—beautifully. - By omnigroup.com/omnigraffle
39. Power Mockup
It can also be used for: Wireframing, Diagramming, Design Prototyping
Cost: $60+
What does it do best: A large collection of user interface elements and icons made entirely out of PowerPoint shapes, useful for creating screen prototypes for mobile, web, and desktop applications using PowerPoint.
PowerMockup provides a large collection of user interface elements and icons made entirely out of PowerPoint shapes. With these elements you easily can create screen prototypes of mobile, web, and desktop applications—right inside PowerPoint! - By powermockup.com
And here we have some more well-known tools we reviewed in previous categories: 🚀
40. Adobe XD
41. axure RP
42. balsamiq
43. Flair Builder
44. Indigo Design
45. iPlotz
46. iRise
47. Just In Mind
48. MockFlow
49. Mocking bird
50. Mockplus
51. Moqups
52. NinjaMock
53. Pencil
54. Photoshop Wireframing Kit
55. Pidoco
56. proto
57. protoshare
58. sketch
59. UXPin
60. Wireframe sketcher
61. Wirify
Conclusion - 12 Categories - 60 Tools
In this article, we checked different tools you can use for: Online whiteboards, Participant recruiting, scheduling & screening, Presentation, Process aids, Project Management, Recruiting users, Remote research, Session Replay, Site map builder, User flows, User feedback & Wireframing tools. Usually, the tools can be used for more than 1 thing (for example convention, heat maps, user testing, etc.). Some tools are free and others are paid. The paid tools, most often, will provide a free trial or a demo!
More categories are coming soon! Make sure to sign in to my newsletter so you won't miss any updates on this or upcoming articles.
I’d love to hear from you. Which one are you most looking forward to using?
👋Hello, I'm Eleftheria, Community Manager at Hashnode, developer, public speaker, and chocolate lover.
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