15 Tools Every Designer Must Know About and Why

By Michael Wong.
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Google Analytics

Understand your users to make better design decisions.

When tackling a new design problem, it is always good practice to understand how your current users are behaving — avoid all assumptions. A few great offerings Google Analytics provides include:

Basic analytics: Bounce Rates, Unique Views etc.
Segments: Segments let you isolate and analyze subsets of your Analytics data.
Events: Allows you to track the number of engagements on a specific interaction.

Panda

Stay on top of what’s happening in the tech world.

Every morning I spend 30 minutes to an hour staying on top of what’s happening in the tech world. More specifically Design, Growth and Startups. Not only do I find this informative but it’s also inspiring and motivating. The above screenshot is how I’ve assigned my preferences.

MUJI Dotted Notepad + Mechanical Pencil

Improve your creative thinking and problem solving skills

Top 15 Tools for Designers — Muji Notepad and Pencil

I’ve found sketching helps improve creative thinking and problem solving.
Once you jump into Sketch or Photoshop, you’re not solving or thinking about the fundamental user problem anymore but a visual design one.

Great Reads

Great books not only motivate you but also broaden your horizons.

By the end of 2015 I never knew I would have developed such a love for reading. Not only did I learn how industry leaders think about design, startups and ultimately the world but the most value I found was the motivation that came along with it.

My top 3 design thinking related reads in 2015 were:

Hooked: Building Habit Forming Products (Product thinking)
Lean Startup (Innovation)
The Power of Habit (Psychology and product thinking)

VSCO Camera App

Stay inspired with all your offline moments and experiences.

I only recently started using my VSCO camera app regularly. It’s got a few neat little features that encourage you to take a little more pride in your shots. The perfect app to capture and store all your moments.

Sketch 3

Improve efficiency with the right tools for your trade.

As a product designer most of our ‘visual design’ work is UI based. We may tinker with a few photos and vectors where Photoshop and Illustrator is appropriate but Sketch 3 is definitely my choice of weapon for UI design.

Zeplin

Improve your processes with your team.

I’ve worked with many developers over the years and a constant challenge has been to integrate the designs accurately. Early this year as the Design Lead at hipages, I incorporated the use of Zeplin into the work flow between designers and developers. Not only did this save immense time on both the designer and developer’s side — it dramatically improved the quality of output with all new features.

InvisionApp

Bring your concepts to life.

As a product designer, a must have skillet is to have the ability to ‘sell’ your designs. A few JPG screenshots does not cut it anymore. Creating quick prototypes which allows your clients to visualise and experience the true interactions goes along way.

Visual Inspiration Sites

Stay on top of the latest design trends.

Personally when I browse for visual inspiration, I don’t specifically look for style ideas but more for common design patterns. Sometimes there are already existing patterns consumers are use to. Don’t re-invent the wheel when there’s no need too.

Social Media

Surround yourself with like-minded people; offline and online

I’m quite active on social media (you can follow me on: Twitter, Dribbble, LinkedIn and Facebook). No, it’s not to see what the latest goss about the Kardashiens. I purely use these mediums for professional and self-improvement purposes.

Instagram — Great for motivation and inspiration.
Twitter — Great for the latest and most recent news from some of the personalities, products and brands I love.
LinkedIn—Great for connecting and networking with professionals within your field.

Spotify

It’s scientifically proven. Music stimulates creativity.

Beats, design and code is what gets me going. Music has definitely helped me focus and break out of design blocks over the years. I’m sure you all have your own personal playlists but here are a few that I regularly turn too.

A good friend of mine has curated a few designer playlists, find them here.

Designer Playlist February 2016 — by Philippe H.
Designer Playlist March 2016 — by Philippe H.
Designer Playlist April 2016 — by Philippe H.
M U Z I K O — by Michael Wong.

Sublime 3

My favourite free code editor

As a designer it’s always great to be able to hustle some code. Static designs only go so far in todays world. Prototypes are great in helping yourself and others visualise your concepts and ideas. Sublime 3 is free and gets the job done!

Top Sublime extensions:

SFTP
Sublimerge
FileBrowser

Adobe Creative Cloud

Sketch is great but the Adobe Suite has its benefits.

Top 15 Tools for Designers — Creative Cloud

Filezilla

My favourite free FTP solution

If you’re just starting out as a designer. A great way to manage your online files on your server is with a FTP app. I use Filezilla which is a free app on Mac. Give it a go. Simple and easy.

Trello

Be more organised