Sketch is designed for a specific need, in my opinion, creating screen designs with tools you can reuse and share across a project. There are no extra features to get in your way or slow you down. Other products I've used are good at creating the same type of work products, but …
Omnigraffle is great for documentation, mapping, flowcharting, and other technical diagramming scenarios. It's simple enough to bang out a quick illustration and powerful enough to build complex blueprints for complicated technical systems. If you need cross-platform compatibility, though, you're probably better off looking elsewhere. If you want complex integration with data sources (ala Visio's SQL Server integration for shape metadata), OmniGraffle also falls short — but those scenarios are few and far between in my experience.
Here’s the proofread version: Sketch is a simple and lightweight tool for vector graphics, ideal for individuals. I would recommend it to anyone working alone on design tasks such as UI or website design. I have started and completed many projects in Sketch, ranging from simple websites to complex automotive UIs with extensive libraries.
OmniGraffle is fairly simple to use, but the one thing I think it does best is working with curved lines, particularly if you are using some of the available arc templates. Drop an arc onto your page, then tell it the dimensions it needs to be, and viola! Done. Manipulating the arcs is as simple as clicking and dragging offset points.
OmniGraffle has also done an excellent job in stirring up the creative minds of many people who create templates and tools to work with OmniGraffle (not that Microsoft hasn't done so either), and managed to get the bulk of those into well organized repositories.
What it all boils down to for me is: it just works. One doesn't need to have a computer science degree to work with it either. It is as simple or complex as you want it to be.
Sketch is great for drawing and creating shapes, like buttons or icons. It lets you adjust every curve and line perfectly, so you can make your designs look exactly how you want. (All design tools can do that, though).
Sketch is built just for Apple computers, so it runs smoothly and uses all the special Mac features. If you’re already using Apple tools, Sketch feels like a natural fit. (The downside of this is that non-Apple users can't use it.)
If you make something, like a button, and need it in many places, Sketch lets you save it as a "Symbol." You can use it repeatedly, and if you change the Symbol, it updates everywhere automatically. (Figma can do this too.)
I'd love to be able to keep more than one of the different tool tabs open at a time.
The stencils are amazing. Would be great if a whole lot more of the free ones came standard as opposed to having to download them from Graffletopia or other sites.
The software can be buggy right after a release. It appears that they do very little QA testing right after releasing a new version
The software can crash a lot. And when it does, I continuously have issues with it reloading my plugins.
Only available for Mac. If you have a cross platform team, it may not be the best.
Lack of features in the software, so you will have to use plugins for those additional features (Designs system management, accessibility, repository and live collaboration without paying a premium)
Sketch is a core tool for us and the cost to keep it going with our teams is low. It provides a good alternative to other screen design tools for our team members who prefer to use it.
At the end of the day, it's just simple. This goes a long way in design and goes even further when your talking productivity, intuitive design and turnover rate. It's not difficult to figure something out even if it's not something your directly familiar with, i.e. if you want to export in certain file formats or change the size of the canvas, you don't have to delay your end product trying to figure it out. Similar situations took me less than 30 seconds to solve without a Google search. That's Usability.
The support is relatively decent, and they are quick to respond. However, their releases are not great. Sketch could use more robust testing of their software before releases. Over the last four years, I have had many days lost while waiting for Sketch to patch issues with their releases. It's actually a running joke in our office. So, support, good. Releases in the first place? Not great.
While these other tools are great for what they are, OmniGraffle’s solid focus on and support for diagramming makes it our tool of choice for communicating workflows and concept relationships, creating documentation, and creating other diagrams. Its libraries allow us to create designs quickly, and its ease of use enables us to use the tool widely across the company without much time or effort spent on onboarding.
Sketch's approachable UI allowed those using outdated technologies to transition efficiently. Among its peers, Sketch performs comparably with most prototyping tools. It falls behind compared to those that can better handle movement, like InVision Studio, which combines animation and prototyping into a single platform. However, these types of programs have a steep learning curve, whereas Sketch is approachable immediately.
Omnigraffle isn't an expensive software tool, so there isn't really any negative from the perspective of raw cost. Thinking in terms of time spent using it on a project - what you create in omnigraffle will inevitably lead to a dead end. It's useful only as documentation. There are other tools like Sketch that integrate into prototyping software and can create useable visual assets for applications in addition to being able to create wireframes.
Saved time -- Intuitive interface saves us lots of time/money because it is reliable and easy to use. Other programs have caused serious confusion, leading to project delays.
More captivating wireframes -- Stakeholders have been finding it easier to visualize potential “final products” with vector-based Sketch designs. Because of this, we’ve been able to have more targeted, focused discussions that lead to improved final products (with fewer immediate post-launch revisions!).
Increased productivity -- Because Sketch is so easy to use, our designers have had more time to do more work. Rather than finagling difficult tools in previously used products, our designers feel no hesitation with Sketch, and are producing more often and more creatively.
