1. Home
  2. Prototyping Tools
  3. Adobe XD Reviews
  4. User Review of Adobe XD
Application mockups made easy. REALLY easy.
November 26, 2018

Application mockups made easy. REALLY easy.

D Walwyn | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Adobe XD

Adobe XD is used to create mock ups of software before being sent to our application development team. The applications are typically simple information and links to resources for nurses and staff in clinical environments. As educators we have found that our internal customers are very receptive to accessing resources via apps on their mobile devices, much more so than on a designated work computer. XD has been integral to our development of this.
  • User friendly, dissimilar to many adobe products that have a steep learning curve.
  • Simplifies Application development with interactive prototypes.
  • Gives you the ability to create really attractive prototypes and integrates with Photoshop / Illustrator seamlessly.
  • It would be great if the software helped to generate usable code. It does not.
  • Only allows for simple transitions and not many effects.
  • Image editing within the application is limited. Should at least be able to crop images.
  • Positive ROI ... streamlines scope of the application building process.
  • Prevents miscommunication issues between development team and the application requester.
  • Streamlines the aesthetics when the users can create mock-ups of what they are looking for.
Adobe XD is the only wireframing application that we have used here as it came with our creative cloud subscription. After testing it out the software worked great for our needs and I cannot imagine other software that could suit our needs better, unless they included some missing features like effects and a way to export usable code.
Many times in the past the needs of the users weren't necessarily conveyed properly to the application development team which resulted in a lot of unusable work. By having the requester utilize Adobe XD to create a mock up of the software with the intended functionality has been a very successful way of alleviating the aforementioned miscommunication issues.

Using Adobe XD

8 - Primarily we utilize Adobe XD for training staff, often clinical educators to create mock-ups of the designs that they would like to see and then present their content to the application development team. The application team then has a very clear idea and can ask questions about the content to be able to fully and accurately assess the requirements of the project.
In house, Application developers typically support the workflow of Adobe XD to help the users understand what is possible to do with the completed software project and provide ideas as they are not software developers and are not familiar with the process. The Education team who also looks after graphics supports the other components of the software, such as aesthetic design and UI considerations if necessary.
  • Saving developers time from incomplete or changing needs requirements.
  • Preventing scope creep.
  • Reducing the overall cost of application development by having the end users involved in the creation of what they need.
  • To allow users to mock up eLearning ideas.
  • Allowing end users to utlize the software as well as developers.
  • Creating an interactive org chart application.
  • Designing applications for training.
  • Creating mock ups for gamified online Learning.
  • Developing waypoint applications for navigation around facilities.
We utilize many of the applications in the Adobe CC suite and our usage of this application came about simply because it was the one that was already paid for. Bearing that in mind we will definitely be renewing the software upon the expiration of the licensing. I am not sure if this is the solution we would go with were it not already included, we would have to evaluate all other options.

Evaluating Adobe XD and Competitors

  • Price
Because the software was included in another Adobe CC suite that we had already purchased there was no need to 'buy' Adobe XD in a traditional way.
So I guess the decision to purchase Adobe XD was really more assosciated with our decision to proceed with Adobe Captivate, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator etc.
If the software was not included with a pre bundled package we would need to evaluate other software and make selections based on our needs and the features of the other available software. Unfortunately I am not able to speak to this as much as I would had the software not been included in a bundle.

Adobe XD Implementation

Implementation was a snap.
  • Implemented in-house
Change management was minimal - Change management was not needed for this project. It was piloted and worked well enough to proceed.
  • Adoption from the users
  • Adoption from the application development team
  • Training users to use the software.

Adobe XD Support

We have never used support for Adobe XD but I'm sure it would be as good as it is for the other Adobe Products.
ProsCons
None
None
Nope. We have never had to use Adobe support, which speaks to the quality and usability of the product!

Using Adobe XD

Very easy to use even for novice software users. A lot of the functionality is ubiquitous among the different software applications so the learning curve is relatively small. The biggest limitation may be someone's creativity or lack of it. There are some functional limitations but my understanding is that reviews come out fast and furious.
ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Easy to use
Well integrated
Consistent
Quick to learn
Convenient
Feel confident using
Familiar
None
  • Designing software mockups
  • Navigating logically from slide to slide
  • Editing text and where buttons and links lead to.
  • Editing images must be done by switching to photoshop / illustrator.
  • Opening content is sometimes a bit of a pain as you can't just click to open, it needs to be done through the file explorer.
  • Starting from scratch may prove difficult to some users, more templates would be nice.