Tag: UI Designer

10 Best Prototyping Tools For UI/UX Designers in 2023

“Design used to be the seasoning you’d sprinkle on for taste; now it’s the flour you need at the start of the recipe”, said John Maeda. And we cannot agree more as we see the impact UX and UI designers make on the world we live in.

As design enthusiasts, we are very proud of your work which is why we understand the importance of creating quality prototypes as a part of the UX development process.

Prototyping is an important stage in the UI/UX design process. It allows designers to create a mock-up of their design ideas and test them out with users before investing time and resources into building a final product. Prototyping is simply the creation of a simulation or a sample version of the final product. It helps designers to put ideas into place and validate them. The clients get a visual overview of the final product, and how it will look and feel. It helps in building a good understanding of what is required by the client, exploring options, and discussing barriers when seeing it visually. Now, a prototyping tool offers a platform for you to experiment, and apply your creative ideas, minimizing the risk and saving on efforts. As the faster you fail, the faster you learn with your mockup. You can iterate and improve the design by collaborating with the stakeholders using a prototype.

How to choose the right prototyping tool?

UX Prototyping Tools: How to Pick the Right One

The right tool for prototyping is very important to put your creativity into a visual presentation. With a plethora of prototyping tools available in the market, it is very important to find the one that gives you the highest flexibility, features, and creative freedom. Since every prototyping tool is different and has its pros and cons, these points will help you choose the right fit for your prototyping needs.

Ease of Use: The easier an app is for using, the more time and effort it saves. Instead of making a task more difficult, a smart prototyping tool will streamline the procedures needed to do it. It should not feel burdensome to use a tool that is meant to ease your effort.
Ease of learning: How suitable is a prototyping tool for your team if it takes a long time to understand it? Compare the time and effort spent on learning a tool because the learning curve should not exceed the usage of the tool. You can also opt for tools offering familiar interfaces. For example, Adobe XD will have a familiar UI if you have used Photoshop or Illustrator. The best way to detect this is by taking trials of the tools you are considering.
Fidelity level: The tool we choose should be based on the fidelity we are aiming for. When you need to quickly present your concept to your clients, low-fidelity prototypes are helpful and when you need a detailed prototype, including animation, interactions, transitions, etc high fidelity is critical. Framer, Origami Studio, Axure are good options in case of high fidelity. For low fidelity, you can try Figma and Sketch.
Ease of sharing: A prototyping tool is meant to encourage a cooperative working environment for all parties involved. Reviewing, providing suggestions, and making modifications, should enable syncing multiple people with one another. For example, prefer a tool that consolidates client feedback like InVision which has the option for commenting on a particular feature (similar to the comment feature in Google Docs)
Usage: Always make sure the tool works with the other tools you use and fits your design process. For instance, the best tool for you would be one that allows collaborating with the team via video call directly from the platform or integrates with another prototyping app or allows easy export of files. However, there is no one tool that will offer you everything that you need which is why it must allow integration with other apps and tools.
Cost: Although it is easy to be charmed with features, consider the cost of the apps. A prototyping tool will be utilized for a longer period of time and by several users, which could be costly for you in the longer run. It will also cost you the effort to learn and bring another prototyping tool into your team’s design process.

There are many different prototyping tools available that cater to the needs of UI/UX designers, each with its own unique features and capabilities. In this blog, we will introduce some of the most popular prototyping tools and discuss their strengths and weaknesses, and suitability for different design needs.

Best Prototyping Tools in 2023

InVision
Figma
AdobeXD
Sketch
UXPin
Framer
Proto.io
Axure
Origami Studio
Fluid UI

InVision

Rating	4.6/5
Best for	Powerful Animation Features
Used By	Uber, Salesforce, Linkedin, Twitter
Promotion	Free Trial and Free Version
Deployment	Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based, Mobile (iPad, iPhone, Android)

InVision is one of the most popular prototyping tools which quickly transforms your designs into clickable prototypes by applying hotspots to wireframes. It offers several well-designed tools, many features like repeatable components that can be changed in the entire site, very handy vector drawing tools, and animation and dynamic visual effect tools. Its project management page makes it simple to put the design elements into a status workflow. You can add features like a to-do column, in progress, review, etc. It establishes a centralized information source for all project participants and stakeholders.

Strengths

It has a straightforward interface that does not require any technical background to understand and work on the tool. You can just click and drag to link static screens and outside URLs.
It makes collaborating and sharing very easy. One can leave comments on specific design elements of the web app in the prototype.
It works very well with other design software meaning you can start in one app and then transfer your design to InVision.

Weaknesses

While it has many useful features and an easy interface, the app can sometimes lag. Plugins with other connected pages and software can slow it down.
It has a limited and basic animation library which means you won’t be able to create an advanced prototype.

Pricing Plans of InVision

Freehand (Free)	$0 upto 3 freehands
Freehand (Pro)	$4 per active user/month billed annually* or $4.95 billed monthly
Freehand (Enterprise)	Custom Plans

Figma

Rating	4.7/5
Best for	Planning and Prototyping
Used By	Zoom, AirBnB, BMW
Promotion	Free Version
Deployment	Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based, Desktop (Mac, Windows), Mobile (iPad, iPhone, Android)

Figma is a cloud-based and on-premise platform that enables businesses to create unique designs, as well as share them with their team. It is an all-in-one tool that makes accessibility and collaboration easy for you. It handles everything – prototyping, wireframing, UI design, collaboration, and handoff. It allows you to turn static design files into interactive prototypes with zero coding requirements. Its intuitive builder allows you to connect various UI elements, and choose your animations and interactions. You can control the appearance of grids, texts, and other elements and view your prototype on your mobile app with Figma.

Strengths

It allows toggling between design and prototype seamlessly. You can make changes in the design mode and those reflect automatically in the prototype.
It allows remote designers to collaborate in real time, inspect the design and make changes. In short, it is exceptional for teams working remotely.

Weaknesses

When working with large files, it can sometimes slow down.
It does not come with an offline mode and needs active internet for using the tool.

Pricing Plans of Figma

Starter	Free for 3 Figma and 3 FigJam files
Figma Professional	$12 per editor/month billed annually or $15 month-to-month
Figma Organization	$45 per editor/month (Annual billing only)

AdobeXD

Rating	4.5/5
Best for	Creating Realistic Prototypes
Used By	Fujitsu, RedHat
Promotion	Free Trial and Free Version
Deployment	Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based, Desktop (Mac, Windows)

Adobe XD is designed for modern UX/UI designers, enabling them to do their work with precise accuracy and effortless ease. It is a powerful prototyping tool that is a household name because of its applications like Photoshop, Lightroom, etc. This tool offers you a vector-based system for creating prototypes and dynamic functionalities like interactions, transitions, etc. Because of the vector-based system, it is easy to scale and resize with AdobeXD without any issues.

It is considered a full stack prototyping tool that lets you design your prototype from scratch, link pages together to create a clickable prototype and easy sharing options.

Adobe XD Design and Prototype Tutorial

Strengths

It is a brilliant choice for both, low and high-fidelity prototypes.
It helps in fast prototype development. It is one of the best tools for making simple demonstration prototypes quickly.
It is easy to link and works well with Adobe software, which is very obvious.

Weaknesses

It is a little tricky to understand its UI even if you have been using other Adobe products. It will take some time for you to learn everything you can do with the tool. This is also because new features are added very frequently (which is a positive side as well).
Limitations on how many people can collaborate and difficult handoff because it does not have a design-to-code export.

Pricing Plans of AdobeXD

Adobe XD	$9.99/month
Creative Cloud All Apps 100GB	$54.99/month

Sketch

Rating	4.6/5
Best for	Prototyping Tool with Vector Editing and Reusable Elements
Used By	JP Morgan, American Express, Alibaba Travels
Promotion	Free Trial
Deployment	Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based, Desktop (Mac)

Sketch is an all-in-one design and prototyping platform that allows designers to create artwork and collaborate with developers for product development. It is one of the oldest UX design platforms and offers support in creating vector-based designs that are clickable. It allows you to create a static design in the canvas using its flexible editing tools and then create a prototype to view the designs. Because it is also vector based it is scalable. It enables the quick creation of low-fidelity prototypes. It also allows copy-pasting reusable elements. It is used by more than one million designers, from individual freelancers to large companies, to create amazing products on a daily basis.

Strengths

Sketch has a complete ecosystem of templates, kits, integrations, and plugins which makes prototyping easy. It also has enough native functionality for performing simple prototype animations.
It is very fast if you just want to make initial designs or simple prototypes.

Weaknesses

It is only available for Apple users.
It doesn’t offer robust functionality which is why a lot of designers prefer to start with Sketch but finish prototyping with some other tool.

Pricing Plans of Sketch

Standard	$9 per Editor, monthly Or $99 per Editor, yearly
Business	$20 per Editor, monthly (paid by annual subscription)

UXPin

Rating	4.2/5
Best for	Building Prototypes that Feel Like the End Product
Used By	Lenovo, Autozone, University of California
Promotion	Free Trial and Free Version
Deployment	Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based, Desktop (Mac, Windows), Mobile (Android, iPhone, iPad)

UXPin is the perfect tool for creating interactive prototypes, designing systems, and documenting them. It allows you to create mockups, prototypes, and UX documents and facilitate collaboration. UXPin does not require a long learning process to begin designing. The intuitive and modern editor of this app allows users to quickly design an ideal experience, from beginning to end, without ever needing to leave.

Being a full-stack UX platform, it supports end-to-end design processes and helps in creating high-fidelity prototypes bridging the gap between design and development. For example, its new technology Merge allows you to create a fully interactive prototype with production-ready code components. It also offers you to add elaborated animations and conditional interactions adding logic to the design.

Strengths

It has built-in interactivity which means you don’t need to link static artboards to interactions. It makes it seem like you are interacting with a real product.
It simplifies the handoff process. Developers can take code from UXpin and use it in their development.

Weaknesses

Sometimes the tool might seem a little overwhelming because of too many features.
High price with a short trial period.

Pricing Plans of UXPin

Advanced	$39 per editor/month, billed monthly or $29 per editor/month billed yearly
Professional	$83 per editor/month, billed monthly or $69 per editor/month billed yearly
Company	$149 per editor/month, billed monthly or $119 per editor/month billed yearly
Enterprise Merge	Custom Plans

Framer

Rating	4.6/5
Best for	Rich Interactive Prototyping
Used By	Facebook, Twitter, DropBox, Groupon
Promotion	Free Version
Deployment	Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based

Framer is a powerful tool used by mobile designers to design layouts, add components, and create interactive prototypes. Framer allows you to build realistic animations from the ground up, or you can take advantage of the available resources in the community to find elements that suit your prototype. This solution facilitates the editing of your HTML and CSS, allowing for optimal customization of your UI and UX.

Framer offers smooth team collaboration and high-fidelity interactive prototypes. You can create completely functional prototypes by using the pre-made components and building animations and transitions. It has rich tools and features like adaptive layouts, and fully customizable interactive components that help in building rich layouts. You also get access to thousands of resources in the Framer X store where you find live maps, media players, UI kits, etc.

Strengths

The work done on Framer can be used by developers for developing the final product as it gets exported as React code.
Even though it offers code to be used by developers, it does not requires coding knowledge for anyone to use Framer.

Weaknesses

It is relatively very new which makes it difficult to completely judge it and trust it.
It is known to be difficult to learn ( their redesign is intended to fix this problem, though).

Pricing Plans of Framer

Free	₹0 per month per site
Mini	₹290 per month per site (Yearly)
Basic	₹520 per month per site (Yearly)
Pro	₹920 per month per site (Yearly)

Proto.io

Rating	4.4/5
Best for	Prototyping Tool With a Huge Asset Library
Used By	Amazon, Paypal, Ideo, and Showtime
Promotion	Free Trial and Free Version
Deployment	Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based, Mobile (Android, iPhone, iPad)

Proto.io is an excellent browser-based prototyping tool used by many professionals. Designers, entrepreneurs, and developers can make interactive and accurate prototypes of websites or apps by using this powerful tool.

Proto.io has a very intuitive drag-and-drop interface. It has hundreds of ready-made components and templates, which lets you quickly create low-fidelity prototypes. You get an extensive UI library for basic UI elements, can polish your prototype using the 6000+ ready-to-use digital assets and animations and offers seamless audio-video integrations.

UI Design Prototype with Proto.io

Strengths

You can convert your low-fidelity prototype into high-fidelity realistic prototypes.
It allows you to import existing wireframes from AdobeXD, Figma, Photoshop, and Sketch.
It allows easy sharing with anyone by copy-pasting links.

Weaknesses

It has a bit of a learning curve because of its rich features.
Performance gets a little slow sometimes and it becomes harder to drag and drop assets.

Pricing Plans of Proto.io

Freelancer	$29 Per month, paid monthly or $24 Per month, paid annually
Startup	₹49 Per month, paid monthly or $40 Per month, paid annually
Agency	₹99 Per month, paid monthly or $80 Per month, paid annually
Corporate	₹199 Per month, paid monthly or $160 Per month, paid annually

Axure

Rating	4.4/5
Best for	Drag and Drop Prototyping Tool
Used By	Amazon, Salesforce, BBC, Mircrosoft, Target
Promotion	Free Trial and Free Version
Deployment	Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based, Desktop (Windows, Mac), On-Premise (Windows, Linux), Mobile (Android, iPhone, iPad)

Axure is an all-in-one design tool that can be used to create prototypes, specifications, and diagrams. It is a very intuitive platform and does not require you to know to code. It offers dynamic content for hover functions and unlimited combinations of event triggers and actions for exploring digital experience in the prototype. It enables you to create diagrams, wireframes, customer journeys, and other UX documentation right next to your prototype. You can keep track of notes easily and keep other assets organized and accessible.

Strengths

It offers easy sharing with the team and client. It also offers co-editing capabilities.
It is very fast and allows quick development of wireframes for showing clients.
Adaptive views enable the creation of responsive designs even with complex ideas.

Weaknesses

Quite difficult to learn because of come complicated features like repeater tables.
A little expensive if you need this for a large team.

Pricing Plans of Axure

Axure RP Pro	$ 25 per month per user billed annually or $29 month-to-month
Axure RP Team	$ 42 per month per user billed annually or $49 month-to-month
Axure RP Enterprise	Custom Plans

Origami Studio

Rating	4.8/5
Best for	All-in-one design, animation, and prototyping
Used By	Facebook, Scale, Teknologi.id
Promotion	Completely Free
Deployment	Desktop (Mac), Mobile (iPhone, iPad)

Origami Studio is an absolutely Free design tool created by Facebook for designers who need advanced systems. Using it, designers can quickly create and share interactive designs. Origami Studio can be used to quickly prototype your design concepts, allowing you to gather user opinions before investing in a full-blown code version. The Patch editor feature of Origami Studio allows you to build logic, animations, interactions, and behaviors quickly. It also has a huge library with several pre-built options. You can quickly export prototype parts for designers to copy and paste code into the project. Origami Live is another powerful feature that enables easy and faster sharing for reviewing.

Strengths

It is compatible with Figma and Sketch which enables the creation of high-fidelity prototypes.
Using Origami Live, you can view mockups in real-time on your mobile.

Weaknesses

It has a bit of a learning curve.
It lacks collaboration features like commenting and viewing version histories.

Pricing Plans of Origami Studio

It is completely FREE.

Fluid UI

Rating	4.2/5
Best for	Rapid Prototyping
Used By	eBay, Dell, Linkedin, Google, Salesforce Oracle
Promotion	Free Trial and Free Version
Deployment	Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based, Desktop (Mac, Windows), Mobile (Android, iPhone, iPad)

Fluid UI is a great tool for designing prototypes, wireframes, and mockups with the help of real-time collaboration. This tool has one of the simplest and easy to use interfaces for rapid prototyping. It allows the creation of prototypes within minutes with over 2000 ready-to-use components with libraries for wireframing, material design, easy animations, and real-time collaboration. You can also upload your existing assets. You can also add mouse and touch gestures, and unique animations. When it comes to collaborating, it gives you features like video presentations, live video calling, built-in commenting, etc.

Learn how to prototype interactive apps using FluidUI

Strengths

Comprehensive pre-built drag and use UI kits.
You can test your prototype anywhere on a tablet, or mobile with the free player app.
You will not have to worry about choosing a target monitor resolution.

Weaknesses

Difficult positioning. You might end up moving an object you did not want to.
Comes with a learning curve as a lot of features are not intuitive.

Pricing Plans of Fluid UI

Solo	$8.25/month or $99/year
Pro	$19.08/month or $229/year
Team	$41.58/month or $499/year

Conclusion

Prototyping tools are essential for UI/UX designers to create and test their designs before they are built. They allow designers to quickly and easily create interactive prototypes that simulate the final product, allowing for better communication with clients and stakeholders and more efficient iteration of design ideas.

While the above-listed prototyping tools are amazing and will help you create working prototypes for your projects, there is one that will suit your needs better than the rest. Choosing a prototyping tool will highly depend on the goals you are trying to achieve, the team you are working with, and their skills as well as the type of project they are working on. For example, if you are comfortable working with codes Axure is a good choice. When you need regular handoffs, Framer and UXpin are better options. For a polished prototype go for Origami and if you spend a lot of time in wireframes, Figma, AdobeXD, and Sketch are the ones for you. Regardless of the tool chosen, however, prototyping is an invaluable tool for improving the design process and creating more effective and user-friendly products.

FAQs

What is a prototyping tool?

A prototyping tool is a software application that allows UI/UX designers to create interactive prototypes of their designs. These prototypes can be used to test and demonstrate design concepts, gather feedback, and communicate ideas to clients and stakeholders.

What are some top prototyping tools to use in 2023?

Some of the top prototyping tools to use in 2023 include InVision, Figma, Adobe XD, Sketch, and UXPin.

Which is the easiest prototyping tool?

Framer is considered to be the easiest prototyping tool.

How do prototyping tools benefit UI/UX designers?

Prototyping tools allow designers to quickly and easily create interactive prototypes of their designs, which can save time and resources during the design process. Prototypes also enable designers to test and gather feedback on their designs before they are built, which can help identify and fix problems early on.

Is it necessary for a UI/UX designer to use a prototyping tool?

While it is not strictly necessary for a designer to use a prototyping tool, it can be extremely beneficial in the design process. Prototyping tools allow designers to create realistic and interactive simulations of their designs, which can be very helpful for testing, demonstrating, and gathering feedback on their work.

Can prototyping tools be used for design projects of any size?

Yes, prototyping tools can be used for design projects of any size. From small websites to large-scale applications, prototyping tools can help designers create and test their designs efficiently.

Which is the most basic type of prototype?

The most basic type of prototype is a low-fidelity prototype, also known as a “lo-fi” prototype. Low-fidelity prototypes are typically rough, simplified versions of a design that are used to test and demonstrate basic concepts.

Where are prototypes used?

Prototypes are used in the design and development process to test and demonstrate design concepts. They can be used in a variety of settings, including in-house by designers and developers, with clients and stakeholders, and with end users.

January 9, 2023

Top 10 Digital Skills That Are in Huge Demand

In a world that revolves around the internet, learning on-demand digital skills is very important.

The advancements in technology are taking away jobs from the people but, at the same time, it is creating new jobs as well.

If you understand what services people would need in the future and start working on them from today you could earn a lot of money.

You need to understand the world is rapidly evolving and to survive here, you need to continuously upgrade yourself.

Without further ado, here are the top 10 on-demand digital skills that you can start learning today.

Data Science
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Machine Learning
Cloud Computing
Mobile App Development
Ul Design
UX Design
Graphic Designing
Social Media Marketing
Copywriting

1. Data Science

Data is the most valuable asset of any company.

Every other company needs to analyze its customer information and market conditions along with a detailed study of its competitors.

Of course, the companies also need to analyze their revenue, profits, capital appreciation, market capitalization, number of investors, total assets and liabilities, and much more.

It is estimated that by 2025 the global data volume will touch 180 Zetta bytes, 572 Zetta bytes by 2030, and it may even go up to 5,00,000 Zetta bytes by 2050.

As you can guess, all this data is extremely big. All companies need someone who can analyze this humongous data, find recurring patterns and provide insights that help the company grow.

This is where a data scientist comes in.

Data science in simple words is applying advanced analytics techniques and scientific principles to extract information from data.

The valuable information extracted from the data is further used to improve business efficiency, find new business opportunities, improve the product or service, increase sales and ultimately boost revenue.

According to Payscale, the average salary of a data scientist in India is 8,73,310 a year.

What Does a Data Scientist Do?

Improve the quality of the data using machine learning techniques and identify patterns and trends.
Validate the data to ensure accuracy, completeness, and uniformity.
Create algorithms and data models that can find valuable information from the data.
Integrate data tools such as Python, R, SAS, or SQL in data analysis.
Find solutions and hidden opportunities from the data.

Skills Required to Become a Data Scientist:

Expertise in programming languages like Python, R Programming, SQL, and Scala.
Strong command of statistics and mathematics (Linear algebra and matrix, statistics, geometry, calculus, probability, regression, dimensionality reduction, and vector models)
Deep understanding of machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Web Scraping.
Data analysis and visualization.
Database management.

2. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

When we hear the word AI we usually think about an army of robots ruling mankind.

We might even think about Siri, Alexa, facial detection, chatbots, self-driving cars, movie recommendations that we get on Netflix, and much more.

Although these applications of Al are very basic. To be very frank, we haven’t scratched the surface of Al.

In the future, AI would be used in almost every sector like finance, healthcare, transportation, retail and e-commerce, advertising, entertainment, and gaming.

This means that every other company would be looking for professionals who know how to effectively use the power of Al for the growth of their business.

You can work with big companies like Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Adobe, Intel, and many more.

In 2020, LinkedIn listed Al specialist as the top emerging job.

According to Simplilearn, the entry-level annual average AI specialist salary in India is around 8 lakhs.

If you have a higher level of expertise and experience it can go as high as 50 lakhs.

There is a crossover between Al and machine learning. You will get to know more about machine learning next!

What Does an Al Specialist Do?

An Al specialist is responsible for creating machines and software problems that can analyze the data and make human-like decisions.
Use machine learning (ML) and neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) to build creative solutions for business problems.
Create solutions that will streamline tedious or repetitive business tasks.
Convert the machine learning models into application program interfaces (APIs).

Skills Required to Become an Al Specialist:

Proficiency in programming languages like Python, C++, and JavaScript.
Linear Algebra, probability, and statistics.
Bayesian networking (including neural nets).
Cognitive science theory.
Engineering.
Robotics.
Physics.

The above graph shows the application areas of AI in an organization in percentage as per the source light-it.net

3. Machine Learning

You must have heard about machine learning a lot of times these days. It is one of the most innovative and rapidly evolving industries that provides lucrative salary packages.

Machine learning can be defined as the subfield of Al where historical data is used by the software applications to produce accurate results and outcomes.

Basically, they are doing the task and learning from their experiences without being explicitly programmed to do so.

Differentiating between illegitimate and legitimate transactions in applications like PayPal and GPay, face detection in images, speech recognition, and medical diagnosis are all popular examples of machine learning.

According to Payscale, the average machine learning salary in India is Rs 686,281 per year, inclusive of bonuses and profit-sharing.

What Does a Machine Learning Engineer Do?

Design self-running software for predictive model automation.
Perform statistical analysis and fine-tune models using test results.
Discover, design, and develop analytical methods to support novel approaches to data and information processing.
Identify differences in data distribution that affect model performance.

Skills Required to Become a Machine Learning Engineer:

Proficiency in programming languages such as Java, R, Python, and C++.
Knowledge of how different machine learning algorithms work.
Data evaluation and modeling.
Advanced understanding of linear algebra, calculus, and bayesian statistics.
Software engineering skills.
Knowledge of computer architecture.

The above graph shows the leading areas of machine learning adoption by organizations in percentage from source 99firms.com

4. Cloud Computing

More and more companies are moving towards cloud solutions.

It is estimated that by 2025, the cloud will store over 100 zettabytes of data in it.

In simple words, cloud computing can be defined as the storing and accessing of data and computing services such as servers, data storage, networking, and databases over the internet (cloud).

According to Ambitionbox, the average annual salary of cloud engineers in India is Rs 5.4 Lakhs. This number is based on 7.7k salaries received from cloud engineers.

What Does a Cloud Engineer Do?

Build and maintain cloud infrastructure.
Monitor cloud infrastructure components like networking and security services.
Migrate databases of the companies to the cloud.
Design cloud solutions for clients.
Manage software and hardware associated with the use of cloud computing.

Skills Required to Become Cloud Engineer:

Knowledge of programming languages such as SQL, Java, Python, Ruby, .NET, Golang, and PHP.
Cloud database management skills.
Understanding of DevOps practices.
Knowledge of open standards, such as XML (Extensible Markup Language), SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), WSDL (Web Services Description Language), and UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration)
Linux.

5. Mobile App Development

In 2022, the total number of mobile users in the world is estimated to be 6.6 billion.

By 2023, mobile apps are expected to generate a revenue of $935 billion.

49% of people open an app 11+ times each day.

All these stats show us that if a company wants to succeed they need to develop its own apps.

This means that companies would be actively looking for mobile app developers.

If you know how to develop an awesome app you can earn a lot of money.

What Does a Mobile App Developer Do?

Understand what are the objectives of the brand and how it aligns with the customer needs.
Develop application programming interfaces (APIs) to support mobile functionality.
Create, program, and test the app on all mobile platform devices like smartphones and tablets.
Coordinate with the UI/UX designers.
Ensure all the things are functioning properly both in the front end and back end.

Skills Required to Become a Mobile App Developer:

Proficiency in Java, Kotlin, React.js, and Objective-C.
Knowledge of Syntax.
Understanding of Ul/UX design.
Angular.
Cross-platform application development.
Expertise in using GIT.

6. Ul Design

User Design (UI) refers to the visually appealing elements on the website or app like buttons, toggles, icons, images, colours, typography, and animations.

Ul designers are in high demand since every other company wants an attractive and convenient interface for their website or app.

What Does a UI Designer Do?

Design all the screens through which a user will move. Add buttons, icons, images, and animations.
Decide which fonts and colours to use.
Understand human behaviour and make an intuitive interface that is easy on the eye and simple to use.

Skills Required to Become a UI Designer:

Ability to solve problems with innovative solutions.
Desire to push the boundaries of design.
Attention to detail.
Understanding the impact of colours, fonts, and design elements on human psychology.
Knowledge of design principles.
Expertise in using design tools like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Figma, Sketch, and Proto.io.

8. UX Design

A User experience (UX) is concerned with enhancing the personal experience a user will get through while interacting with your app or website.

Think of the last time when you were using an app to book a movie ticket or while you were browsing through the website.

Did you find it easy to navigate?

Was the experience of using the app smooth?

The UX designer is concerned with all of these interactions.

The demand for UX designers is rapidly increasing.

In 2020, LinkedIn ranked UX design as one of the top 5 in-demand skills.

On the other hand, Glassdoor has ranked the UX designer job at 24th position in their list of the best 50 jobs to have in 2022.

What Does a UX Designer Do?

Identify the goals, behaviour, and pain points of the user.
Understand what problem your brand is trying to solve.
Create flow diagrams, prototypes, and wireframing to help the client understand what the final product will look like.
Conduct A/B tests, polls, surveys, and usability tests to improve the user experience.

Skills Required to Become a UX Designer:

Wireframing and prototyping.
User testing.
UX writing.
User empathy.
Understand how users will interact with your design.

Key Differences Between UI and UX:

A lot of people get confused between UI and UX. Although both of them are different things. Both UI and UX designers play a very important role in product development.

UI Designer	UX Designer
A UI designer focuses on the graphical portions of mobile apps and websites	The UX designer focuses on the experience a user has with a product
Let’s take an example of a hotel booking app. The beautiful fonts, buttons, images, and fonts that you see in the app are UI	The loading speed of the app and the total number of clicks that you take to search, analyze and book a hotel on a hotel booking app is UX

8. Graphic Designing

Every other company is looking for innovative graphic designers who can visually communicate their brand message, increase brand visibility, build credibility, turn leads into customers and ultimately increase the conversion rate.

What Does a Graphic Designer Do?

Develop the overall layout and production design for books, advertisements, brochures, magazines, etc.
Build brand identity by designing logos and selecting the right color palettes and typography.
Develop an attractive packaging of a product.
Understand the brand message and the psychology of the target audience.

Skills Required to Become a Graphic Designer:

Expertise in using Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign.
Audience targeting.
Understanding of how UI and UX design work.
Creativity and ideation.
Understanding of colour theory and typography.‌

The above graph shows an estimated hourly salary of a graphic designer based on their skill level in Dollars

9. Social Media Marketing

I don’t have to explain to you the importance and craze of social media in today’s world.

A single notification from Instagram will disturb our whole working schedule.

Previously, it was used to communicate with our family and friends.

But, now social media can influence our decisions and change our behavioural patterns.

Companies use social media to increase brand awareness, generate leads, and increase sales.

Companies regularly need social media marketers who can utilize the power of social media and help them increase their sales.

Understand the interests, goals, professions, and demographics of the target audience and create social media posts that resonate with them.
Analyze the social media metrics.
Stay up-to-date with social media trends and best practices.
Engage with the users on social media.
Use social listening tools to understand what people are saying about the company on social media.
Create ads that generate leads and increase sales.

Passion for storytelling.
Understanding of statistics and analytics.
A knack for building strong relationships.
Knowledge of colour theory and typography.
Expertise in using Facebook Ads.

10. Copywriting

Copywriting is the process of crafting persuasive messages for ads, marketing materials, and websites that inspire people to take action.

If you master the art of copywriting you will definitely earn a lot of money.

Many people don’t understand the potential of this field.

But, let me tell you that every business on this planet needs a good copywriter.

Why?

Because every business needs someone who can use words that piques curiosity, connect emotionally, and increase sales.

Difference Between Copywriting and Content Writing:

Now, a lot of people get confused between copywriting and content writing.

Although these two fields are completely different, both of them are very important for the functioning of the business.

Copywriting	Content Writing
The sole purpose of copywriting is to inspire people to take an action like signing up for an email, calling a number, or buying a product.	The purpose of content writing is to inform or entertain the readers.
Copywriting is used in advertising.	A content writer writes blogs, social media posts, scripts for videos, whitepapers, etc.
Copywriters help companies to generate leads and increase sales from the trust built by content writers. Hence, they earn a lot more than content writers.	A content writer builds trust for the Copywriters to work upon.

What Does a Copywriter Do?

Brainstorm ideas for marketing campaigns.
Pitch marketing ideas to clients.
Conduct market research and understand the psychology and behavioural pattern of the target audience.
Research about the product and competitors.
Write advertisements, slogans, emails, sales letters, speeches, billboards and posters copy, etc.
Analyze campaign results.

Skills Required to Become a Copywriter:

Stellar research skills.
Ability to write with empathy.
Storytelling.
Desire to write something new.
Understanding of human psychology.
Command on sentence structure, grammar, and vocabulary.

Conclusion

Learning any of these on-demand digital skills will ensure you a bright future and with a good experience, you will get a high salary as well.

Since all of these skills have a huge demand in the future; building a career in these fields will always be fruitful for you.

Now, it’s not necessary that you have to choose skills from this list only. There are tons of other digital skills that we have not mentioned in this article.

So, research more about them and find the skill which you find interesting.

Do courses online and find internships. You can even learn more than 1 skill as well.

FAQs

What digital marketing skills are in demand?

Digital marketing skills that are in demand are Copywriting, Social media marketing, Paid advertising, Search engine optimization (SEO), Search engine marketing (SEM), and Content marketing.

Which skill is best for the future?

The skills that will have huge demand in the future are Artificial intelligence (AI), Mobile app development, Cloud computing, Blockchain, Data Science, UI/UX design, etc.

Which skill makes the most money?

Some of the high-paying skills are project management, mobile application development, cloud computing, etc.

What are the 6 basic skills in developing digital skills?

Six basic skills in developing digital skills are information fluency, collaboration fluency, solution fluency, media fluency, creativity fluency, and digital ethics.

September 29, 2022