Introduction
When it comes to creating prototypes, sharing them with a design team, and giving client presentations, InVision is a popular application for doing that. With InVision, you can create interactive prototypes and test them right on your phone.
What Can InVision Do For You?
There are more powerful design tools out there, but InVision really shines when it comes to prototyping and collaboration. It can pull the team together, keep the design consistent, create useful prototypes, and help you craft polished presentations.
The UX/UI Design Process
While UX Designers work with people quite a bit, UI Designers are more on their own. UI Designers focus on the visual aspect, or how the website or app looks and if it does what it is supposed to. The UX Designer hands off the blueprint for the product to the UI Designer who is responsible for the final look of the product. They use software programs like Adobe XD to create websites and applications that are easy and enjoyable to use. The software also helps UI Designers build different levels of prototypes and test them to see how successful they are. The UI Designer is ultimately responsible for upholding the company brand in the design. Finally, XD makes it easy for the design to be passed on to Web Developers and other members of the design team.
What is InVision?
InVision works to support the entire design process from brainstorming, designing, testing, collaborating, and delivering. The application includes Studio, Cloud, Freehand, Craft, and Enterprise. InVision works on both macOS and Windows.
InVision was one of the first applications to offer a collaboration feature, so many designers were used to working in Adobe Photoshop and then uploading their project to InVision to build prototypes and workshop the design. Other programs like Adobe XD and Sketch that can handle the entire process have emerged since, but some UX and UI Designers still prefer to finish the process with InVision.
Essential Features of InVision
There are multiple parts to InVision: Studio, Cloud, Freehand, Specs, DSM, Craft, and Enterprise.
Studio
Studio is InVision’s design tool. It offers vector graphics and pixel-level design. It works with layers and will make changes throughout your design if you crop an image or alter a component. DSM, design system manager, is part of Studio and is a library where you can store your components and control the brand and design style. Studio also offers animation features like transitions and gestures, timeline editing, and the ability to link layers. InVision Studio runs on Mac and Windows systems and has an import Sketch feature.
Cloud
The Cloud tool creates prototypes for testing designs. Not only can you create a prototype on a desktop or laptop, but InVision lets you make and test a mobile version, too. You can try out all of the gestures you want to include and see what the finished product will look and feel like. The prototypes mimic real websites and are great for client presentations.
Freehand
Freehand is InVision’s collaboration tool. It includes a digital whiteboard to use for brainstorming, journey mapping, and feedback. Freehand lets you run real-time collaborative workshops and presentations. The feedback feature includes comments that are tethered to points in the design and is easy to navigate. It also includes a VOIP chat feature.
Craft
Craft is a collection of plugins that let you start a design in Sketch or Photoshop and import it to InVision. Craft includes the following:
- Sync - a feature that lets you schedule uploads so that the team gets them on your schedule
- Prototype - which lets you create clickable prototypes in the design, designate hotspots to link to artboards, and get real-time feedback
- Design System Manager or DSM - that lets you create a library of design elements and styles and save it to the cloud so that the whole team can access it easily
- Data - makes it easy to access and add all kinds of content to the design
- Stock - gives you access to millions of stock images that you can click and drop into the design
Enterprise
Enterprise is a version of InVision for large companies. InVision bills it as a digital customer experience design platform. It includes unlimited collaboration ability, increased security features, and advanced user management tools. Enterprise is a design system made for companies like Spotify, Netflix, and #Slack.
History of InVision
Clark Valberg founded InVision in 2011. Valberg was frustrated by the difficulty of getting design teams together to work, and he commissioned a team to create InVision. It started as a prototyping and collaboration app but was expanded in 2020 to include Freehand and Cloud.
How to Purchase InVision
There are three ways to purchase InVision: free, professional, and enterprise. InVision is free for up to ten users and includes three documents. The Pro package covers up to 15 users and costs $7.95 per user per month. You get unlimited documents and archiving. Enterprise is a company-wide design system with variable pricing.
How to Learn InVision
If you would like to learn how to use software like InVision, Sketch, and Adobe XD in order to switch to a career in UX/UI design, one of the best ways to do that is to sign up for classes. You can choose classes that meet in-person or online to learn design software and other applications. Some people prefer to attend brick-and-mortar sessions when learning new information, but that isn’t always available. Live online classes have a similar set-up with a real-time, remote instructor who can answer questions and take control of your monitor—with permission—to show you how to do things. Training is part or full-time and available weekdays, weeknights, or weekends.
The best way to prepare for a career shift to a field like UX design is to enroll in a bootcamp or certificate program. These are intensive training courses that run from a few weeks to a few months and will cover motion graphics and animation in much more depth than tutorials can. Another plus of training is that you will leave class with a professional-quality sample video portfolio that you can show to prospective employers.
Conclusion
It’s easy to learn UX design and start a new career. Check out Noble Desktop’s UX design classes. Choose between in-person sessions in NYC at Noble’s location or sign up for live online UX design courses and attend from anywhere. Use Noble Desktop’s Classes Near Me to find other UX design bootcamps in your area.