Professionals in all fields have something in common. They are always looking for ways to improve. There is always the desire to do more, do it better, and do it faster. This is true of individual web designers and design agencies as well.
Fortunately, in the area of web design, development, and project management, there is a wealth of tools and resources designed to increase productivity. As you scan this list, you may come across a tool that is exactly what you’ve been looking for, or one that promises to improve your productivity without compromising the quality or your work.
It’s not all about helpful tools either. We kick things off by listing a couple of resources designed to help improve your web building knowledge and skills. The benefits can be huge, in terms of time you save (more free time), the ability to charge more or earn more for what you do, and the opportunity to take on more work and complete it in the same amount of time.
Learning Opportunities
New to UX design? The UDX book is a great resource to turn to if you are searching for a job, or you already have one, and you are looking for ways to get ahead. With over 170 pages of tactical and practical tips, this is a book that is as valuable in your reference library as it is for what you can learn by reading it from cover to cover the first time through.
Book written “for Dummies” are great learning resources, no matter the topic. WordPress Web Design for Dummies is no exception. If you are a WordPress user, here’s your chance to get up to speed on the newest release of this popular design tool.
The tone of the content is helpful and friendly, and there is an abundance of tips and techniques you can take advantage of to take your WordPress skills to the next level.
Freebies
Design Freebies by Visual Hierarchy
Visual Hierarchy has put together a collection of freebies that could, for the lack of a better word, be described as “wild”. If you’re in the market for a free font or two, a store mockup, a business card template, a collection of icons, or something else in their 200+ collection of quality items, pay Visual Hierarchy a visit.
There are those who are only interested on placing what they create on the market, and there are those who simply love to share their creations with others. This sign-in project on Dribbble.com offers a nice selection of iOS app screens, including the tasty looking recipe screen shown here. This selection of quality freebies is well worth a closer look.
Prototyping Tools
Proto.io is a powerful prototyping tool that allows you to build richly-featured, interactive prototypes in minutes, and do so without any need for coding. Proto.io is a collaborating tool as well. It allows you to share your prototype designs with team members, clients, and other stakeholders, and in real time.
This prototyping tool has been used by companies like ESPN and Disney, and it will be a valuable asset for individual designers and design agencies as well.
If you are a PowerPoint user, you’ve come to the right place on this list. Building a desktop or mobile wireframe or mockup involves nothing more than selecting shapes and icons from PowerMockup’s library, and dragging them onto a PowerPoint slide. PowerPoints slideshow and animation capabilities will do the rest.
The library is comprehensive, but you can feel free to add your own shapes and, if you wish, share them with other PowerPoint and PowerMockup users.
Design to Code Services
PSDgator is a proven leader in converting design files into responsive HTML5/CSS3. They can handle your PSD, Sketch, and AI files with ease, and even incorporate any type of Jquery/Javascript or Parallax effects you might have in mind. The simple truth is, in terms of software development, PSDgator can handle a variety of different projects. All you have to do is ask. You’ll more than likely get an affirmative reply.
PSDgator also does WordPress themes, including integrating your existing static websites into WordPress. You’ll find this green gator to be extremely capable of producing quality work.
PSD2HTML® is a front-end web development company that focuses on digital, marketing, and design agencies, being their on-demand partner. PSD2HTML® has been providing front-end development services for more than 11 years now and have gained a great team of 472 professionals.
The quality of the code they deliver is top-notch, and you can expect nothing but the best in the way PSD2HTML® attends to your needs.
PSD to HTML, Email, Bootstrap, or CMS, or Sketch to HTML. The Site Slinger rocks! If you need professional coding, and you need it quickly, The Site Slinger can be an invaluable resource.
This development team is flat-out results oriented, all that is required from you is to get in touch, and submit your design. The Site Slinger will take care of the rest. It’s that simple. Depending on the type of conversion you need, you’ll receive the finished product in one to five days.
Multipurpose WordPress Themes
With its more than 210 pre-built websites to choose from to get your next project off to a rousing start, and with the 40 core features that enable you to produce a quality website in nothing flat, Be Theme is an excellent choice.
With its large selection of pre-built websites, core features, and huge user base, this multipurpose theme is, without a doubt, the biggest WordPress theme ever – and it’s ridiculously easy to use.
If how well a WordPress theme sells is an indication of its value as a web-building tool, X Theme has to rank at or near the top. X is ThemeForest’s fastest selling theme of all time, due in part to Cornerstone, one of the most innovative front-end page-building tools ever to hit the market.
With X Theme, you can expect world-class support 24/7/365, and be a part of the large and enthusiastic X and Cornerstone user community.
eCommerce WordPress Themes
Shopkeeper is another ThemeForest top seller. If you have an eCommerce store in mind, and you want to offer nothing but the best UX, this should be a top pick by any measure. This WordPress theme was designed with WooCommerce in mind. It’s easy to use, the eCommerce features are hassle-free, and the level of support you will receive is outstanding.
Of special note: Shopkeeper’s blog masonry layout is something to behold!
XStore is charming, aesthetically minimal, and absolutely appealing. A quick look at their website demo template should be enough to convince you that this is the tool you need to build an online store that rocks. The special effects are widely used, but tastefully so and not overpowering.
The message is simple. This eCommerce WordPress theme is a great investment.
Website Builders and Platforms
Webydo offers a built-in CMS, advanced SEO capabilities, white label branding, web hosting and client billing, among other business-oriented features to help you grow your design operation.
With the ability to control every aspect of a client’s project from start to finish, Webydo is an excellent investment for designers and web agencies looking to speed up their design process with 100% creative freedom.
The barriers encountered with the inflexibility of DIY website builders and the cost racked up by custom development don’t exist with Webydo. Everything you need to create a website for any type of client is on the platform and easy to fit into your pre-existing workflow.
XPRS is now IM Creator’s main product. The drag and drop builders of the past, while effective, have given way to a brand new Lego-like building block approach using Polydoms.
The driving force behind the development of this new product was the intent to help designers and their clients grow their businesses. The Polydom approach produces responsive sites that will rank highly on Google, resulting in more leads and greater sales. With their popular white label package you can get an unlimited amount of licenses for your clients for just $350/year.
There’s another benefit worth mentioning. If you’ve ever enjoyed playing with Lego blocks, you’ll love working with XPRS.
WordPress Plugins
Even if you enjoy working with numbers, putting together large tables and charts while working with a WordPress theme can sometimes be a pain. It’s even worse when your client expects the format to be responsive and interactive, and needs to have the end product delivered yesterday!
wpDataTables is a WordPress plugin than makes creating interactive/responsive tables and charts a snap; even when a huge amount of data is concerned. In brief, wpDataTables can make your work a whole lot easier.
The website you are ready to deliver may appear to be your best effort ever, and certain to please your client. The UX it provides may not be as good as it should be however. The problem? – a need for performance optimization, including page speed.
Put this WordPress plugin into play, and what you’ll get in return is improved server performance, reduced download times and transparent CDN integration.
Stock Images
PhotoSpin Royalty Free Stock Images and Subscriptions
PhotoSpin.com offers millions of nicely-categorized images. They come in a variety of sizes, up to 17 inches long, are affordably priced (by size), and can be purchased separately or by subscription.
You’ll find only high-quality, high-resolution photos at PhotoSpin, and the same is true for the huge number of illustrations, icons, and fonts they have in stock. If the idea of having millions of possibilities to work with appeals to you, give this stock image service a try. Subscribe now and save 20% on annual subscriptions. Promo code: BAW20
Stockfresh is another stock image resource that gives you millions of choices to select from. Stockfresh has been a popular source of images for designers for a long time.
Their prices are quite affordable, and you can sign up for free to browse the inventory or check out one or more of their most popular categories. Subscription plans include daily subscriptions, monthly packs, and pay-as-you-go credits.
Collaboration and Task Management
InVision revolutionizes the way teams design digital products, by allowing designers to build prototypes that look, feel, and act like a real application; all without a single line of code. With InVision, team members collaborate on prototypes earlier for more contextual feedback, leading to smarter, user-approved products. Get your free Enterprise trial here.
Your design tools may give you everything you need to build the perfect prototype, website, or app. What is lacking however is an efficient and effective way to collaborate and track the status of large, complex, or team projects. Azendoo enables design and creative teams to review and provide feedback in real time, track progress, and share documentation. With Azendoo, you can stop worrying about how to get things done, and focus on design instead.
UX and UI
At Loop11, there’s no need to choose between big data or user playback. You’ll find both in one powerful tool. Loop11 offers the fastest way to perform UX testing on your website.
Run hundreds of users through each test then analyze task success rates, survey responses, clickstreams and heatmaps. You can then drill down to individual users, finding out why they are having trouble, watching videos of them navigating through your product.
Google Content Experiments is another testing platform you will find useful for conducting A/B tests. This free testing framework is integrated into Google Analytics. It enables you to interpret the impact of almost any change to a website or app, and thereby helps you to work towards optimizing to a specific goal.
Visit the Google Experiments, Articles, and Solutions web page to learn more about advanced features and implementation considerations for this useful tool.
Other Useful Tools
To see what Coolers can do for you, all you need to do is visit the website, click on the “Start the Generator” button, and begin creating your own color schemes. Working with the Generator is straightforward and intuitive, but there is a tutorial you can view to get the big picture.
Cooler does what many color generating schemes cannot do. You can “precisely” produce the color or colors you want.
Fontea is a Photoshop plugin (soon to be available for Sketch) that will give you access to 700 Google fonts. Choose from serif, sans serif, display, handwriting, or monospace categories; or select all categories. The nicest thing about this plugin is that you no longer have to leave Photoshop to search for the font you want to use. It’s simple. Try a font. If it isn’t exactly what you want, try another.
Summing up
Even if you feel you have all the web-building tools and resources you need at your disposal, chances are there is something here that you can either put to good use, or will give your productivity a definite boost.
The tools and resources contained in this list are among the most useful you’ll find anywhere. Whether they come at a price, or can be yours for free, each one is a quality offering. Do you already have a favorite you believe should be included in the list? Let us know!
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