UXPin offers a robust set of features designed to enhance every stage of the design process, from initial concepts to final handoff. This post will explore how UXPin helps teams collaborate effectively, preview designs, and gather all necessary specifications.
If you want to try design handoff, create a UXPin account or log into it if you already have one. Below, you can find a video explainer of the things we’ll talk about.
How to Get Specs and Collaborate on Prototypes in UXPin
UXPin has four modes that help designers preview and share their work as well as handoff the design to development.
- Preview mode allows you to bring your interactions and animations to life and see how they work on different devices.
- Comment mode is perfect for gathering feedback and collaborating with your team and stakeholders.
- Spec mode provides detailed technical information, making it ideal for developer handoff.
- Documentation mode ensures that all additional details and explanations are available for a smooth development process.
1. Seeing your design in action: Simulate and Preview Modes
Preview Mode in UXPin provides a comprehensive environment for reviewing your designs and ensuring they look and function as intended. When you enter the Preview mode, you’ll find four different modes to help you navigate and interact with your design:
- Simulate Mode: This mode is where your interactions come to life. Any interactions or animations you’ve created in the UXPin editor will function exactly as they would in a live environment, allowing you to test and experience the user flow in real-time. Additionally, you can switch between different devices to see how your design adapts to various screen sizes, ensuring a responsive design.
- Shareable Previews: UXPin makes it easy to share your prototype with stakeholders by generating a preview link that takes them directly to Simulate mode. Stakeholders can then view and interact with the design, providing valuable feedback without needing to leave the browser.
2. Sharing Feedback: Comment Mode
Comment Mode in UXPin is designed to facilitate seamless collaboration between team members and stakeholders. Here’s how it enhances feedback and communication:
- Adding and Managing Comments: Team members can easily add comments to specific parts of the design to suggest changes or improvements. Comments are color-coded for clarity: green for resolved comments, purple for team comments, and red for public comments.
- Visibility Settings: You can choose to make comments public or restrict them to the team, ensuring that only relevant feedback is visible to stakeholders. This feature is particularly useful for managing internal feedback separately from external input.
- Assigning Comments: Comments can be assigned to specific team members for action, ensuring accountability and that feedback is addressed promptly. You can also filter comments by status (resolved or unresolved), making it easier to track and manage feedback.
3. Getting Technical Specifications: Spec Mode
For a smooth transition from design to development, Spec Mode in UXPin provides detailed technical specifications that developers need to accurately implement the design. This mode includes:
- Automated Redlining: Spec Mode automatically generates redlines that show the spacing and alignment of elements on the page. This feature helps developers understand the exact placement and structure of the design.
- Component Specifications: Clicking on a specific element in Spec Mode reveals its detailed specifications, such as size, color, typography, and even the CSS code. This information is automatically generated by UXPin, making it easier for developers to extract and use in their codebase.
- Style Guide Overview: Spec Mode also provides an overview of all styles used in the design, including colors, typography, and assets. This ensures consistency across the project and helps developers maintain the visual integrity of the design.
4. Documenting Your Design: Documentation Mode
Documentation Mode in UXPin is essential for providing additional context and information about the design. This mode allows designers to add notes, guidelines, and other relevant details that can help developers and stakeholders better understand the design decisions.
- Detailed Documentation: Designers can add descriptions, links, and even code snippets directly in UXPin, which are then accessible through Documentation Mode. This feature reduces the need for external documentation tools and keeps all design information centralized.
- Linking External Resources: If additional documentation is needed, UXPin allows for linking to external resources, such as component libraries hosted in tools like Storybook. This flexibility ensures that all necessary information is easily accessible, enhancing the collaboration between designers and developers.
Conclusion
UXPin provides a comprehensive suite of tools that streamline the design process, enhance collaboration, and ensure a smooth handoff to developers.
With its robust Preview mode, designers can see their interactions and animations in action, while Comment Mode facilitates efficient feedback management. Spec Mode provides all the technical details developers need, and Documentation Mode ensures that all design decisions are well-documented and easily accessible.
By integrating these features into a single platform, UXPin eliminates the need for multiple tools, making the design process more efficient and cohesive. Whether you’re a designer looking to refine your work or a developer preparing for implementation, UXPin offers everything you need to create, share, and execute your designs effectively.
Ready to elevate your design process? Explore how UXPin can help you streamline your workflow and enhance team collaboration today! Try UXPin for free.
