This document discusses and recommends various UX design tools for improving productivity. It covers tools for usability testing and user research like Silverback App, Morae, and Solidify App. It also discusses mobile usability testing tools like UX Recorder and LookBack. Other sections cover accessibility testing tools like Wave and AChecker. Tools for interdepartmental collaboration that are highlighted include TargetProcess, Balsamiq, Asana, and InVisionApp. The document provides the purposes and benefits of each tool.

1. UX & Design
Tools That Will
Improve Your
Productivity
Jennifer Aldrich
Content Strategist at
Schoolwires
@jma245

2. The Plan
Today we’re going to discuss some killer tools that I hope will
improve your productivity. We’ll cover some of my favorite tools
in the following categories:
• Usability Testing & User Research
• Mobile Usability Testing
• Accessibility Testing
• Interdepartmental Collaboration
• Miscellaneous Tools I Adore

3. Usability Testing & User Research

4. Silverback App
http://www.silverbackapp.com
Great for:
• Moderated usability testing on a Mac
Why it Rocks:
• Records screen
• Displays and records click tracks
• Records tester audio
• Records tester facial video

5. Morae
http://www.techsmith.com/morae.html
Great For:
• Moderated usability testing on a PC
Why It Rocks:
• Records screen
• Records tester audio
• Records tester facial video
• Creates snazzy graphs automatically

6. Solidify App
http://www.solidifyapp.com
Great For:
• Remote Usability Testing
Why it Rocks:
• Mega easy to hotspot a simple prototype
• Task setup
• Click tracking video
• Completion statistics
• Cross device compatibility

7. Survey Monkey
http://www.surveymonkey.com
Great For:
• Remote survey user research & tester recruitment
Why It Rocks:
• Very intuitive easy to use UI
• Easy to export data
• Mega cheap ($26 bucks a month)

8. Mobile Usability Testing

9. UX Recorder
http://www.uxrecorder.com
Great For:
• Mobile website and simple prototype usability testing
Why It Rocks:
• Records Tester Screen, Tester Audio, and Tester Facial video
• Records Tester Audio
• Cheap! $1.99/session or $59 for unlimited sessions, exports
and projects.
• You can run your SolidifyApp simple prototype through it and
get tons of fabulous data.

10. LookBack
http://lookback.io
Great For:
• Recording native iOS app feedback (Android version is in the
works)
Why It Rocks:
• Free while in beta
• You can even add a “Record Feedback Now” link in your live
AppStore App!
• Testers have the option to disable audio and video recording.

11. Paper Prototyping
http://usabilitygeek.com/paper-prototyping-as-a-usability-
testing-technique/
Great For:
• Testing design concepts that are tricky to create in a simple
prototype scenario (like drag and drop).
Why it Rocks:
• MEGA cheap. All you really need is a pencil, some paper, and
a friend to help you record.
• Great for agile environments, you can iterate on the fly.
• If you’re artistically challenged, or just love fab stencil kits, you
will adore UI Stencils.

12. UI Stencils – So Sexy

13. Accessibility Testing

14. “We’re all just temporarily abled.”
– Cindy Li

15. “Angry and drunk people will use
your website.”
– Robin Smail

16. Wave
http://wave.webaim.org/
Great For:
• Checking your site’s accessibility.
Why It Rocks:
• It’s incredibly fast and easy to use, just type in your web
address.
• It’s free, and gives you a detailed summary of items you
should follow up on.

17. AChecker
http://achecker.ca/checker/index.php
Great For:
• Checking your site’s accessibility.
Why It Rocks:
• It’s incredibly fast and easy to use, just type in your web
address.
• It’s free, and gives you a detailed report on items you should
follow up on.

18. Color Oracle
http://www.colororacle.org/
Great For:
• Checking your website for color blindness accessibility.
Why It Rocks:
• It’s a free color blindness simulator.
• It works on PC, Mac and Linux machines.

19. Interdepartmental Collaboration

20. We’re Hiring!
<shameless plug>
Can you picture yourself in that mega epic team photo?
We’re hiring a bunch right this very minute!
http://www.schoolwires.com/careers
</shameless plug>

21. Target Process
http://www.targetprocess.com/
Great For:
• Interdepartmental collaboration and user story and task
organization.
Why It Rocks:
• At a glance you can see the status of any user story or task.
• You can comment on and add files to the tasks as needed.
• It automatically calculates your sprint burn down.
• All team members can see an up to date status on all aspects
of the project at any given moment.

22. Balsamiq
http://www.balsamiq.com
Great For:
• Rapid collaborative wireframing.
Why It Rocks:
• It’s web based, you can access it from anywhere.
• It’s really easy to collaborate remotely as a team using this
tool.
• You can add and respond to comments on individual screens.
• It’s modern and has an incredibly simple UI that makes for
quicker iterations than other bloated wireframing tools.

23. Asana
https://asana.com/
Great For:
• Departmental collaboration, especially if you have remote
employees.
Why It Rocks:
• Great tool for both inhouse and remote worker collaboration.
• Clean UI.
• Team Calendar.
• Fab mobile app.
• Unicorn celebrations.

24. InVisionApp
http://www.invisionapp.com/
Great For:
• Rapid Collaborative Prototyping
Why It Rocks:
• Great tool for both inhouse and remote worker collaboration.
• Collaborative commenting.
• Syncing in Dropbox.
• Mega cool mobile prototypes with gestures.

25. Google Analytics Premium
http://www.google.com/analytics/premium/
KissMetrics
https://www.kissmetrics.com/
MixPanel
https://mixpanel.com/
App Annie
http://appannie.com
Analytics

26. Miscellaneous Tools That Rock
Appcelerator - http://www.appcelerator.com/
MailChimp - http://mailchimp.com
ManageFlitter - http://www.manageflitter.com/
MorgueFile - http://www.morguefile.com/
Pixelmator - http://www.pixelmator.com/
Sketch - http://www.bohemiancoding.com/sketch/

27. Thank you! Questions?
Jennifer Aldrich
http://UserExperienceRocks.co
m
@jma245