2024 UX Tools Survey insights and trends

Published December 2024, 

UX Tools Survey 2024 Results 

The UX Tools Survey 2024 by UXness marks the 4th annual exploration into the evolving landscape of UX tools and practices. This year, we’ve included a special category dedicated to AI and Generative AI (GenAI) tools, reflecting their growing significance in the UX domain. With a focus on uncovering trends that will shape UX tools in 2025, the survey gathered insights from over 150 UX enthusiasts spanning five continents.

Asia and North America emerged as the leading contributors, accounting for over 80% of respondents, with the USA and India being the top participating countries. The survey’s findings offer a comprehensive view of the tools and trends driving innovation and collaboration in UX design and research.

Disclaimer: The UX Tools Survey 2024 is an independent initiative conducted by UXness. Sponsors, partners, and affiliates have no involvement in the design, execution, or analysis of the survey.

TL;DR Highlights

1. Future Trends in 2025 UX Design: AI & Machine Learning (71%), Accessibility & Inclusive Design (55%), Voice User Interfaces (46%), AR & VR (43%).
   
   
2. Key Insights for Improving UX Tools: Balance AI integration, enhance collaboration and feedback mechanisms, focus on advanced prototyping and testing, and unify design systems.
   
   
3. Generative AI Tools: ChatGPT leads the preferences and satisfaction scores with 76%, continuing its dominance for the second consecutive year.
   
   
4. Top Tool Categories: Figma reigns as the leader across multiple categories, including Wireframing & Prototyping, UI Design, Design Handoff, and Digital Whiteboarding Tools (FigJam).
   
   
5. User Research Tools: Google Forms and User Interviews retained their leading positions in 2024.
   
   

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Sponsors & Partners

Insights Partner

     

Tech Partner

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our Tech Partner, Axure, and our Insights Partner, Interaction Design Foundation, for their invaluable support in making this survey a success. Their collaboration reinforces the shared goal of advancing the UX community and providing actionable insights to practitioners worldwide.

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DETAILED INSIGHTS

Participants Demographics

• Roles: 35% UX Designers, 22% UX Researchers etc.
• Experience Levels: 25% have over 10 years of experience, while 32% have 3 to 5 years of experience.
• Company Sizes: 33% of participants work in companies with over 5000 employees.
• Geographical Spread: Respondents from 5 continents, with 43% from Asia and 41% from North America.

2025 UX Tools trends 

Insights to Improve UX Tools 

• Balance AI integration - Ensure that tools prioritize human interaction and thought process over AI integration.
  
  
• Collaboration and feedback mechanisms - Integrate real-time feedback mechanisms to foster team productivity and alignment.
  
  
• Advanced prototyping and testing - Equip tools with advanced prototyping capabilities and built-in user testing features.
  
  
• Accessibility and inclusivity - Embed accessibility checkers and inclusive design libraries within tools.
  
  
• Unified design systems - Maintain centralized design systems that evolve with the latest design patterns and components.
  
  
• Version control and content management - Improve version control features and content management within UX tools.
  
  
• Pricing and security - Consider reducing pricing plans for UX tools and ensure that UX/UI tools are cyber-proof and secure.

Future trends in UX Design 

The UX Tools Survey 2024 by UXness reveals the top three trends shaping user experience design:

• AI and Machine Learning (71%) - Transforming UX with personalized experiences, predictive insights, and automation.
• Accessibility and Inclusive Design (55%) - Prioritizing equitable and human-centered solutions for all users.
• Voice User Interfaces (46%) - Expanding adoption of voice-enabled devices and conversational interactions.

GenAI tools

The UX Tools Survey 2024 also captured preferences for generative AI platforms:

• ChatGPT (77%): The most widely used platform for AI-driven text generation.
• Adobe Firefly (27%): Popular for creative content generation.
• Google Bard (23%): Gaining traction for its conversational AI capabilities.
• MidJourney (17%): Favored for generating visual assets.
• Framer AI (13%): Used for design automation and prototyping.

Satisfaction Levels:

• Average satisfaction score: 3.6 (on a 5-point scale).
• Standard deviation: 0.98.
• 45% of respondents rated their satisfaction as 4 or 5, indicating general contentment with these tools.

Wireframing & Prototyping

The 2024 survey shows the following preferences for wireframing and prototyping tools:

• Figma (72%): The dominant choice for the fourth consecutive year.
• Adobe XD (32%): Another top pick, maintaining its strong position.
• Sketch (16%): Continues to attract a niche but loyal user base.
• Axure RP (15%): Favored for advanced prototyping capabilities.
• Balsamiq (12%): Valued for simplicity and quick mockups.

UI Design

The 2024 survey reveals the following preferences for UI design tools:

• Figma (64%): Continues to dominate as the top choice for the fourth consecutive year.
• Adobe Photoshop (31%): A strong contender, especially for detailed visual design.
• Adobe Illustrator (27%): Popular for vector-based design work.
• Adobe XD (25%): Maintains a significant user base for UI/UX design.
• Framer (16%): Gaining traction for interactive design and prototyping.

Digital Whiteboarding

The 2024 survey highlights the following preferences for digital whiteboarding tools:

• FigJam (54%): The top choice, leading in collaborative brainstorming and ideation.
• Miro (45%): A close contender, valued for its versatility and integrations.
• LucidChart (21%): Favored for diagramming and structured workflows.
• Mural (20%): Popular for team collaboration in remote settings.
• Jamboard (11%): A niche choice for lightweight whiteboarding needs.

Design Handoff

The 2024 survey reveals the following preferences for design handoff tools:

• Figma (61%): The most preferred tool for design-to-development collaboration.
• Jira (24%): Widely used for integrating design workflows with agile project management.
• Zeplin (17%): Favored for detailed design specifications.
• Invision Inspect (12%): A niche choice for design inspection.
• Marvel and Sketch Measure (9.5%): Used by a smaller segment for handoff processes.

User Research

The 2024 survey reveals the following preferences for user research tools:

• Google Forms (58%): The most popular choice for collecting user feedback.
• User Interviews (46%): A top method for conducting qualitative research.
• UserTesting (32%): Popular for usability testing and video-based feedback.
• Survey Monkey (25%): Favored for structured survey creation.
• Typeform (21%): Valued for its user-friendly and interactive survey design.

Behavior Analytics

The 2024 survey reveals the following preferences for behavior analytics tools:

• Google Analytics (50%): The leading choice for tracking and analyzing user behavior.
• Hotjar (20%): Popular for heatmaps, session recordings, and user feedback.
• Visual Website Optimizer (14%): Favored for A/B testing and conversion optimization.
• FullStory (13%): Used for session replay and detailed behavioral insights.
• MixPanel (9%): Valued for event tracking and funnel analysis.

Virtual Collaboration

The 2024 survey reveals the following preferences for virtual collaboration tools:

• Zoom (60%): The most widely used platform for online meetings and collaboration.
• Google Meet (56%): A close contender, valued for its seamless integration with Google Workspace.
• Microsoft Teams (53%): Popular for team communication and integration with Microsoft Office tools.
• Slack (39%): Favored for its flexibility in team messaging and integrations.
• Skype (27%): A niche choice for video conferencing and calls.

Top Choice UX TOOLS 2024 Toolkit

Conclusion

As we look ahead to 2025, the UX landscape promises to be shaped by transformative trends such as AI, inclusivity, and immersive experiences. These findings pave the way for new opportunities to innovate and refine the tools we use daily. Stay tuned for the 5th UX Tools Market Insights 2025 by UXness, where we continue to track the pulse of the UX industry and provide deeper insights into its ever-evolving ecosystem.

Thank you for exploring the UX Tools Survey report (2024). Please share your feedback, comments, suggestions, questions with us at team@uxness.in

Thank you for exploring the UX Tools Survey report (2024). If you find value in the Annual UX Tools Insights 2024-25, support UXness on Buy Me a Coffee to help us continue bringing impactful UX research and insights! 

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Best UX tools for UX Researchers

Updated on 5 Feb 2025  

Life of a UX researcher can be very challenging as UX research is a team sport. As a UX researcher, you need to have a great level of communication, engagement, multi tasking and work management skills. A typical day of a UX researcher can be very uncertain and have lots more surprises such as changes in the priority, pivoting the plans, cross functional team stakeholders engagements, planning the studies, running, analysis, reporting, readout, retrospection and sometimes helping the fellow research folks, a lot in a single day. Thanks to some amazing and helpful tools which can help make your life easier and systematic. 

UX Tools Market Insights by UXness - User research 

The 2024 survey reveals the following preferences for user research tools:

• Google Forms (58%): The most popular choice for collecting user feedback.
• User Interviews (46%): A top method for conducting qualitative research.
• UserTesting (32%): Popular for usability testing and video-based feedback.
• Survey Monkey (25%): Favored for structured survey creation.
• Typeform (21%): Valued for its user-friendly and interactive survey design.

Check UX Tools Market Trends Insights 2025

User Research tools

UserZoom (now UserTesting)

Check UserZoom> 

MeasuringU MUIQ 

Check MUIQ> 

Maze 

Check Maze > 

UXArmy

UXArmy is the go-to platform for teams to validate product ideas, innovate faster, and align with customer needs. With expert-level testing tools across websites, mobile apps, and prototypes, it enables you to gather quality insights seamlessly. Whether through unmoderated usability tests, user interviews, focus groups, surveys, card sorting or tree testing Tailored for product, marketing, and research teams, UXArmy gives your team the ability to test, analyze, and make collaborative, evidence-driven decisions—without the complex setup.

Check UXArmy >

Other tools: UXTesting, Zoom, SurveyMonkey, Typeform, Dscout, OptimalWorkshop  

Session schedule management

Managing the participants schedules & sessions can be a challenging task when you are involved in multiple studies or targeting multiple personas. Below tools can be helpful to make these tasks easier:

Calendly

Check Calendly> 

More: Airtable 

Recruitment management 

UserInterviews 

Check UserInterviews>

More: Respondent.io

DISCLOSURE: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning when you click the links and make a purchase, we receive a commission.

Data analysis 

Miro

Check Miro>

Dovetail 

Check Dovetail>

More:, Reframer, Reduct.video

Agile & development sync

Jira

Check Jira>

More: Sharepoint, Confluence

UX Analytics tools

Google Analytics 

Check Google Analytics>

Qualtrics

Check Qualtrics

More: Hotjar, Mouseflow ,ContentsSquare (previously Clicktale) 

Check UX Tools catalog >>

Useful resources:

https://www.userinterviews.com/ux-research-field-guide-chapter/user-research-tools

Check UX Tools catalog >>

Further readings

Upcoming UX Conferences to attend in 2025

Top Online Platforms to Learn UX & UI Design

How to Use AI logo creator to Create Custom Logo

10 Heuristic Principles – Jakob Nielsen’s (Usability Heuristics)

Design Thinking Workshops: Tips for Facilitators and Participants

Design Thinking Workshop - Complete Guide 

7 principles of UX design for innovative AI solutions 

The Gestalt Principles - IxDF

10 Heuristic Principles – Jakob Nielsen’s (Usability Heuristics)

Updated: 10 Jan 2025

What are Nielsen's heuristic principles?

Heuristic Evaluation is a usability inspection method for computer software that helps to identify usability problems in the user interface (UI) design. It specifically involves evaluators examining the interface and judging its compliance with recognized usability principles (the "heuristics").

Jakob Nielsen's heuristics are probably the most-used usability heuristics for user interface design. Nielsen developed the heuristics based on work together with Rolf Molich in 1990. The final set of heuristics that are still used today were released by Nielsen in 1994. Also known as Usability Heuristics, Nielsen heuristics. 

Why are Heuristic Principles Important?

Heuristic principles are important because they provide a quick and effective way to identify and fix usability issues early in the design process, saving time and resources. They ensure consistency, reducing cognitive load and helping users navigate systems more efficiently. Additionally, they focus on user needs, enhancing satisfaction and engagement, which are critical for the success of any product.

In summary, heuristic principles are foundational tools that enhance usability, consistency, and user satisfaction, making them indispensable in the field of user experience design.

What are the 10 usability heuristics for user interface design?

1. Visibility of System Status: Keep users informed about system status with timely feedback.
2. Match Between System and the Real World: Use familiar language and concepts for users.
3. User Control and Freedom: Provide options to undo actions and exit states easily.
4. Consistency and Standards: Maintain uniformity and follow platform conventions.
5. Error Prevention: Design to prevent errors before they occur.
6. Recognition Rather Than Recall: Make information and actions visible to minimize memory load.
7. Flexibility and Efficiency of Use: Cater to both novice and expert users with adaptable interfaces.
8. Aesthetic and Minimalist Design: Avoid irrelevant information to keep the interface clean.
9. Help Users Recognize, Diagnose, and Recover from Errors: Offer clear error messages and solutions.
10. Help and Documentation: Provide easy-to-find, task-focused help and documentation.  

Let's deep dive and learn the Heuristics Principles in detail.

1. Visibility of system status

The system should always keep users informed about current state and actions through appropriate visual cues and feedback within reasonable time. 

Gmail loading a user’s mailbox. Tells the user to wait & Indicates the status of what’s going on.

Proper presentation of available seats and booked seats with price and other details.
   

2. Match between system and the real world

The system should speak the users' language, with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.

iBooks iPad application using the metaphor of wooden book shelf.

Using real life metaphor in computer application.

3. User control and freedom

Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need a clearly marked "emergency exit" to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extended dialogue. Support undo and redo.



Mozilla suggesting some security tips and handling exception.

History in Photoshop helps user in recovering previous steps.

4. Error prevention

Even better than good error messages is a careful design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error-prone conditions or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action.

 

5. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors

Error messages should be expressed in plain language (no codes), precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution.

 

6. Consistency and standards

Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform conventions.

 

7. Recognition rather than recall

Minimize the user's memory load by making objects, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another. Instructions for use of the system should be visible or easily retrievable whenever appropriate.

8. Flexibility and efficiency of use

Accelerators --unseen by the novice user --may often speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the system can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.

Auto-fills

 

9. Aesthetic and minimalist design

Dialogues should not contain information which is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility.

10. Help and Documentation

Even though it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation. Any such information should be easy to search, focused on the user's task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large.

Contextual help is the best way to help !
Also, telling users about the consequences of their actions is also very helpful.

Further readings

The Gestalt Principles - IxDF

The Gestalt Principles in Web Design

How to perform Heuristic Evaluation

10 Design Principles for better Mobile app

What is Expert Review in UX Design 

What is Contextual Inquiry