Next......

[ianw16845852]

I won't apologise for asking what may be a stupid question as I wanted to learn what XD could do... and it's actually quite good from a graphic interface design point of view and the prototyping is equally neat, BUT....

Where do I go from here.... Back to Xcode to loose the will to live?   I'll admit I'm as green as grass when it comes to App design but it seems like after all this work you still need to go back to coding....  how else to you link data tables for example.  I guess if I fully understood the work flow post prototype it would help, just so I can quantify how much benefit XD really gives.

[Cy233 · Accepted solution]

Designers often did their designs (UX, layout, interface, branding etc) in Photoshop or Illustrator etc. Then they sent the photoshop files/jpgs to the client with notes telling the client how it will work e.g. if you push button 1 on page 1, it takes you to page 2. The client then made suggestions and you’d have to changes the Photoshop file and resend it over and over again BEFORE any coding was done. Once everyone was happy. The coding started.

The difference between XD and Photoshop/Illustrator is that XD is specifically designed for making prototypes.

* Design is intuitive and easy

* You can upload the XD file to the Adobe servers then send links to the client to check out the prototype online.

* Clients can interact with the design by clicking on links and buttons just like the real thing

* Clients can view it on mobile, tablet and desktop as if it were the finished product

* Clients can add comments to the each page

* Designer can make changes and update the link so the client only has to refresh the link they have in order to see the new version.

Once the design has been accepted, THEN you begin to code it from scratch -- or send it to a coder to copy EXACTLY as it is.

It may seem long winded but you won’t have to interrupt the client again and you won't have to explain everything to the coder because the coder can see what the end result should look like so he/she can push on through saving tons of time.

So XD is an app that creates high-fidelity, interactive mock-ups BEFORE coding begins, and no, you can’t import XD files into a code editor. I doubt that it ever will do that because it not based on HTML or CSS like Muse is (as far as I understand). It's a drawing tool, not a web app.