Product Overview of Axure
Axure is a robust and versatile UX prototyping platform designed to meet the needs of both individual designers and enterprise teams. Here’s an overview of what Axure does and its key features:
What Axure Does
Axure is a powerful tool for creating interactive, dynamic prototypes of websites, applications, and other digital products. It allows designers to build complex, feature-rich prototypes without the need for coding, making it an essential tool in the UX design process.
Key Features and Functionality
Environment and Structure
- When you start Axure, you are presented with the Axure RP Environment, or the workbench, which is the central interface for your design work.
- The platform is organized into sections such as Pages, where you can manage the hierarchical structure of your project, and Canvas, which is the actual designing area where you place widgets and components.
Design Building Blocks
- Widgets are the primary design elements in Axure, akin to parts in a puzzle. These can be dragged onto the canvas to form pages. You can use built-in widget libraries or create customized ones.
- Components (previously known as Masters in Axure RP 9 or below) are reusable widgets that can be styled, interacted with, or noted, just like regular widgets. This feature promotes consistency and efficiency in design.
Styling and Interactions
- Axure allows extensive styling options for pages, widgets, and components, including adaptive views and global page styles.
- The Interactions panel enables you to add complex interactions using straightforward “if this, then that” statements, conditional logic, variables, and expressions. This feature is crucial for creating dynamic and realistic prototypes.
Collaboration and Sharing
- Axure supports co-authoring and collaboration through Axure RP and Axure Cloud, allowing multiple team members to work on the same project simultaneously. You can share prototypes, gather feedback, and hand off design assets seamlessly.
- Prototypes can be shared on Axure Cloud, where they can be viewed in a browser, and you can also use free stakeholder and developer accounts for reviewers to comment and inspect designs.
Advanced Prototyping Features
- Axure offers a drag-and-drop environment, mobile emulation, working form fields, and the ability to build browser-based prototypes without coding. It also supports adding animation effects, offline prototype viewing, and custom widget libraries.
- Integrations with tools like Sketch, Adobe XD, and Figma allow you to bring your UI designs into Axure for advanced UX prototyping and developer handoff.
Developer Handoff and Documentation
- Axure facilitates smooth developer handoff by publishing designs to Axure Cloud, which includes automatic redlines, CSS, and image export. It also supports creating process flows, product teardowns, and visual specifications.
Enterprise Features
- For enterprise users, Axure offers managed and on-premises hosting options through Axure Cloud for Business, which includes user management, single sign-on via SAML 2.0, and robust security practices (SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certified).
- Enterprise flexibility is enhanced with subscription licensing options, support for various devices (PC, Mac, iOS, Android), and comprehensive customer support.
In summary, Axure is a comprehensive UX prototyping tool that combines powerful design capabilities, extensive collaboration features, and robust enterprise solutions, making it an indispensable asset for designers and teams aiming to create sophisticated, interactive prototypes.