This kind of situation may lead to frustrations arising out of delays in responding to queries, miscommunications, lack of unified understanding, etc.
Thankfully, various Online Collaboration Tools are available in the market that can simplify the life of your design team, and ensure that everyone is focused on achieving the same objective.
Marvel
It is a popular Cloud-based design, prototyping and collaboration tool. With Marvel, you can create designs either directly or sync it from your Cloud storage. The prototyping feature helps you to create prototypes that look real and can be easily viewed across multiple devices. The collaboration feature enables easy sharing of project info and feedbacks.
Pricing – It comes in Free, Pro and Company versions. While the Free package is for single user covering 2 projects, the other packages cover more features, more users, and unlimited projects.
Wake
Wake enables your designers to share their work directly from their design tools without having to leave them. Prototypes and animations can be easily shared, and you can also track how different ideas evolve into projects or products. With Apps available for Mac and iPhone, it is easy to track and collaborate on a project even when you are traveling.
Pricing - There is a free trial version for 30 days, a Starter plan for $22 and a Pro plan for large teams that need loaded features.
InVision
InVision is one tool that packs power in its punch. It helps in converting your design files from a static one to an interactive prototype easily and quickly.
Different team members can give their feedback directly onto the designs and project status can be tracked from one centralized location. With InVision, it is easy to do real-time collaboration on designs, launch meetings, and present demos. One of the key features is that you can test your mobile or web product designs, and quickly integrate the customer feedback into your product.
Pricing – You can sign up for free for one prototype for unlimited time or opt for plans that start from $15 and go more according to the features.
Zeplin
With Zeplin, you just need to upload your design specs and it will create the designs for you. Apart from the regular collaborating and communicating features, one that stands out is that it can generate style guides and resources automatically.
Pricing – It is free for 1 active project, other packages start from as low as $17 and go up, depending on the number of prototypes, users, and features.
Active Collab
Active Collab is a simple, easy to use tool that comes with loaded features like Task Management, Team Collaboration, Time Tracking, and Invoicing. This tool runs on Cloud and doesn’t need any setup or installation.
Pricing – Their plans start at $25 for 5 members and go up, depending on the number of users and Cloud storage space required. You can choose to self-host it for a one-time fee that starts at $499.
Open Brand
Open Brand is an amazing design tool that helps you to create impressive design mockups required for client presentations. Design resources like Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign are organized in Open Brand itself, you don’t have to download them or leave them to access your files.
Pricing – You can avail 1000 images worth of Basic package free and the premium packages start from $9.95 per user per month onwards.
Paymo
Paymo is an excellent PMS, especially for small and medium businesses. It provides a single platform for Team Collaboration, Timesheet Management, and Project Accounting. Various features include Kanban Boards, Gantt Charts, File Sharing and more.
Pricing - You can try it for free for 15 days, after which packages start from $8.95 per user per month.
Viewflux
This tool aids in creating interactive prototypes from static designs, that are used in making presentations to the clients. It also enables visual feedback where clients or team members can give their feedbacks directly on the designs. It is an excellent tool for interactive prototyping.
Pricing – You can try it for free with limited features, premium plans start from $9 per month onwards.
Free Collaboration Tools for designers
Apart from these, you also have a plethora of free tools in the market that can help you in varying degrees. They include:
Red Pen, Bounce, Flatsies, Prevue, Marqueed, GoVisually, Design Drop, Frame Bench, Concept Inbox, Skwibl, EasyProof, Apollo, and Red Mark.
Conclusion
So, if you are looking for collaborative tools for your Web Design Company, you can try one or many of these tools over a free trial period to assess and then select the one which suits your needs.
This list is an evolving one and is based on web research. It is suggestive only and the Tools are not listed in any particular order. Recommendations and additions to this list are most welcome, as are your experiences with any of the above tools.
