Optimal vs. UXPin

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Optimal
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Optimal Workshop, a company in New Zealand, offers their suite of user research tools on a subscription basis, including the Treejack information architecture tool, OptimalSort card sorting test, Chalkmark first-click testing, and other tools.
$2,388
per year
UXPin
Score 7.9 out of 10
N/A
UXPin is a UX design platform with wireframing, prototyping and interactive mockup features.N/A
Pricing
OptimalUXPin
Editions & Modules
Starter
$2388
per year
Enterprise
Custom
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
OptimalUXPin
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
OptimalUXPin
Considered Both Products
Optimal
Chose Optimal
For the price as it is very convenient for first-time beginners, its intuitiveness both for the one who is designing the activities and for those who have to interact with them. The fact that it collects and gathers the data into insights of the overall responses collected by …
Chose Optimal
Optimal seems a little more friendly in terms of setting up tests. We do use UserTesting as well, but it felt like that experience has more in-depth workflows to blast a test. Optimal Workshop feels like it is easy to quickly set up one test and then launch it immediately.
Chose Optimal
Optimal Workshop has many different research study tools beyond just surveys.
Chose Optimal
Optimal Workshop is worse than its competitors, and I only tried it because of the price. Huge mistake.
Chose Optimal
Optimal Workshop was the best tool that provided just what we needed and not anything more. The price point was also perfect for us as it provided room to try it out and then jump into a bigger package.
UXPin
Chose UXPin
Adobe XD is so much more than UXPin, with Adobe Cloud you can easily share designs as well. We used Adobe XD before changing to UXPin. At first UXPin seems so advanced and helpful, but don't get fooled. You're heavily limited in the long run, and after all the training and …
Chose UXPin
The first thing I’ll say is the learning curve is way lighter on UXPin. Also UXPin updates their app, and performance routinely and adds new features based on community needs. It’s the first web-based tool that outputs code rendered in the browser from a design created in a …
Chose UXPin
Marvel was great for helping to define app flows and apply app designs to give our clients a better visual of how their apps would flow and work in order to assist with UX. However, we needed something a bit more robust. We weren't just looking for something that was pretty. We …
Chose UXPin
There are definitely pros to these other tools, but UXPin gains a significant edge by providing tools to perform several significant steps of the design workflow in one place. For instance, we could wireframe in LucidChart, prototype in Marvel, then manually perform user …
Chose UXPin
Quick to prototype, easy to share, multiple devices, fully responsive breakpoints, export CSS, publishing from the tool, Photoshop integration. Has a fairly easy to use interface when compared to InVision and quite easy to integrate with other tools and collaboration solutions …
Chose UXPin
Between UXPin and Balsamiq, I think UXPin gives you better control over the designs and iterations. UXPin seems to continuously iterate on their own product to make it better. I like how UXPin fits in nicely with my workflow.
Chose UXPin
Previously I did wireframes in Illustrator, but I find UXPin faster and more helpful to use because of their libraries.
Chose UXPin
We'd been using Adobe Photoshop for our high fidelity wireframes up until now. Photoshop is a great tool (one of my favorites!), however, UXPin is allowing us to provide living, breathing, interactive wireframes/prototypes that really help us communicate with our engineers and …
Chose UXPin
I went through several tools trying to find something that was easy to use and made me faster. Visio was such a pain at creating something reusable to make me faster, too much building. Axure and Balsamiq looked like great options but were too cumbersome for my needs and I …
Chose UXPin
I use UXPin to wireframe, and Invision to present mockups. They both have their strengths and weaknesses, which is why I use neither program for both.
Best Alternatives
OptimalUXPin
Small Businesses
Smartlook
Smartlook
Score 8.2 out of 10
OmniGraffle
OmniGraffle
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Optimizely Web Experimentation
Optimizely Web Experimentation
Score 8.7 out of 10
OmniGraffle
OmniGraffle
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Optimizely Web Experimentation
Optimizely Web Experimentation
Score 8.7 out of 10
OmniGraffle
OmniGraffle
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
OptimalUXPin
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(0 ratings)
2.1
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.9
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
OptimalUXPin
Likelihood to Recommend
The tools are great for user researchers who have a solid foundation with IA research methods, or are willing to learn them while using the tools. However they don't magically create valid IA studies; someone with no IA research experience may struggle to use the tools and/or run studies resulting in poor quality data.
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If you're a very simple designer, with very simple requirements UXPin is very good, especially because you can share the designs very easily. If you are an advanced designer with specific client requirements never use UXPin. Don't even get started because you will waste your time. Example is their component feature, it has a lot, but misses very crucial aspects to be functional on a broader scale.
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Pros
  • Optimal Workshop's UI and UX are impeccable. It's incredibly easy to use and set up tests even for novices.
  • Optimal Workshop's test type offerings are fantastic. They have almost anything you could need within the platform.
  • Optimal Workshop's payment options are incredibly reasonable and useful whether you're doing very few tests or a lot of tests.
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  • Collaboration with teammates.
  • Rapid prototyping.
  • Design Systems.
  • JSON File for content importing.
  • Bulk editing via library components.
  • Interactions, and micro UX.
  • Sharing and requesting feedback.
  • Version branching.
  • Spec mode for developers (access to assets).
  • Automatically produced visual style guide with fonts, colors, and imported assets.
  • Imports from sketch while keeping the shapes, colors, and fonts fully editable.
  • Boolean Pen (bezzier pen) for vector drawing, and pathfinder.
  • Annotation capability via documentation mode.
  • Password protect prototypes.
  • Upload custom fonts (enterprise, or Pro version is key imho).
  • 1,000s of built in icons (iOS, Android, Font Awesome etc).
  • Prebuilt design component libraries (Material Design, Booptstrap, iOS).
  • Video tutorials in-app.
  • Moderate learning curve - UI is familiar, and customizable.
  • Copy/paste interactions, and element properties.
  • Canvas properties (grids, adaptive screen sizes, scrolling).
  • Asynchronous Spell check.
  • UXPin's customer support is top tier.
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Cons
  • The recruitment panelists are not professional, nor do they take the tasks seriously. You are going to get a lot of bad data.
  • They are HQ'd outside the US and must have a small team because the customer service is the absolute WORST I've experienced in their industry.
  • They pride themselves on documentation, but when they fail to document something they blame the customer for the mistake.
  • There are way too many limitations with the tool after you launch, limited integrations, and poor survey questionnaire options. The tool itself is far too basic for most sites, especially B2B.
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  • Sometimes, it can be a bit buggy and slow if the prototype is complex with dozens of layers.
  • The learning curve can be steep the first time you use it. Or, if you haven't used the app for awhile; I sometimes need to relearn it if I haven't used it for a month or so.
  • The loading times can be quite slow where a page gets stuck. It would be great if this didn't happen.
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Likelihood to Renew
No answers on this topic
We'll definitely continue to use UXPin. Right now it provides us with everything we need in order to deliver quality projects to our clients. If at any point in time, UXPin doesn't provide us with what we need, we'll start vetting other software out there that may be similar. My guess is that UXPin will continue to make updates and improvements so we'll likely stick with it for quite some time.
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Usability
I would rate Optimal Workshop's overall usability 9 out of 10 due to several key factors. Firstly, the platform has a user-friendly interface makes navigation straightforward, even for first-time users. The tools and features are well-organized, ensuring users can quickly find what they need without unnecessary complexity. Secondly, the platform is highly intuitive, meaning users can easily understand how to perform tasks without extensive guidance. This is supported by clear and concise instructions throughout the application, reducing the learning curve significantly.
Additionally, the learnability of Optimal Workshop is exceptional. New users can become proficient in a short amount of time, thanks to its well-thought-out design and helpful onboarding materials. Even more advanced features are presented in a way that feels approachable and manageable. Finally, the platform supports a seamless workflow, allowing users to focus on their research or tasks rather than struggling with the software. These qualities collectively make Optimal Workshop a reliable and efficient tool for many projects, justifying its high usability rating.
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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
We’ve never had to use much of their support services since the platform is very easy to use, we have however needed to transfer ownership between team members due to people leaving or other circumstances. Under those situations, the support offered to us has been been very quick and efficient and we never had to nudge them much to get the job done.
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As far as I know, my teams have only had to use the UXPin support once. The experience went really well. We just needed a bit of assistance with using the Documentation feature. UXPin's support was quick and helped my team in a matter of minutes. We will definitely reach out to their support without hesitation in the future.
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Alternatives Considered
Optimal Workshop was the best tool that provided just what we needed and not anything more. The price point was also perfect for us as it provided room to try it out and then jump into a bigger package
Read full review
I went through several tools trying to find something that was easy to use and made me faster. Visio was such a pain at creating something reusable to make me faster, too much building. Axure and Balsamiq looked like great options but were too cumbersome for my needs and I couldn't get to the live link fast enough. Moqups was my first choice before I heard about UXPin. I switched to UXPin because the had more built in features, more icons and just an overall better and more usable interface that appealed to my design side.
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Return on Investment
  • Optimal Workshop has provided a very low-risk, quick testing ground for navigation menus. So while the full impact cannot be determined, we are happy we are using Optimal Workshop, and are gaining benefits from it.
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  • Saving money by using one tool for lo-fi wireframing, high fidelity wireframing, prototyping, and user testing, rather than four separate tools.
  • The ability to create and use team libraries enables us to create visually consistent designs with less effort than creating every single design from scratch, which allows us to save considerable time (and therefore money!)
  • In-platform collaboration saves our team a lot of time and energy. With everything in one place (wireframes, prototypes, user feedback, collaboration comments), we can all be on the same page about the design workflow and pinpoint discussion points that are based on up-to-date designs.
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ScreenShots