How do you extend product design software?

1 What is extending product design software?

Extending product design software means adding or modifying features or functionality to the software to suit your specific needs or preferences. It can also mean integrating the software with other tools or platforms to enhance your workflow or collaboration. Extending product design software can help you solve problems, improve efficiency, or create unique outcomes that the software alone cannot provide.

2 Why extend product design software?

Extending product design software can be beneficial for a variety of reasons. Automating repetitive tasks like exporting, resizing, and formatting designs is a common use case. Additionally, you can add new capabilities such as animations, interactions, or data visualization that the software doesn't offer. Customizing the user interface or the behavior of the software to fit your preferences or style is also an option. Moreover, connecting the software with other tools or platforms like project management, communication, or feedback tools can be beneficial.

3 How to extend product design software?

Extending product design software can be achieved in several ways, depending on the software, the level of technical skill, and desired outcome. Popular methods include plugins or extensions, which are small pieces of code added to the software to modify features or functionality. Scripts or macros, written by yourself or other users, can automate or simplify certain tasks within the software. APIs or SDKs, provided by software developers or other tools, can be accessed or integrated with code to import or export data from the design software. For example, plugins can add icons, fonts, and templates; scripts can export, resize, and rename files in bulk; and APIs can import feedback.

4 Examples of extending product design software

For inspiration, here are some examples of how you can extend product design software with different methods and outcomes. Plugins or extensions can be used to add animations, interactions, or data visualization to your designs, such as LottieFiles to import and preview Lottie animations, Anima to create realistic prototypes with transitions and logic, or Chart to generate charts and graphs from data. Scripts or macros can be utilized to automate or simplify tasks within Sketch, like Rename It to rename your layers, groups, or artboards with patterns, Symbols Organizer to sort and align your symbols, or Sketch Export Generator to create different export sizes and formats for your assets. Additionally, APIs or SDKs can be employed to connect or integrate Adobe XD with other tools or platforms, including Adobe XD for Jira to sync and update your designs with your Jira issues, Adobe XD for Slack to share and preview your designs with your team, or Adobe XD for Zapier to trigger actions or workflows based on your design changes.

5 Tips and best practices for extending product design software

Before you start extending product design software, there are some important tips and best practices to keep in mind. You should select the method that best suits your goal, skill level, and software environment. It's important to back up your files and settings before making any changes. Additionally, you should test and debug your extensions to ensure they are working properly, and keep them updated and organized to avoid any conflicts or issues with the software or other extensions.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?