To all my ex-es…

We celebrated Valentine's Day a couple of days ago. This is a day when the entire world celebrates love among couples. As you grow older, you start finding the true meaning of stuff we just assumed in the past or youth. So I embarked on the journey of defining what love is!

In my opinion, love is when two entities find absolute comfort with each other. That's the truest kind of love. But it is not necessary that you will always fall in love with a person. There are other entities that you can fall in love with. There could be a particular sport, an art form or some kind of food. Unlike human relationships, these entities allow multi-partner relationships. However, there is one entity that you may fall in love with as a designer, and those, just don’t let go!

Yes. I am talking about software tools used by the designers. Today I am penning my thoughts on all the Ex-softwares that I was in love with once. For me, these tools were comfortable and these were the first tools I would always open, no matter what the task is!

Dear B,

You were the first love I ever had. Even though this was a very short lived affair, you did leave a mark on my heart. I was new to the UX world and was focussing on the interaction design. You had a unique personality. A bit messy around the edges. It took me some time to realize that you were actually much much more elegant and all that mess was just to make me comfortable. You have been the benchmark, based on which, I would evaluate all other partners of mine, going forward!

Dear V, 

To be honest, I did not like you during our first meeting. You were matched for me by others and I was not comfortable with the arrangement. However, over time, I did become comfortable around you. The way you handled the wireframing tasks, was out of this world. The self adjusting boxes, the grayscale and the patterns.. What you could offer was endless. 

The only trouble with you was you were you when you were inside the “Gates” compound. When we moved to “Jobs” city, you turned into this weird avatar of yours called Omnigraffle. I was standing on the crossroads here. I wanted to move to the jobs city, but I did not want to be with the weird version of you. So I decided to stay back and explore our relationship further. However, as I grew older in the professional world, the basic grayscale style was not enough. I needed colours and textures and crispness. Thus sadly, it was time to move on. Trust me V, it was me not you!

However, we parted on good terms and while I was in love with photoshop deeply, we did touch base frequently, till we completely lost touch!

Godspeed!

Dear Ps, 

I believe we were deeply in love for more than 3 years. We had a great run together. During our first interaction, I was overwhelmed by what you could accomplish. However, you were patient and helped in the form of tips and tricks.

The way you offered visual treatments was powerful. You had a way to make anything. A texture for the background, a shadow for the button, a gradient for the icon and what not. You had a multi layered personality, with each layer adding more beauty to what we were creating.

I remembered the time when we double dated with "flinto"s and "invision"s, and created the best of experiences. 

But as the complexity of the projects increased, working with you started becoming difficult. You started freezing. You stopped working without as much as a slight warning. You erased all that we had done together that day. Fortunately the world moved to flat designs and i could stay with you a little longer.

In the outside world, people started using vectors. I wanted to go there, but you were set in your own ways. The sheer size of what we created was halting the progress of the project. So after three years of a long committed relationship, we had to part ways. 

We did cross paths after the breakup, but only in professional capacity and for short durations. I had grown so comfortable with you that it really took a toll on me. And as the universe would have it, I fell for your roomie, illustrator!!

Dear Ilu,

By now both of us know that you were a rebound. You offered the vector space and you gave an illusion that you are similar to photoshop. But boy was I wrong!!

Although we did get our rhythm after a while, and we had a lot of fun with invision, you were not something I was looking for in a companion. Plus you belonged to a different economic strata. You came with a lot of potential, but the relationship was economically draining for the startup we used to work for. The rift caused us to drift apart. It was neither you, nor me, it was the situation!!

Dear AD,

You were the best companion I had. You did not demand much in terms of money, you were happy, self reliant and came into my life at the right moment. Since I had learned a lot from my past relationships, I got comfortable with you pretty quickly. You were young, and hence you were accommodating too. 

We just clicked and tuned in. You kept learning and kept offering me new things. You were getting Powerful and I had the front row seat to the show. We ventured outside the UX space into illustrations (illustrator, i know you taught me this!) Social media banners, pitch decks, print media and what not. In a way I would say you made me into the designer I am today. A generalist in a true sense. Remember the time when we created this roadmap of the entire product? That was the week when we really connected. You took care of everything. The screens, the banners, the icons and the diagrams. You made yourself into a one stop shop for my every need. You were a true companion!!

However, as the company grew, so did the complexity of the product. There were other team members who joined the force and they took away the tasks of illustrations and diagrams. All I had to do was UI design. 

When this happened, I realized that you were not built for this kind of task. You did not provide any animations or interaction creation. You did your best to create a static version. Even though you and I had a lot of components built together, updating them became a huge task. You were not helping. I realized then that you could stay in my heart, but not in my life. So I decided to move on. 

We did meet after that a few times. We did have fun, but even though you were the best I had, I was on a hunt for more! 

On the other hand, I am glad that you decided to stay back in my life permanently. And I promise to keep in touch!!

Yo XD,

I can't say much about you. I only knew you for a month. Neither of us were looking for anything serious at that time. But you showed me what a UI creation software should be. You had all these amazing features where I could just reuse what we had created. That saved so much of my time. You were friendly, polished and helpful. With you I first learned about the components and the amount of time it can save. My life as a UX designer got very much streamlined after you introduced me to the world of dedicated software. This fling was the most important relationship of my professional career!

So thanks!

Dear S,

Just like visio, you too were matched for me. I was having a great time with XD and I was not over Affinity designer yet. But you came along, and we were kind of forced to make it work. You were capable, you were smart and you had close ties with my old buddy, invision. However, When I went abroad and my macbook decided to shut down, you refused to cooperate inside the Gates community. I wanted someone who can stay as is, despite the surroundings, may it be Gates Community, Jobs city or the shiny Chrome-dome! I was desperate, all the work I had done with you was almost gone. 

And then I heard a faint whisper.. “Can I help you?” said figma. That was the moment that turned my life around. I am sure you are doing well S, I was never truly yours!

And so began my romance with Figma. Figma was fast. Stayed figma despite the surroundings. Acted like the dedicated UI software, while slowly developing abilities to generate illustrations. Figma was a master of reusable components and helped me build my first design system. Figma was simple and yet handled the colours very elegantly. Since I had a lot of experience with the ex-es, I was cautious, but figma never gave me a reason to doubt. Figma gelled well with the community. Figma is not afraid of asking for help for things that aren’t built in!

In conclusion;

This is a fun attempt to mark down my journey from the beginning of my career till now. All these tools did offer a sense of comfort and by definition, I was in love with them. I am sure most of the readers of this article have their own skeletons in the closets. As the technology evolves, new tools are forged and the old ones are phased out. It is important to evolve with the industry and seek out the tools that best fit your requirements. 

So don’t get too comfortable with a tool. This might impact the way you think about an experience. Tools are here to help. Focus on the core abilities as a designer to create amazing experiences, your users will fall in love with!