From the Editor
UX Tools has been evolving.
This year, I’ve launched a full redesign, kicked off our annual Design Tools Survey, started the first Design Tools Awards, launched the UX Tools Bundle, released a new podcast, and we’re producing a new show soon.
One thing I tried was letting AI help me write this newsletter. It didn’t sit right. If I don’t have time to write meaningfully, I’d rather not write at all.
Hanging with the Perplexity design team in San Francisco
Filming episode 3 of This is Taste (coming soon)
What I’ve done well is curation. Moving forward, you’ll see:
Insights from the designers and builders I talk with on the pod
Highlights from the design tool world: features, launches, leaks
Insider drops: early access, discounts, and offers like the UX Tools Bundle
The format may shift week to week. Some issues will carry a signature piece, others will be leaner. Thanks for rocking with me as I grow and learn with you.
Design Tools News You Need to See
Contra is making splashes in the community
Wrapped up their Figma Make-a-thon
Powering the $50,000 Webflow community challenge on Oct 22
Hosting Contra Creative Arena where top creatives vote on what AI tools actually fit workflows, comparing outputs against real prompts.
Contra Maxxing virtual event (live tomorrow) helping freelancers get work with Contra.
Framer is not messing around anymore
Introducing the Framer Challenge: CEO Jorn van Dijk is matching 10% of revenue goals for designers hitting $5k to $100k by Dec 31 with proof. Social media is lighting up with this one.
Design Pages announcement. This update turns Framer from “site builder” into a true design tool with a freeform canvas, vector editing, P3 colors, image export, masking, etc. Free to use: THIS IS HUGE.
MagicPath introduces Libraries
Pietro Schirano is one of my favorite design founders today, and I’m paying close attention to MagicPath.
They launched component libraries that now double as living documents. They’re always synced with code and always in your style.
Default libraries ship with Shadcn UI, marketing, and mobile sets. This is the sort of feature release that moves enterprise teams to adopt new tools.
Paper is out of beta
Now open to the public. I’ve been using Paper alongside other tools to bring my app Lorelight to life - thrilled to see it widely available.
LottieFiles rolls out State Machines
Motion design tools are starting to get really interesting.
Lottie just released interactive animations without code using state machines. Define states, transitions, and triggers, then export a single dotLottie for web + mobile. Remix the example here.
The Designer Short List
I’m curating a short list of designers I’ll personally vouch for in early-stage recruiting conversations.
I get a lot of companies asking, so I’m going to help make matches. I’m looking for:
Designers with big reps in visual + interactive design
High-agency people who just do things
People who can zoom into craft, then zoom out to strategy
This isn’t for early-career folks (I’m working on something separate for that).
If this is you, reply to this e-mail with:
A quick intro
A link to your 3-4 best pieces of work (visuals > case studies)
Your email address
I’m starting narrow with founding/early-stage roles. Forward to someone who might benefit, or reply even if you’re not actively looking.
TOGETHER WITH BROWSERSTACK
So many design tools are becoming more technical. But technical tools are also enabling more design work.
BrowserStack just introduced the Figma plugin every designer needs for accessibility.
Tired of designs coming back with accessibility issues?
BrowserStack’s Accessibility Design Toolkit flags WCAG issues, adds AI alt text, simulates color blindness, and adds dev-ready notes - all inside Figma. Prevent 40% of issues before they get to dev.
Last Chance: UX Tools Bundle
The UX Tools Bundle officially ended last week. I have 100 promo bundles remaining, and I’m offering them to subscribers only at a big last-minute discount.
uxtools.co/bundle - Use promo code INSIDER40 for 40% off + share unused codes with friends!
These are the tools my six-person team actually runs on:
Notion (knowledge management)
Granola (meetings → Notion)
Bolt (rough prototyping)
Perplexity (research)
Framer (sites)
Jitter (motion/marketing)
Mobbin (UI patterns)
And the ones we’re experimenting with:
Play (mobile prototyping)
Magic Patterns (UI in code)
Weavy (agentic workflows)
The bundle gives you months of Pro access to 10+ tools for just $129 $78. After this week, this landing page is getting archived and the deal closes for good.
That’s it for this week.
The tools are moving fast. I’ll keep curating the updates, launches, and insights I pull from our conversations.
See you next week,
—Tommy
