Studio is the tool everyone is talking about right now. Created by the folks at InVision, Studio is still in beta but is rolling out to the public this month.

Is the product as good as its marketing?

Studio claims to be “the world’s most powerful screen design tool”. The promotional materials have done a pretty good job at selling its sleek UI and innovative features, but now it’s the time for the design community to prove whether it actually works.

Almost every digital designer I know uses Sketch to design their screens. But Sketch can only do so much. If you want to turn your designs into a clickable prototype, you need to switch to InVision, Principle, Framer, or use another plugin/tool that will really help bring the experience to life. And once you have your animated prototype, the file becomes a dead end you can’t put back into Sketch. At least not natively.

Adobe XD (Experience Design) was one of the first tools to try to tackle that issue, “long time after the introduction of Webflow and Macaw”, as pointed out Aki Fukai in the comments.

“Go from concept to prototype faster with Adobe XD, the all-in-one UX/UI solution for designing websites, mobile apps, and more.” Consolidation has been their biggest value proposition and differentiator up until this point.

After a few years in the works, now it’s time for InVision to launch its own take on trying to solve that same problem. The 2,800+ upvotes InVision Studio has received on Product Hunt are a good indicator of how much our industry has been waiting for a solution like this.

Studio’s interface is impressively similar to Sketch in terms of structure. There is a fine line between creating familiarity for users and bringing original and fresh thinking to the table—and Studio clearly errs on the safe side.

Linking screens together (InVision Studio)

The beauty and the fresh thinking comes when it’s time to join flows together through a clickable prototype, or when dealing with the responsiveness of artboards.

Responsive artboards (InVision Studio)

Here are some of the features Studio claims as its differentiators when compared to other tools available out there:

An adaptive layout engine to effortlessly enable responsive design

Rapid prototyping and advanced animation for dynamic motion design

Shared design systems to help your team stay consistent, connected, and up to date

Seamless collaboration with InVision’s cloud-based workflow for frictionless feedback

An open platform for user-created add-ons and kits delivered through our app store

Oh, and Studio is free. (!)