Adobe XD

Overview

Adobe XD (originally “Project Comet”) launched in 2016 as Adobe’s own entry into UI/UX design and prototyping, aimed squarely at competing with Sketch and, later, Figma. It combined vector-based interface design with built-in prototyping and integrated into the wider Creative Cloud ecosystem, letting designers bring in assets from Photoshop and Illustrator directly.

Following Adobe’s 2022 attempt to acquire Figma outright (terminated in 2023 after regulatory pushback), Adobe scaled back active feature development on XD, and by 2024 stopped offering it to new Creative Cloud subscribers, effectively discontinuing it as an actively developed product while existing users retained access for a wind-down period. Rather than continuing to compete directly, Adobe has directed former XD customers toward Figma-compatible workflows and other Creative Cloud tools. Because of this discontinuation, XD is no longer a practical starting point for new UI/UX design work, and teams still using it are generally in the process of migrating elsewhere.

Key Features

• Vector design tools — Artboard-based interface design with repeat grids and responsive resize
• Built-in prototyping — Interactive, clickable prototypes without a separate application
• Creative Cloud integration — Direct asset import from Photoshop and Illustrator
• Auto-animate — Timeline-based transitions between prototype states
• Voice prototyping — Support for prototyping voice-driven interfaces (a feature unique among mainstream design tools at the time)

Use Cases

• Legacy design workflows — Teams maintaining existing XD files during migration to another tool
• Creative Cloud-integrated design — Historically useful for teams already deep in the Adobe ecosystem
• UI prototyping — Clickable prototypes for stakeholder review (on tools still actively maintained)

Who It’s For

Adobe XD is not a practical choice for new projects given Adobe has discontinued active development and stopped offering it to new subscribers. Teams still maintaining XD files should plan a migration to an actively developed tool such as Figma or an open source alternative like Penpot.