Adobe XD slips quietly into ‘maintenance mode’

When was the last time you checked the development road map for one of your software tools? If you answered either…

When I bought the software or
Recently, when they sent me an email update

… then we would be in the same boat. So, imagine our surprise when we learnt that Adobe XD (our preferred user experience wireframing and prototyping software) had been put into “maintenance mode” under the radar. Imagine our surprise when we found this out during a meeting for work, we were bidding for with the primary solution including designs from Adobe XD. Imagine our surprise when we realised, we hadn’t “missed the memo” and there was no email telling us that this was the case. I guess you could say we were surprised if not shocked.

So, what is maintenance mode?

In the words of Adobe…

“This means that we’re not investing in ongoing development or shipping new features within the product.”

In short – the end of the line for Adobe XD as we know it.

So why is this a big deal?

Well, ever since XD landed in 2016 the internet of UX designers and creatives have been arguing over which is the best design programme for User Experience design.

Figma was the main competitor to Adobe XD. Figma (also launched in 2016) quickly managed to secure a bigger market share and build an ever-growing community of designers and creatives using its software. However, in September 2022, Adobe agreed to purchase Figma for $20 billion in cash and stock and this sent shockwaves throughout the UX design community.

It wouldn’t be unusual to believe that from this acquisition (which is still ongoing) Adobe XD would emerge as the software of choice. This thought process sent many Figma users off migrating to Adobe XD in anticipation of what the acquisition would do and other design agencies (like Gambit Nash) cementing XD into the services they offer and training all their staff in its possibilities.

There are rumours of more news coming in December but for now, we don’t know for sure what is going to happen to Adobe XD moving forward. Maybe the switch to ‘maintenance mode’ is a requirement of the acquisition or maybe Adobe have realised that Figma has a better code base and community to build from but for now, Adobe have removed all development effort from XD and the team behind Figma is still going strong.

So now, at Gambit Nash we have decided not to wait for Adobe to tell us (or not) what is going on. We have previous experience with Figma and we intend to fully rekindle our relationship with it and its fun to use, FigJam software. That way we can be sure that we can achieve the design results our clients need regardless of what Adobe decide to do.

If you need UX design work in either Figma or legacy work in Adobe XD then we have the tools and the skills to design your ideal digital product. Get in touch to realise your vision.