Scorecard: A History of Design Tools
Every tool considered for this history, scored 0–2 on five questions. Score 6 or more, or 2 on influence, puts a tool in the main story; 3–5 puts it under Also notable; 0–2 leaves it out. Tools under about two years old are listed To watch, because their influence cannot be judged yet. Scores are judgement calls, written down so they can be argued with.
- Influence: did later tools copy its ideas?
- First: did it introduce something new?
- Reach: how many designers used it at its peak?
- Turning point: did it trigger an industry event (acquisition, shutdown, pricing change)?
- Explains today: does knowing it help explain the tools people use now?
| Tool | Year | Influence | First | Reach | Turning point | Explains today | Score /10 | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Figma | 2016 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | Main story |
| PageMaker | 1985 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | Main story |
| Photoshop | 1990 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | Main story |
| Sketch | 2010 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | Main story |
| Creative Cloud | 2013 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | Main story |
| Sketchpad | 1963 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | Main story |
| Illustrator | 1987 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | Main story |
| Flash | 1996 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | Main story |
| Canva | 2013 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | Main story |
| NLS (Engelbart) | 1968 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | Main story |
| Xerox Alto | 1973 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | Main story |
| MacPaint | 1984 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | Main story |
| HyperCard | 1987 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | Main story |
| Fireworks | 1998 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | Main story |
| InVision | 2011 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | Main story |
| Midjourney | 2022 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | Main story |
| Bravo | 1974 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | Main story |
| Xerox Star | 1981 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | Main story |
| InDesign | 1999 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | Also notable |
| DALL·E 2 | 2022 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | Also notable |
| AutoCAD | 1982 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | Also notable |
| QuarkXPress | 1987 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | Also notable |
| Procreate | 2011 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | Also notable |
| Miro | 2011 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | Also notable |
| Webflow | 2013 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | Also notable |
| Framer | 2013 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | Also notable |
| Lottie | 2015 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | Also notable |
| Apple Pencil | 2015 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | Also notable |
| v0 | 2023 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | Also notable |
| SuperPaint | 1973 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Also notable |
| Quantel Paintbox | 1981 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Also notable |
| MacDraw | 1984 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Also notable |
| Fontographer | 1986 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Also notable |
| FreeHand | 1988 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | Also notable |
| Macromedia Director | 1988 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Also notable |
| Fractal Design Painter | 1991 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Also notable |
| Dreamweaver | 1997 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Also notable |
| Axure RP | 2003 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Also notable |
| Balsamiq | 2008 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Also notable |
| Paper by FiftyThree | 2012 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Also notable |
| Zeplin | 2014 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Also notable |
| Affinity | 2014 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | Also notable |
| Modulz | 2016 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | Also notable |
| Adobe XD | 2016 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | Also notable |
| Penpot | 2021 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | Also notable |
| Stable Diffusion | 2022 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | Also notable |
| Adobe Firefly | 2023 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | Also notable |
| GRAIL | 1968 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Out |
| Deluxe Paint | 1985 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Out |
| Microsoft Paint | 1985 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Out |
| CorelDRAW | 1989 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Out |
| Visio | 1992 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Out |
| Pixelmator | 2007 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | Out |
| Abstract | 2017 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Out |
| Uizard | 2018 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Out |
| Spline | 2020 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Out |
| Rive | 2020 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Out |
| FigJam | 2021 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Out |
| Galileo AI | 2023 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | Out |
| Ventura Publisher | 1986 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Out |
| FrontPage | 1996 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Out |
| GIMP | 1996 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Out |
| ImageReady | 1998 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Out |
| OmniGraffle | 2000 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Out |
| Inkscape | 2003 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Out |
| UXPin | 2010 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Out |
| Marvel | 2011 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Out |
| Origami | 2013 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Out |
| Principle | 2015 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Out |
| ProtoPie | 2017 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Out |
| Whimsical | 2017 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Out |
| Zeroheight | 2017 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Out |
| InVision Studio | 2018 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Out |
| Adobe Express | 2021 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Out |
| Relume | 2023 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Out |
| GoLive | 1999 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Out |
| Microsoft Expression Design | 2007 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Out |
| Concepts | 2012 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Out |
| Flinto | 2014 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Out |
| Gravit Designer | 2015 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Out |
| Linea Sketch | 2016 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Out |
| Anima | 2017 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Out |
| Supernova | 2017 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Out |
| Lunacy | 2018 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Out |
| Adobe Fresco | 2019 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Out |
| Locofy | 2021 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Out |
| Visily | 2022 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Out |
| Magic Patterns | 2023 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Out |
| Microsoft Designer | 2023 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Out |
| Lovable | 2024 | – | – | – | – | – | – | To watch |
| Bolt | 2024 | – | – | – | – | – | – | To watch |
| Figma Make | 2025 | – | – | – | – | – | – | To watch |
| Google Stitch | 2025 | – | – | – | – | – | – | To watch |
| Paper (paper.design) | 2025 | – | – | – | – | – | – | To watch |
| Pencil | 2025 | – | – | – | – | – | – | To watch |
| Claude Design | 2026 | – | – | – | – | – | – | To watch |
| Figma Weave | 2025 | – | – | – | – | – | – | To watch |
