Sketch Adds Time-Saving Linked Data Features

One of the tools we utilize in the design and development of custom web interfaces is the popular vector graphics editor, Sketch. It’s comparable to products like Adobe Illustrator or Affinity Designer (though, we also know some folks moving to Figma, a broadly featured alternative that runs in-browser).

Recently, we were excited to see Sketch introduce their improved Data tool, as well as additional features around what they’re calling Linked Data. This will make it easier to create visual design mock-ups and prototypes that incorporate real (or anonymized, real-looking) client data.

As you might expect, our interface and experience design work is typically focused on the organization and presentation of data and visualization elements, and it’s long been a challenge to manually “stub” in values at this stage of the design process. Using JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), a common way to structure data in code, we can now feed programmatically-generated data into our latest design deliverables.

You can learn more about these new features in Sketch’s recently released documentation.