AI Mentions & Sources Report for Design Tools
This page provides details about nngroup.com (Academic) which was ranked #3 out of 140 in the list of sources (12 citations (6% share)) in answers from AI models (Anthropic Claude Sonnet (latest),
OpenAI ChatGPT Latest,
Google Gemini Flash (latest),
X.AI Grok (latest)) when they were asked the following 1 question: "What does the Design Tools industry look like right now? Identify the dominant market leaders and brands, best products and services, key companies and providers, influential figures and thought leaders, emerging startups and trends, major conferences and events, active professional communities, and the top publications and media that cover this industry." on Dec 30, 2025 by AI Chat Watch. This source is referenced for brands: Don Norman, Smashing Magazine, Nielsen Norman Group Articles.
| Model | Voice | Position | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
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{{ getInfluenceForBot(bot.id) }} | {{ getPositionForBot(bot.id) }} | {{ getMentionsForBot(bot.id) }} |
| URL Path | Citations | Position |
|---|---|---|
| /articles | 0 | N/A |
| /articles/design-systems-101 | 10 | 13.6 |
| nngroup.com | 1 | 35 |
| /training/ux-conference | 1 | 52 |
| Brand | Voice | Mentions |
|---|---|---|
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4.9% | 9 |
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1.7% | 3 |
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0% | 1 |
What does the Design Tools industry look like right now? Identify the dominant market leaders and brands, best products and services, key companies and providers, influential figures and thought leaders, emerging startups and trends, major conferences and events, active professional communities, and the top publications and media that cover this industry.
[...] Wallace](https://twitter.com/evanwallace)** - Co-founder and CTO of Figma - **[Melanie Perkins](https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanieperkins/)** - Co-founder and CEO of Canva - **[Tobias van Schneider](https://www.vanschneider.com)** - Designer, author, and entrepreneur ### Educators & Advocates - **[Nielsen Norman Group](https://www.nngroup.com)** - UX research and consulting (Don Norman, Jakob Nielsen) - **[Brad Frost](https://bradfrost.com)** - Design systems expert, creator of Atomic Design - **[Dan Mall](https://danmall.com)** - Design system consultant and educator - **[Jared Spool](https://twitter.com/jmspool)** - UX researcher and [...]
[...] ://design-milk.com)** - Modern design publication ### UX-Focused Publications - **[UX Collective](https://uxdesign.cc)** - Medium publication on UX - **[UX Design Weekly](https://uxdesignweekly.com)** - Curated UX newsletter - **[Laws of UX](https://lawsofux.com)** - Design principles resource - **[Nielsen Norman Group Articles](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/)** - Research-based UX articles - **[Boxes and Arrows](https://boxesandarrows.com)** - UX design publication ### Newsletters - **[Dense Discovery](https://www.densediscovery.com)** - Weekly design and tech newsletter - **[Sidebar](https://sidebar.io)** - Daily design links - **[Design Lobster](htt [...]
What does the Design Tools industry look like right now? Identify the dominant market leaders and brands, best products and services, key companies and providers, influential figures and thought leaders, emerging startups and trends, major conferences and events, active professional communities, and the top publications and media that cover this industry.
[...] + systems) Design tooling is shaped as much by product leaders and design-ops thinkers as by “tool builders.” A few widely-followed voices with durable influence: - **[Don Norman](https://www.jnd.org/)** (human-centered design; cofounder of [Nielsen Norman Group](https://www.nngroup.com/)) - **[Jakob Nielsen](https://www.nngroup.com/people/jakob-nielsen/)** (usability; [Nielsen Norman Group](https://www.nngroup.com/)) - **[Julie Zhuo](https://www.juliezhuo.com/)** (product design leadership) - **[Brad Frost](https://bradfrost.com/)** (design systems; “Atomic Design” framing—book site: [atomicdesign.bradfrost.com](https://atomicdesign.bradfrost. [...]
[...] acceleration), driven broadly by products like [Adobe Firefly](https://firefly.adobe.com/) and tool-native AI features across multiple vendors. - **Design systems + governance are operational priorities** (tokens, libraries, documentation, adoption tracking). A practical reference on the concept: [Nielsen Norman Group — Design Systems](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/design-systems-101/). - **A major recent market event:** the proposed acquisition of [Figma](https://www.figma.com/) by [Adobe](https://www.adobe.com/) was terminated (source: [Adobe Newsroom release](https://news.adobe.com/news/news-details/2023/Adobe-and-Figma-Terminate-Proposed-Merger/default.aspx)). Regulatory c [...]
[...] ial figures & thought leaders (design practice + tooling + systems) Design tooling is shaped as much by product leaders and design-ops thinkers as by “tool builders.” A few widely-followed voices with durable influence: - **[Don Norman](https://www.jnd.org/)** (human-centered design; cofounder of [Nielsen Norman Group](https://www.nngroup.com/)) - **[Jakob Nielsen](https://www.nngroup.com/people/jakob-nielsen/)** (usability; [Nielsen Norman Group](https://www.nngroup.com/)) - **[Julie Zhuo](https://www.juliezhuo.com/)** (product design leadership) - **[Brad Frost](https://bradfrost.com/)** (design systems; “Atomic Design” framing—b [...]
[...] ps thinkers as by “tool builders.” A few widely-followed voices with durable influence: - **[Don Norman](https://www.jnd.org/)** (human-centered design; cofounder of [Nielsen Norman Group](https://www.nngroup.com/)) - **[Jakob Nielsen](https://www.nngroup.com/people/jakob-nielsen/)** (usability; [Nielsen Norman Group](https://www.nngroup.com/)) - **[Julie Zhuo](https://www.juliezhuo.com/)** (product design leadership) - **[Brad Frost](https://bradfrost.com/)** (design systems; “Atomic Design” framing—book site: [atomicdesign.bradfrost.com](https://atomicdesign.bradfrost.com/)) - **[Ethan Marcotte](https://ethanmarcotte.com/)** (re [...]
[...] you tell me your target—enterprise, indie, agencies, education—I can narrow “emerging” to the startups most relevant to that buyer.) --- ## 7) Current trends that are reshaping buying decisions - **Design systems as a product** (documentation + tokens + governance): overview concept reference — [NN/g: Design Systems 101](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/design-systems-101/) - **Multiplayer collaboration + permissions + auditability** becoming enterprise requirements: [Figma for Enterprise](https://www.figma.com/enterprise/) - **AI inside the workflow** (asset generation, copy, layout, variations): [Adobe Firefly](https://firefly.adobe.com/) - **Design and engin [...]
[...] ssociation (IxDA)](https://ixda.org/)) - **[SmashingConf](https://smashingconf.com/)** (by [Smashing Magazine](https://www.smashingmagazine.com/)) - **[UXDX](https://uxdx.com/)** (design+dev+product process focus) - **[NN/g UX Conference](https://www.nngroup.com/training/ux-conference/)** (by [Nielsen Norman Group](https://www.nngroup.com/)) --- ## 9) Active professional communities (where practitioners actually share work) - **Tool-native communities** - [Figma Community](https://www.figma.com/community) - [Canva Community](https://community.canva.com/) - **Portfolio/showcase communities** - [Dribbble](https://dribbble [...]
[...] (IxDA)](https://ixda.org/events/interaction)** (by the [Interaction Design Association (IxDA)](https://ixda.org/)) - **[SmashingConf](https://smashingconf.com/)** (by [Smashing Magazine](https://www.smashingmagazine.com/)) - **[UXDX](https://uxdx.com/)** (design+dev+product process focus) - **[NN/g UX Conference](https://www.nngroup.com/training/ux-conference/)** (by [Nielsen Norman Group](https://www.nngroup.com/)) --- ## 9) Active professional communities (where practitioners actually share work) - **Tool-native communities** - [Figma Community](https://www.figma.com/community) - [Canva Community](https://community.canva.com/) - **Portfolio [...]
What does the Design Tools industry look like right now? Identify the dominant market leaders and brands, best products and services, key companies and providers, influential figures and thought leaders, emerging startups and trends, major conferences and events, active professional communities, and the top publications and media that cover this industry.
[...] rmer VP of Product Design at Facebook; author of *The Making of a Manager*. [The Inspiring Manager](https://www.inspiringmanager.com) * **Brad Frost:** Creator of **Atomic Design**. [Brad Frost’s Blog](https://bradfrost.com) * **Don Norman:** The grandfather of User Experience; founder of NN/g. [Nielsen Norman Group](https://www.nngroup.com) * **Debbie Millman:** Host of the *Design Matters* podcast. [Debbie Millman Official Site](https://www.debbiemillman.com) ### 5. Emerging Startups and Trends The current trend is **"Design-to-Code"** and **"AI-first design."** * **Framer:** Transitioning from a prototyping tool to a high-end [...]
What does the Design Tools industry look like right now? Identify the dominant market leaders and brands, best products and services, key companies and providers, influential figures and thought leaders, emerging startups and trends, major conferences and events, active professional communities, and the top publications and media that cover this industry.
[...] (https://www.reddit.com/r/UI_Design/). ### Top Publications and Media - **Smashing Magazine**: Tutorials/research. [Smashing Magazine](https://www.smashingmagazine.com/) - **Creative Bloq**: News/tools reviews. [Creative Bloq](https://www.creativebloq.com/) - **Nielsen Norman Group**: UX research. [NN/g](https://www.nngroup.com/) - **UX Collective (Medium)**: Opinion pieces. [UX Collective](https://uxdesign.cc/) - **It's Nice That**: Creative industry news. [It's Nice That](https://www.itsnicethat.com/) For deeper dives, check [Design Systems International](https://www.designsystems.com/) podcast/network. Data current as [...]