As we dive into 2023, it's an exciting time to reflect on what's in store for Sketch and its community. In this open letter, our co-founders Pieter and Emanuel share their vision for the future, highlighting the latest updates and what's next for the design tool.
Over the past few months, we've refocused as a company, shifting our priorities to create a better product experience for you. With a smaller, more agile team, we're doubling down on innovation and making significant progress. As part of this journey, we want to share our plans with you and invite your feedback to shape what's next.
A Commitment to Swift App Development
At Sketch, we believe that design tools should cater to different use cases without compromising on quality. That's why we're building two great experiences: a native Mac app for designing and a web app for sharing, feedback, and developer handoff. This approach allows you to focus on your workflow without distractions.
Our Mac and web apps share a common goal – to support the craft of design. Every feature we add is designed with thought and respect for our users. We're committed to considering every detail to ensure seamless integration and intuitive use.
Short-Term Goals
In the near future, we'll be focusing on refining existing features, improving performance, and enhancing the overall experience in our Mac app. Our top priorities include Smart Layout, direct manipulation, components, and text. As we work on these updates, we invite you to join us for the journey.
To take things to the next level, we're introducing an Experimental Features menu in the Mac app. This feature allows you to try out new ideas without affecting your main workflow. We'll be sharing more about this update soon, and we encourage your feedback to shape future experimental features.
Long-Term Roadmap
While we have a clear vision for our short-term goals, we believe that our long-term roadmap should be shaped by the community. That's why we're opening up a conversation with you – our users – to help guide our development. We'll be sharing more about this in the coming weeks.
The New Community Forum
To facilitate meaningful conversations and gather feedback, we've launched our new community forum. This space is designed for asynchronous communication, open discussion, and easy access to answers and resources. We believe that by owning this space, we can create a better experience for everyone involved.
Join us in the coming weeks as we kick off an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session to discuss everything covered here. Your feedback will be invaluable in shaping our future roadmap.
Our Motivation
At Sketch, our motivation has always been to build great tools that help people like you create amazing things. We're committed to continuing this journey in a sustainable way – our way – and we're excited to do so for many more years to come.
Emanuel & Pieter