Tools of the UX trade

Use Google to search for UX tools, and you'll find results with terms such as A/B or split testing, accessibility, wireframing, mapping, user and usability testing, prototyping, evaluation, mobile app testing, analytics, and so on. Now, use Google to search for the term "choosing the right UX tools" or "the best UX tools," and an equally large number of resources appear. With so many options and so little time to learn them all, what's a UX practitioner to do?

While I use tools that are personal favorites, there are many more that I haven't tried. Once you begin trying them, you will probably find that a lot of them do pretty much the same thing. One wireframing tool is often as good as another, save perhaps for some additional features such as ease of use, price, and so on. Tools for technology are really not much different than tools for any other field. If I am building a bookshelf, any hammer, saw, and drill would work, but there is also nothing like using better...