And this content—combined with a UI that is as close to frictionless as you can get—is the reason why TikTok has over 1.1 billion monthly active users and is growing at a frankly phenomenal rate.

We’ve written this article to explore that frictionless UI. We’ll analyze the key UI and UX principles that it’s based on and show you why and how they make it so successful.

We’ll go through four identifiable principles behind the TikTok UI: Fitts’s Law, Hick’s Law, the Doherty Threshold, and Miller’s Law. Finally, we’ll wrap things up with some key takeaways.

To skip ahead to a certain section, simply use this clickable menu:   

• Why is the TikTok UI so good?
  1. Swiping: Fitts’s Law and the TikTok UI
  2. Simplicity: Hick’s Law and the TikTok UI
  3. No thinking: Miller’s Law and the TikTok UI
  4. Instant rewards and user control: the Doherty Threshold and the TikTok UI 
• Key takeaways

Why is the TikTok UI so good?

As most users will attest, TikTok can be maddeningly addictive. 

The quality of its content, which is often outrageously funny, walks the line between flippant and profound.

Throw in a genius UI built for infinite scrolling and an algorithm that autoplays curated content, and you have an app that’s easy to get sucked into.

But the question of what makes the TikTok UI so good is one that hasn’t received the attention you might expect.

We found four key inter-related factors—based around UI and UX principles—that make TikTok’s UI so effective:

• Swiping (Fitts’s Law)
• Simplicity (Hick’s Law)
• Instant rewards and user control
• No thinking

1. Swiping: How Fitts’s Law and the TikTok UI

The first UX principle that TikTok is using to great effect in its UI is Fitt’s Law. Norman Nielsen Group (NNG), in their article, Fitts’s Law and Its Applications in UX, describe what the principles focuses on: 

“Fitts’s law gives us the relationship between the time it takes a pointer (such as a mouse cursor, a human finger, or a hand) to move to a particular target (e.g., physical or digital button, a physical object) in order to interact with it in some way (e.g., by clicking or tapping it, grasping it, etc.).”

Put into UX terms, Fitts’s Law is about the time it takes the user to acquire—in the case of TikTok’s UI, to touch—their target, i.e. whatever they want to touch. NNG explain the two keys aspects of the law:

1. The further away the target is, the longer it will take for the user to touch it—closer targets are easier to touch.
2. The larger the target, the shorter the time it will take for the user to move to it—bigger targets are easier to touch.

In the context of a mobile UI, this means bigger, closer things are easier to touch. How has this principle influenced TikTok’s UI design?

In a word: swiping.

Swiping gives users a target that’s about as big and as close as you can imagine.

Whether you’re holding your phone in your left hand, your right hand, or both, swiping with your thumb is always not just possible—it’s easy.

Because going to the next video is the most common action TikTok users do when they’re on the app, giving them a huge target—which is always close to their thumb— is a super smart UX decision.

And—as any of you who have jumped on for a quick scroll only to be sucked down the TikTok rabbit hole for 3 hours will know—it’s impossible to miss how Fitts’s Law played out in TikTok’s UI. It’s a key part of what’s an almost incomparably addictive experience.

2. Simplicity: Hick’s Law and the TikTok UI

Simplicity is often held up as a sign of a successful UI, and with good reason. 

Fourth on the list and one of the most important quotes in Emily Stevens’ blog 15 Inspirational UX Design Quotes is from Scott Belsky, a founder at Behance and Chief Product Officer at Adobe: “Rule of thumb for UX: More options, more problems.”

This quote is Hick’s Law—one of the several UX/UI principles about simplicity—in a nutshell.

Another way of describing Hick’s Law is that too many and too complicated choices make it less likely that a user will actually make a choice. The more choices you give a user the longer it will take them to make a decision, because analysis paralysis is more likely to occur.

The influence of this law can be seen multiple times in TikTok’s UI and UX. While many apps would guide new users through a product tour introducing them to a few different things they could do, TikTok simply plays them a video.

As this screenshot shows, simplicity is a key ingredient in the TikTok UI’s success.

This complete removal of choice is the ultimate characterization of Hick’s Law in UX.

Not only do new users not have a choice about what to do the first time they open the app, but they’re immediately exposed to that value we talked about in the introduction: endless, engaging (soon-to-be personalized) content.

There’s no learning curve, there’s no long, complex user journey, and there’s no transition from new user to expert user. TikTok’s simplicity is inclusive, and its inclusivity is its simplicity. 

Another place you can see Hick’s Law playing out in TikTok’s UI is in its simple UI. Everything a user might want to do in the app can be achieved intuitively and in a few clicks. By design, it’s virtually frictionless. 

As TikTok’s UI design team explained to Wired in their fascinating analysis, TikTok breaks all the rules of app design – but somehow it still works: 

“As a platform that encourages everyone to be a creator, our main goal is to lower the barriers for content creation, from app design to the editing tools and filters that we introduced.”

This removal of barriers for content creators leads to more and more content, so TikTok’s algorithm can create ever more personalized experiences. 

And the reduction of choice for users leads to a simple app that needs very little effort to use, which leads us on to the next principle at work behind TikTok’s UI. 

3. No thinking: Miller’s Law and the TikTok UI

Many of you will have heard of the legendary UX title by Steve Krug, Don’t Make Me Think. 

One of the goals many UX and UI designers keep in mind is not making the user think, and you don’t have to go far to see how this idea applies to the principles we’ve already covered.

A UX principle that’s closely linked to not making users think is Miller’s Law, which holds that the average person can only hold seven items (plus or minus two, so effectively between five and nine) in their working memory. (For a deep-dive into this principle, check out What is Miller’s Law in UX Design?.)

This means reducing the user’s cognitive load (the amount of mental effort it takes to complete a task) is crucial, and TikTok’s UI certainly doesn’t demand a lot of mental effort to use.

As well as the easy swiping we covered earlier, other key user actions are all easily achievable from within the thumb zone (the area a user can easily reach with their thumb).

A user can see the creator’s details, follow, like, comment, and share content from the sidebar on the right, which is conveniently located for the right-handed majority of users (depending on the source, somewhere between 70% and 90% of people are right-handed).

These actions are clearly visible with icons that are designed not to blend in with the video’s content in the background. On top of this, the vertical stacking of the icons on the right side of the thumb zone makes them extremely easy to do in between the main action—vertical scrolling.

All of this amounts to the majority of actions having very little cognitive load. TikTok’s UI makes it super easy for the user to do what they want, and this removal of distractions makes it all the more addictive. 

4. Instant rewards and user control: the Doherty Threshold and the TikTok UI  

The Doherty Threshold is a UX principle about the pace at which human-computer interaction takes place. It’s based on three simple ideas:

1. Apps and websites are more likely to hold a user’s attention when the user is made to feel like they’re in control of the interaction.
2. A user is more likely to feel in control of the interaction when they don’t have to wait for a response (specifically, they should see a response in less than 400 ms). 
3. Apps and websites that react quickly to the user’s actions are more likely to hold their attention.

When you use TikTok, you’ll notice that—internet and data issues aside—new content loads in your feed instantly. This means you get instant rewards in the form of new content.

It also means there are less opportunities for you to get distracted as a user. TikTok’s application of the Doherty Threshold is a big part of its addictiveness.

TikTok’s UI gives the user control over the interaction too. Not only can they easily swipe past content that doesn’t immediately engage them, they know that liking, commenting on, or sharing content will influence what they’re shown by the app.

The reality of whether it’s the app or the user really in control is both very much up for debate and something we don’t have the space to get into now.

But what’s not in doubt is that the instant rewards TikTok hands out—and the feeling of control accompanying them—combine to form a potent part of its addictiveness.

Now that we’ve looked and analyzed the four key UI and UX principles that combine to make TikTok’s UI as good as it is, let’s wrap things up with a few key takeaways.

Key Takeaways

There’s no doubt that TikTok’s UI is a huge reason behind its meteoric rise.

Not only does it allow users to get sucked into an immersive, customized experience easily, it makes content creation easier than ever. Anyone who wants to create content can easily do so on TikTok.

We explore four inter-linked factors—all based on key principles of UX and UI—that contribute to TikTok’s highly usable, highly addictive UI: swiping (Fitts’s Law), simplicity (Hick’s Law), no thinking (Miller’s Law), and instant rewards and user control (the Doherty Threshold).

While you’ll no doubt be able to spot some of these factors in other popular apps, it’s very possible that none of them employed them quite as intelligently as TikTok’s design team.   

Interested in learning more about how effective UI can make or break the success of a brand? Dive into our free short course.

And if you found this article interesting, you might like these, too:

• Mobile App UI Design: 10 Key Principles For Beginners
• How to Design a Mobile App User Interface Like a Pro
• 9 Of The Best Login Screen Examples

If you are a new designer just getting started, here are ten key points to keep in mind when designing your first mobile interface.

10 Key Considerations For Your First Mobile App Design Project

1. Users

Everything we do revolves around our users and their needs. Before coloring in the first pixel, stop to review your research.

Who are your users? What matters most to them? Why? Reference your personas throughout your design process and remember to put yourself in your user’s shoes. Are the choices you are making helping them accomplish their goals or getting in the way? Empathize always!

2. Platforms

iOS and Android require that we consider different style philosophies and platform-specific conventions. They don’t look or behave the same way. To create an app that a user feels at home in, aim to align with the guidelines that each platform offers.

If you’re designing for Android, you can find everything you need to know here. If you are designing for iOS, go here.

When creating bespoke UI components or elements for your interface, do so considering platform guidelines. Use color, typography, and any other visual design elements in a way that aligns with what is recommended. Yes, the structure will be new, but the elements will feel like they belong on the platform.

3. Branding

When designing a mobile interface, it’s important to consider the wider brand. If the app you’re creating is part of a family of products, you’ll need to adhere to the brand colors, logo, and typography. Which brings us onto the next key principle…

4. Consistency

Our screens are made up of a bunch of reusable parts, otherwise known as UI elements. When designing our first mobile app, our goal isn’t to be inventive with every instance, but rather, to keep these elements consistent. If primary buttons are blue and rounded, for example, they should always be blue and rounded, no matter where we use them.

We also want to be consistent with what is being done in other products, platform, and industry conventions. Aligning with what is commonly used elsewhere will help you create an interface that feels familiar to your users, making it easier for them to use it.

I like to use the example of the search icon with students. It’s a little magnifying glass, and appears as such everywhere. Are there other symbols that can say “search?” Absolutely. But, because they are not what we commonly see being used, any other icon would mean taking time to figure out what it does. This can create a frustrating user experience!

5. Spacing System

Before you begin, define a spacing system.

Spacing systems use a base number for your grid that will govern not only the space between elements, but also their dimensions.

Say we select the number 8 as our base number. Your grid, the space around elements, their dimensions, and even your type should then be informed by the number 8—or in other words, be multiples of 8. Here is a fantastic article detailing how to set one up.

6. Hierarchy

Hierarchy creates a visual order that makes content easy to digest and navigate.

We want to use the different visual design elements, like color, size and typography, to help us generate hierarchy on a screen. This will make it easy for the user to make his or her way around our app.

Before diving into a screen, ask yourself: what should the user be able to do here? We should prioritize elements that help the user perform this action.

7. Typography

From how it is set to what size it is, everything about your copy is hugely important! Text is a big part of interfaces. Pay close attention to:

1. The typeface you select. It should align with your branding
2. How type is set. Carefully kerning a headline or adjusting a paragraph makes a huge difference!
3. Size. Material Design offers a great typography section to help you define your sizes

8. Cursor versus Thumbs

On the web, we’ve got a nifty cursor to help us click on things. On a mobile phone, we’ve got our fingers.

Aim to create a comfortable tapping experience. When elements are too close to each other, for example, it is easy to tap on one meaning to tap on the other. This is frustrating!

Pull up your design on apps like Sketch Mirror and tap away. How comfortable is it?

9. Custom Components

You’ll want to align with native UI elements and platform-specific components as much as possible. However, you’ll almost always have to create a custom part.

When doing so, study how each platform recommends you use color, type, and other visual design elements. As you create this nifty new part, apply the best practices defined for each visual design element to it.

10. Microcopy

It may not be a visual design element, but the copy you use in your interface can make or break the experience. Carefully selecting the words you’ll use on buttons or error states, for example, can enhance the experience.

If you’re working with a copywriter, sit down with them to discuss what it should sound like and to share with them what the user should be able to do on every flow.

If you’re flying solo, reference your brand guidelines to define how your app should sound and propose copy that aligns with it.

Mobile App Design: The Takeaway

Your very first app can be scary, but don’t let fear get the best of you! Dive in and give it your best shot. Keep these considerations in mind, find the right mobile app design tool for you, and know your color palette—and chances are that you’ll do better than you might imagine.

And for an example of what a mobile app done right looks like, read our article on what makes the TikTok UI so good.

If you’d like to learn more about mobile app design, take a look at these guides:

• How To Design A Mobile App Interface Like A Pro
• 32 User Interface Elements For Designers: Your Ultimate Glossary
• What Are Gestalt Principles? A Guide For UX And UI Designers

It’s no wonder that the use of color is carefully deliberated before being integrated into the products and brand content of different companies. 

The introduction of different AI tools to the product design process has helped tasks like selecting color combinations and palettes be much easier and less tedious than before.

One such product has revolutionized this phase of the design process: Khroma, an online, AI-assisted color generation tool.

In this article, we’ll look at how Khroma has revolutionized product design and the best ways to utilize this helpful tool in your UX/UI design. Here’s what we’ll cover:

1. What is Khroma?
2. How to use Khroma 
   1. Ideation
   2. Prototyping
   3. Test
   4. Re-define
3. Closing thoughts

Let’s get started!

1. What is Khroma?

Khroma is an AI-powered color palette generation tool created with designers in mind. Using artificial intelligence, Khroma learns the colors designers like to work with and allows them to search, discover, edit, and save them in an online database.  

Created by designer George Hastings, Khroma is inspired by another useful color design tool called Color Claim. Color Claim is Tobias Van Schneider’s collection of just over 100 color combinations that he has generated over the years, displayed in a typographical format. 

Hastings was motivated by Schneider’s work but found it limited and wanted to create something more extensive and easier to generate than coming up with the palettes by hand.

Therefore, he thought to employ the use of AI to generate and display limitless color combinations effortlessly and via various formats. 

Since Khroma’s birth, this revolutionary AI has learned and been trained by thousands of popular color palettes used and created by humans from all over the web. The result is an unlimited database of personalized color palettes that designers can access, edit, and save on their web browsers. 

How it works

Khroma is an extremely user-friendly and completely free resource. When visiting Khroma.co, users will be asked to select 50 of their favorite colors from a large selection. The AI then generates an endless number of color combinations based on the favorites you selected. 

Once your color palettes have been generated, Khroma gives you many options to search through and edit them. You can view the palettes as text, image, gradient, or in a custom-uploaded picture. 

Users are also given the option to filter and search for specific palettes based on color, hue, tint, hex, and RGB value. Khroma allows you an unlimited library to save your favorite selections and access their CSS codes, WCAG accessibility ratings, and color names. 

Here are examples of the different ways you can view the computer-generated palettes:

Type

Poster

Gradient

Image

Palette

Khroma is an extremely accessible and user-friendly platform with endless color combinations for a variety of projects. The ability to save work on the online database makes it easy to view your favorite selections from your browser at any time without having to pay. 

It’s a great choice to use your projects as a designer or a useful tool to collaborate with clients, stakeholders, and other design teams.

Khroma helps give your brand or product a unique and effective edge by using the power of color to evoke emotion or induce an intended call to action. 

2. How to use Khroma 

Selecting the right color palettes for your designs is a crucial step in the design process.

Not only does color impact the user’s first impressions and the emotions they feel when viewing your product, but it also affects accessibility, readability, and, therefore, the overall usability of your design. 

As such, Khroma is an ingenious tool for UX and UI designers alike. Here are some ways to incorporate using Khroma in your design process: 

1. Ideation

This phase of the design process is a great place to introduce using Khroma. This is generally the place where your first ideas are beginning to form, and you’re getting an idea for what sort of solution you’ll create for the problem at hand. 

Many designers choose to create mood boards at this time in their process to start laying out the general theme and feel of the product at hand.

Using Khroma at this stage could help set the foundation for the overall feel of the website, app, or brand and what sort of emotions you’re trying to evoke through color. 

Bring Khroma to a brainstorming session or sit down with stakeholders to pick their favorite colors and go through which palettes you think will set the right tone and convey the proper message for the product.

You can also select multiple palettes that fit your needs and save them to test out later on. 

2. Prototyping

Now it’s time to integrate the colors you’ve set aside into a real representation of your best ideas for the product. Khroma makes it easy for you to find the color palettes you’ve selected on other prototyping tools by not only providing the name of the color but also the RGB value and the CSS code.

Therefore, no matter what prototyping software you are using, you’ll be able to find and keep track of the colors you’ll be using throughout your designs. 

Because Khroma allows you to upload your images into the color generator, you can take the necessary photos and icons you want to use in your designs and apply the correct color palette to them. This helps keep your designs cohesive and in line with the agreed-upon palette.

3. Test

Now that it’s time to test out your designs, you can see how well the generated color palettes you’ve chosen work in your product. You’ll want to pay close attention to any comments about readability and how the users say they feel when using the app or website.

Luckily, if things aren’t working out, you don’t have to scrap your entire color choices. Khroma makes it easy to adjust the palettes and edit the hue, tint, value, etc. so you can address accessibility issues easily. 

If at this stage you are still torn between a few color options, you can quickly create different color variations of your prototypes using the palettes Khroma provides and run some A/B testing with the various options.

You can do this for entire screens or upload PNGs of your icons, buttons, and other design elements to test more subtle changes.

4. Re-define

Once you’ve implemented your test results into the final designs, it’s time to look at your product and evaluate if any further changes could be made to improve the designs.

After a while on the market, you might find it necessary to re-brand or switch up your color schemes.

Fortunately, Khroma can save all your color preferences so you can go back and access some of your other favorite colors and palettes. 

Or, you can use other saved palettes for new projects that work well with similar color schemes. If it’s a completely different sort of project, you can refresh the auto-generated options or edit your original 50 selected colors to come up with even more variations. 

3. Closing thoughts

Khroma is a practical and convenient AI tool that has taken what other previous color selection tools lacked and found a solution.

Its database is unlimited and provides a plethora of useful methods to view, edit, and save your favorite selections to use for designs throughout your career.

It’s versatile, user-friendly, and can come up with more color palettes than you could ever do on your own in a faster and more organized way. 

Interested in learning more? Try our free UI design short course.

Want to learn more about color theory and different UX/UI design tools? Check out these related articles on the blog below:

• Figma vs. Sketch: Which Is the Better Tool for UI Design?
• Color Theory And Color Palettes — A Complete Guide [2023]
• The 10 Best AI Tools for UX Designers   

Perhaps you’re a UI designer with a few years’ experience, seeking your next challenge in the form of a new role.

Either way, searching for jobs is a time-consuming yet necessary endeavor — so how can you make it less painful and more productive?

We’ll show you how.

In this guide, we’re going to shed some much-needed light on UI designer job descriptions and what they really mean. First, though, we’ll show you where to find relevant UI job ads. We’ll also take a look at how employers distinguish between different levels of seniority in the UI design field, exploring which UI design skills are essential and which are simply nice-to-have.

In this guide, we will cover:

1. A list of the most useful online job boards for UI design roles
2. The UX/UI conundrum: Why are UX and UI roles often advertised as one?
3. UI designer job descriptions: What skills and experience are required?
4. Junior UI designer roles
5. Mid-weight UI designer roles
6. Senior UI designer roles
7. Key takeaways and further reading

There’s more to UI designer job descriptions than you might think, so don’t start your job search without this guide to hand.

1. Searching for UI design jobs

Before we start looking at UI designer job descriptions in detail, you need to know where to focus your job search. To help you get started, here are some of the most useful online portals for design jobs:

• AIGA
• Authentic Jobs
• Behance
• Coroflot
• Dribbble
• Glassdoor
• Indeed
• LinkedIn

When searching these portals for UI design roles, you may notice that there’s a huge variety in the results that come up.

If you search for “UI designer” or “user interface designer” jobs on Indeed, for example, you’ll get between 2500 and 6000 results. However, the job ads shown feature a range of different job titles, such as product designer, web designer, brand designer and visual designer. Be sure to read these job descriptions carefully; it may just be a UI designer role hiding under a different name!

You’ll also see that a search for UI designer roles pulls up a lot of UX designer job ads. So what’s the deal with that?!

2. The UX/UI conundrum: Why are UX and UI design roles often advertised as one?

If you’re familiar with the day-to-day tasks of a UI designer, you’ll know that there are many differences between UX and UI, and, technically speaking, they are two separate roles. However, many companies seek UX/UI designers under one job title.

There are many possible reasons for this. It’s not uncommon for startups and smaller companies to hire a single designer as opposed to an entire design team, in which case it’s important to find a candidate who has both UX and UI skills.

In larger companies, it may be that they are looking for someone to support both the UX and the UI designers in their day-to-day tasks, so again, an understanding of both is key.

If you are strictly a UI designer by trade, it can be off-putting to see the word UX pop up every time you search for jobs.

But don’t let this deter you!

Before you dismiss the role altogether, be sure to read the job description carefully. In many cases, it’s enough to have a basic understanding of user experience principles. Indeed, UX and UI design go hand in hand; it’s impossible to create awesome user interfaces without understanding how they contribute to the overall user experience.

Go through every job description with a fine tooth comb in order to gauge how much UX knowledge is really needed. If you’ve mastered the fundamentals of UI, the chances are you already know more about UX than you think.

3. UI designer job descriptions: What skills and experience are required?

The role of the UI designer can mean different things to different companies. In smaller teams and startups, it’s not unusual for the UI design role to incorporate a broader range of tasks and responsibilities — such as user research, or a deeper knowledge of UX principles.

In a larger company with a bigger design team, you might find that the role of each designer is more clear-cut. In this case, you can probably expect to be working strictly on user interface design.

With that said, there are certain skills and requirements that most — if not all — UI designer job descriptions will focus on.

Let’s take a look at the most common elements you will come across during your UI design job search, starting with junior UI designer job descriptions.

4. Junior UI designer job descriptions

If you’re a newly qualified UI designer, you might focus your search on junior positions.

Junior roles tend to require between 0-2 years’ experience, and there is a strong focus on soft skills. At this stage, employers are looking for someone who has not only mastered the fundamentals of UI, but who is ready to learn and hit the ground running.

Here are some of the key skills you can expect to see in a junior UI designer job ad:

Hard skills

• Experience with web and mobile app design.
• Working knowledge of responsive design and grid principles.
• Strong typography, layout and visual design skills.
• Working knowledge of industry tools: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Balsamiq, Omnigraffle, InVision, Sketch.
• Working knowledge of the ideation and creation of UI design deliverables: Sitemaps, user flows, wireframes, lo-fi and hi-fi layouts, prototypes.

Soft skills

• Strong attention to detail.
• Proactive, independent working style.
• Strong communication and teamwork skills.
• Effective time management and ability to prioritize tasks.
• Strong attention to detail.
• Desire to learn and grow as a designer.

Nice-to-haves

• Working knowledge of HTML, JavaScript and CSS.
• Experience creating rapid prototypes.

Don’t be put off by the “nice-to-haves”, which will often be listed under “preferred skills and experience.” Frontend languages, for example, don’t technically count as a UI design skill. As a junior UI designer especially, it’s certainly not a deal-breaker if you don’t know how to code.

You don’t need to tick every single box in order to apply for the job. As long as you can demonstrate a willingness to learn, it doesn’t matter if there are gaps in your skillset. A junior design role should give you the opportunity to learn from senior designers; if you have the right soft skills and a demonstrable passion for UI, an exact skills match is by no means essential.

5. UI designer job descriptions

So what happens when you delete the “junior” part and just search for user interface designer roles?

UI designer job descriptions vary greatly from company to company, but the years of experience required tends to range between 3 and 6.

As a UI designer with a few years’ experience under your belt, you’ll be expected to take a more leading role, working closely with developers, product managers, copywriters and other designers. You’ll need to deliver in line with time and budget restraints, and be able to confidently make — and defend — design decisions.

Here are some of the skills, requirements and responsibilities that frequently appear in UI designer job descriptions:

Tasks and responsibilities

• Develop standard UI components and style guides for company-wide use.
• Effectively communicate your designs to developers and other key stakeholders.
• Address product, marketing and business needs.
• Conduct industry research and stay up-to-date on best practices, competitor UI designs and emerging technologies.
• Provide support and internal training.
• Conduct, observe and analyse usability testing sessions.
• Develop consistent, intuitive architectures.
• Support the QA team to make sure features are implemented as intended.

Skills

• Ability to innovate and develop out-of-the-box solutions to complex user interaction problems.
• Strong presentation skills.
• Experience with HTML5, CSS3 and the use of various JavaScript frameworks in interface design.

There it is again — the request for frontend coding skills. After a few years in the industry, you may notice that this becomes more of a requirement than a nice-to-have for many companies.

While many will argue that this is not a UI design skill (and it’s not), learning to code can enrich your work as a designer. Why should designers learn to code? Find out here.

6. Senior UI designer job descriptions

For a senior UI design role, most job ads ask for at least 5 or 6 years’ professional experience.

So, from an employer’s perspective, what sets senior UI designers apart?

As a senior UI designer, you will be expected to lead and oversee the company’s entire UI strategy. A senior role may see you managing a team of designers, providing training and mentorship. Together with the UX team, you’ll be responsible for building and implementing a design thinking culture.

Senior UI designers tend to take a more strategic, analytical role, so you’ll need to be extremely comfortable with data.

Let’s consider what you might find in a senior UI designer job description:

Tasks and responsibilities

• Manage design libraries and design systems with adherence to product branding requirements.
• Oversee the development and delivery of effective user interfaces.
• Manage a team of junior UI designers, providing training and support.
• Work with digital analytics team to assess the impact of all UI design and usability changes.
• Assist with user research, interviews, surveys and usability studies, translating findings into wireframes and prototypes.

Skills

• Ability to lead and direct design thinking for a wide range of products.
• Expert knowledge of UI design principles and techniques.
• Strong team management skills.
• Expert knowledge of responsive design and mobile UI.
• Strong working knowledge of HTML5/XHTML, CSS3 and JavaScript.
• Ability to perform in a fast paced, high stress design process under minimal supervision.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills, and ability to present work to executives and large groups.
• Proven experience mentoring or managing other UI designers.

As you can see, senior UI designers are an integral part of the business. In addition to fundamental UI design skills, you’ll need to bring strong business know-how and leadership skills to the table.

7. UI designer job descriptions: The takeaway

As already mentioned, different companies will expect different things from a UI designer. Your role will vary depending on a wide range of factors, including the product type, the current team, and the size of the company.

When it comes to UI designer job descriptions, it’s important to separate the essential skills and qualifications from the “nice-to-haves”. Employers will often treat job descriptions as a wishlist, so don’t be deterred from applying just because you don’t tick every single box.

For more tips and advice on building your UI design career, check out the following:

• A senior UI designer’s advice on how to break into the industry
• What qualifications do you need to become a UI designer?
• Essential tools for UI designers: A beginner’s guide
• How much will I earn as a UI designer?

To help you to stay ahead of the game, we’ve rounded up five trends that are set to shake things up in 2023.

1. Dark interfaces
2. Micro-interactions
3. Voice UI
4. Designing for 5G
5. Functional design 
6. Final thoughts 

Without further ado, let’s dive right in!

1. Dark interfaces

Many designers are already opting for dark mode on their websites and apps. But with both Apple and Android introducing two types of dark mode (Force Dark Mode and System Dark Mode) and applications like Microsoft and Google releasing dark versions of their e-mail apps, dark UI design is set to flourish in 2023. Boasting a reduction in eye strain and screen glare, dark mode is fast becoming a preference for health-conscious mobile device users.

It’s not just users who are enjoying the benefits of dark mode; designers are also increasingly drawn to the mesmerizing colors, sharp lines, and clear separations that feature as part of a dark user interface. If you’re sensing dark mode’s growing popularity and would like to add dark UI design into your arsenal for later, this is a trend worth getting ahead of.

New to the world of mobile app design? Here’s a guide for you: Mobile app design for beginners. And if you’re ready to dive in and get designing for mobile, here are 12 mobile app design tools to try out.

2. Micro-interactions

While they may not necessarily be a ‘new’ trend, micro-interactions are nevertheless a trend worth watching in 2023. Typically found all over your electronic device and within most apps, micro-interactions can make the difference between a good website or app and an exceptional one. Every micro-interaction on a user interface tells a story, sets the atmosphere, and helps to establish a brand’s personality.

With micro-interactions, it’s possible to experiment with new design solutions and look for new ways to surprise your users. Reflect on how your users would interact with the platform, then design the appropriate interaction to engage with them along the way. One thing’s for sure: as the use of micro-interactions increases, any website or app that lacks them may get overshadowed.

3. Voice UI

Voice user interface is one of the biggest trends that will continue to dominate in 2023—so much so that mouses and keyboards have already started to become redundant. It was predicted that in 2022 50% of households would own smart speaker devices. Not to mention the rise of voice notes on WhatsApp and general use of voice for search. According to one source, over 40% of adults use voice search at least once per day. Voice UI can guide users and help them to navigate complex digital products without substantial assistance from other features, such as screens.

The most significant advantage of using voice UI is that it eliminates the requirement for a graphical user interface, and elevates the user experience of your website or app.

(Along these lines, if you want to break into UI design, you should learn a little about Zero UI.)

4. Designing for 5G

It’s been almost a decade in the making, but 5G has finally landed—and it’s set to completely revolutionize the way we design. While 5G has already started making appearances in cities around the U.S, much more comprehensive rollouts can be expected in 2023.

Combined with significantly better mobile display quality, 5G will enable designers to be a lot more experimental when it comes to animating texts, fonts, and graphics. A website with static images and contents may still be acceptable now, but with the rise of 5G on the horizon, designers are fast recognizing the need to step up their mobile UI design game.

5. Accessible design

The demand for accessible design has rightfully skyrocketed in recent years—and in 2023, we predict (and hope) that it will increasingly be seen as a necessity rather than an afterthought. Users with permanent, temporary, or situational disabilities interact with a website or app in different ways, and adopting an inclusive mindset is essential for designing a product that everyone can enjoy.

Accessible design can take the form of gesture recognition technologies, voice input, fully responsive layout, consistent navigation, accessible audio/video elements, transcripts, captions in audio/video content, and high-contrast color combinations. Whatever you do in 2023, ensure you’re taking on an accessibility-first approach.

To learn more, check our our handy guide on what not to do when getting started in UI design.

6. Final thoughts

So there we have it, five exciting UI design trends to keep you on your toes in the new year. Staying abreast of new trends won’t just challenge and improve your skills as a UI designer; it will also ensure you remain in tune with the shapeshifting needs and preferences of your users. You’ll also enjoy the added bonus of always being one step ahead of the competition as we enter a brand new decade in design.

Diversifying your reading list, attending regular UI design networking events, frequenting UI design blogs, and completing design challenges are just a few ways to stay in the know of new and emerging trends in the burgeoning field of UI design. Remember, keeping an open mind is key!

For more 2023 trends from a UI design expert, check out this video:

For even more UI design trends, check out these 8 typography trends that will transform your user interface. Want to explore the field of UI design in more detail? Check out these blog posts:

• 8 Websites with amazing UI design
• 7 ways to improve your skills as a UI designer
• 10 examples of beautiful blogs that have nailed their UI design
• Why I’m switching from graphic design to UI design

The impact of AI on UI design has been outstanding, with artificial intelligence technology continuing to integrate into our apps, websites, and design tools.

As such, the number of AI tools for UI design has skyrocketed in just the past three years, completely revolutionizing how designers go about their work. Not only are designers learning how to design products that utilize AI features, but they’re also using AI tools to expedite and enhance the UI design process. 

We’ve researched the best AI tools for UI design and compiled a list of the top 10. Use the clickable menu to go to any directly:

1. Khroma
2. Balsamiq
3. Uizard
4. Mockplus
5. Adobe Firefly
6. Dall E-2
7. Genius AI
8. Predict AI
9. Visily
10. ChatGPT

Let’s get started!

Top 10 AI tools for UI design

There are so many options for UI designers to utilize time-saving AI tools in their designs. The popularity of using AI tools for UI design has increased the demand, and software developers are consistently churning out new, cutting-edge products. 

We’ve sifted through many of them and compiled a list of the top 10 AI tools for UI designers. We’ll go into their features, cost, how they work, and how easy they are to use. 

1. Khroma

Khroma revolutionizes the landscape of UI design by offering a harmonious blend of science and creativity. 

With Khroma, designers are empowered with an AI-driven tool that suggests color palettes based on the principles of color theory and human psychology. Seamlessly integrated into the design workflow, Khroma assists in selecting colors based on inputted preferences that evoke the desired emotions and enhance user experiences. 

By analyzing existing designs or concepts, Khroma generates a curated palette that not only maintains aesthetic coherence but also introduces innovative combinations. 

This intuitive, free platform expedites the color selection process, enabling designers to focus more on crafting captivating interfaces that resonate with users.

2. Balsamiq

Balsamiq redefines the UI design process with its intelligent and user-friendly features. This AI tool enhances the wireframing experience by intuitively suggesting layout elements, components, and structures based on user prompts. 

By understanding the design context and objectives, Balsamiq AI generates rapid and relevant wireframe prototypes that are a strong foundation for design iterations. 

Its ability to anticipate user needs and design patterns streamlines the ideation phase, allowing designers to focus on refining the user experience. 

It is incredibly user-friendly and a great choice for beginner designers. Balsamiq offers a 30-day free trial and payment plans that range from $90 to $1990 per year, depending on the number of projects worked on at one time (anywhere from two to 200).

3. Uizard

Uizard introduces a groundbreaking approach to UI design by leveraging the power of AI and automation. 

With Uizard, the process of turning ideas into tangible designs is streamlined through its advanced technology. Not only is it intuitive, but it’s also cost-effective. 

Select from a limited free plan, an all-access Pro plan for $12 per month, or a business plan that offers unlimited features plus priority support for $39 per month.  

By transforming hand-drawn sketches or verbal descriptions into interactive prototypes, Uizard enables designers and non-designers alike to quickly visualize their concepts. 

The AI-driven platform accurately interprets user input, suggesting design elements, layouts, and color schemes that align with the intended aesthetic and functionality. This accelerates the design cycle and encourages collaboration, as teams can rapidly iterate and refine their creations. 

4. Mockplus

Mockplus stands out as an invaluable tool in the realm of UI design, offering a comprehensive platform that simplifies the creation of interactive prototypes. 

By integrating design and functionality, Mockplus empowers designers to visually construct interfaces while incorporating responsive interactions and animations. 

Its intuitive drag-and-drop interface ensures an effortless and efficient design process, suitable for both beginners and seasoned professionals. 

With a rich library of pre-designed components, incredibly affordable payment plans ($0, $4.95/month, or custom), and a user-friendly collaboration system, Mockplus enhances teamwork and accelerates project development. 

By enabling designers to visualize user journeys and test interactions, Mockplus significantly improves the user experience design, leading to refined and user-centric interfaces.

5. Adobe Firefly

This exciting new platform fuses the well-loved Abode tools with generative AI. Its familiar interface and specialized features enable designers to craft intricate user interfaces with precision. 

Users simply input descriptive and qualifying text prompts to create brand-specific images, pictures, and more. Just describe the desired image and Firefly will provide it. 

Furthermore, images or text that have already been created can be uploaded and the AI will provide different variations and styles.

Because it is still in beta, Adobe Firely is currently free to use. Or, it is available for use with Photoshop via Creative Cloud subscription. 

From creating pixel-perfect assets to possibly video and animation features in the future, Adobe Firefly has consistently delivered the flexibility and functionality necessary to bring UI concepts to life in a cohesive and visually compelling manner.

6. Dall E-2

Integrating DALL-E 2 into UI design has been a remarkable leap forward in unleashing creativity and innovation. 

This AI-powered tool has expanded the boundaries of traditional design by generating unique, imaginative, or even realistic visuals from simple language inputs. 

One of the many revolutionary OpenAI products, DALL-E 2 transforms textual prompts into vivid visuals. Furthermore, Dall E-2 will accept existing images or pictures and give hundreds of variations back. 

DALL E-2 pricing is a super simple credit-based system. Just $15 gives you 115 credits each with each credit supplying 4 images based on one prompt. 

This accessible fusion of artificial intelligence and UI design has not only accelerated the ideation process but also added a fresh layer of artistic expression to evoke emotions through visuals that were previously unattainable.

7. GeniusUI

This innovative tool empowers designers to effortlessly craft dynamic and interactive elements, breathing life into digital experiences. 

Still yet to be fully released, it aims to help designers swiftly prototype and refine designs with ease. It has an extensive library of pre-built components that give the flexibility to customize and adapt elements according to specific project needs. 

Using ChatGPT-powered technology, GeniusUI can understand inputted design requirements and generate high-fidelity components compatible with many popular frontend frameworks like Angular, React, and Vue. 

Cost is not currently available as users can only sign up for the waitlist at this time. GeniusUI promises to be an easy-to-use tool for startups, small businesses, or larger enterprises. 

8. Predict AI

Predict AI (formerly Visual Eyes) has revolutionized UI design by providing an immersive and comprehensive platform for visualizing user behavior in real-world contexts. 

Predict AI is a heat mapping software that quickly gives UI creatives valuable information about their designs by simulating how designs will interact and engage with users across different devices and scenarios. 

The ability to view and iterate designs within their intended environments has significantly improved the accuracy of UI designers’ creative decisions, ensuring seamless user experiences. 

This is a great option for UI designers with little budget or time to conduct eye-tracking studies themselves.

9. Visily

This AI-powered design tool takes ideation to the next level that takes various types of prompts, like text, screenshots, URLs, sketches, or templates and transforms them into editable wireframes and prototypes. 

Visily comes with the option to design for lo-fi or hi-fi mockups, as well as an AI design assistant that helps correct common issues. 

The real-time collaboration features allow for seamless teamwork and communication, and the ability to generate responsive designs allows you to see how designs will adapt to various screen sizes and devices.

Visily’s over 1000 free templates and beginner-friendly features are still free right now with their Starter plan. However, Visily will soon launch a paid Pro version with more AI credits, priority support, and more. Sign-up and onboarding are especially easy, and all your designs are yours to own, even in the free Starter plan.

10. ChatGPT

This OpenAI product may not be an obvious choice when considering AI for UI design. 

However, with a few simple steps, ChatGPT can quickly provide you with the HTML code necessary to make your UI elements come to life. Simply input a text prompt describing the requirements of the UI element desired (e.g., oval, purple button with a gray shadow that says Sign Up), and ChatGPT will give you the code you can edit or integrate into your designs.

While not a completely adequate AI tool for UI design, in combination with other front-end development software like CodePen, ChatGPT can be a quick, free, and accessible option for a prompt-based AI tool. 

While there is a paid Pro package for $20/month, the free version of ChatGPT is still incredibly sufficient. 

Read our full guide on how to use ChatGPT for UI design here.

Closing thoughts

Artificial intelligence has been integrated into many aspects of our everyday life. 

In recent years, UI designers have benefitted from the copious AI software that makes their daily tasks easier and enhances the quality of their designs. 

These AI tools for UI design not only expedite the UI process but can also take the creativity and innovation of our everyday apps, websites, and digital products to the next level. 

Looking to dive into the world of UI design? Try our free short course.

If you’re interested in learning more about UI design, AI, and related topics, check out these articles below:

• 9 Great AI Data Analytics Tools to Use in 2023
• The 10 Best AI Tools for UX Designers
• How Will AI Impact UX Design?

But don’t dismiss the AI tool completely—although it can’t compete with your average UI designer, there are still ways to use ChatGPT to lighten your daily workload.

Spending a few hours learning to harness ChatGPT for UI design could quickly pay off if it saves you even an hour a week.

In this article, we’ll first outline the basics of the AI tool. We’ll then go over some ideas for how you can use ChatGPT for UI design and walk you through nine of the best prompts. Finally, we’ll wrap things up with a few key takeaways.

You can use this clickable menu to skip ahead to a certain section:

1. What is ChatGPT?
2. How to use ChatGPT for UI design
3. 9 Best ChatGPT prompts for UI design
   1. Checkout prompt
   2. Interactive elements prompt
   3. Color schemes and typography prompt
   4. Error message prompt
   5. Onboarding flow prompt
   6. Feedback form prompt
   7. Layout concepts prompt
   8. UI elements prompt
   9. Microinteraction ideas prompt
4. Round-up

1. What is ChatGPT?

We’re sure most of you will be familiar with ChatGPT by now, but let’s start with a quick intro to the chatbot for those who aren’t.

ChatGPT—or, to use its complete name, Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer, is a large language model-based (LLM) chatbot.

Developed by U.S. artificial intelligence research lab OpenAI and launched on November 30, 2022, it’s renowned for its remarkable conversational and research abilities.  

ChatGPT’s core function is to mimic conversation, and it can do this very well, as users can easily steer conversations with it to the length, tone, format, and language (within limits) they want.

Additionally, ChatGPT is versatile enough to serve a whole host of other functions. Some of these include:

• Generate business ideas and creative concepts (such as names and branding strategies)
• Write fiction, poetry, and song lyrics
• Write and debug software
• Translate text into various languages

Of course, the quality of its output can vary greatly depending on several factors, including the user’s input or prompt. We’ll get on to that later.

So, now that we’ve looked at what ChatGPT is and a bit of the story around it, let’s look at which parts of UI design it can be used for.

2. How to use ChatGPT for UI design

Before we go into specific prompts you can use for ChatGPT in the next section, it’s worth taking a wider look at the kinds of ways it can help you with UI design.

To keep it simple, it helps to think about three broad ways you can use ChatGPT in UI design:

Idea generation and refinement

ChatGPT is useful for quickly coming up with multiple design ideas and then helping you refine them. You can prompt it with your context, requirements, and early concept and ask for support in creating more detailed ideas.

Alternatively, you could prompt it with a more concrete, developed concept and ask for an analysis of its strengths and weaknesses.

Its ideas won’t be fully formed and can’t include visuals, of course, but they will likely be helpful as a starting point for your design exploration.

Creating checklists for concepts and early designs

When prompted with the right context and requirements, ChatGPT can help you by suggesting user flows, navigation structures, and typical features.

You could also work with it to create broader design concepts, layout ideas, typography options, and possible color palettes, as well as options for interactive elements like input forms, buttons, menus, and other interactive elements.

Draft content generation

This will be especially useful if you’re not confident in your writing ability or you’re on a team that doesn’t have the support of a dedicated content designer, UX writer, or copywriter (although, of course, ChatGPT cannot create content of the same quality as a professional writer).

Giving ChatGPT the context around your UI and user journeys and asking it for clear and concise options for your UI copy–for example, labels, descriptions, tooltips, modals, error messages, and so on–can be productive. You can even prompt it for suggestions in line with your brand’s voice and tone.  

The more seasoned UI designers of you might be reading this and thinking these are all second nature. And that may well be true. But for those who are a bit fresher or perhaps struggle slightly in one or more of the above areas, ChatGPT could add some value.

 Now, let’s look at 9 specific prompts–related to these three areas–that can help you generate ideas from ChatGPT.

9 Best ChatGPT prompts for UI design

1. Checkout prompt

Use it for: A quick checklist to make sure your checkout UI ticks off the essentials.

Prompt: Design a user-friendly checkout process for an e-commerce website with an emphasis on reducing cart abandonment.

Output:

(All outputs are reduced for the sake of space, but you can head over to ChatGPT with the prompts to see what you get.)

2. Interactive elements for engagement prompt

Use it for: Getting lots of quick ideas for interactive elements to explore further.

Prompt: “Generate ideas for interactive elements that encourage user engagement in a fitness-tracking app.”

Output:

3. Color schemes and typography prompt

Use it for: A starting point for exploration, discussion, and further research around color schemes and typography.

Prompt: “Suggest color schemes and typography for a finance management app that conveys trust and reliability.”

Output:

4. Error message prompt

Use it for: Generating quick copy ideas for a cookies modal or similar. 

Prompt: “Write copy for a modal telling users about a website’s cookies policy. Write it in an approachable tone.“

Output:

5. Onboarding flow prompt

Use it for: Ideas on potential onboarding flows and understanding what they might typically look like.

Prompt: “Create a user flow for onboarding in a language learning app. Emphasize the ease of use for beginners.”

Output:

6. Feedback form prompt

Use it for: Quick ideas on how to structure and create a feedback form. 

Prompt: “Design a feedback form that encourages users to provide detailed insights for a product improvement app.”

Output:

7. Layout concepts prompt

Use it for: Brainstorming potential layout concepts.

Prompt: “Generate layout concepts for a minimalist portfolio website that effectively showcases a photographer’s work.”

Output:

8. UI elements prompt

Use it for: Getting a quick overview of commonly used UI elements in dashboards. 

Prompt: “Suggest UI elements for a clean and modern dashboard to display sales analytics.”

Output:

9. Microinteraction ideas prompt

Use it for: Generating fast microinteraction options as a platform to explore from.

Prompt: “Suggest microinteraction ideas to make a social media feed more engaging without overwhelming the user.”

Output:

4. Round-up

As we’ve already stated, ChatGPT can’t be used for the vast majority of UI design, and it won’t replace UI designers in the foreseeable future.

It can, however, be a useful tool to help UI designers to some extent with some parts of their jobs. 

It can speed up idea generation and refinement, quickly create checklists for concepts and early designs, and create basic content and copy drafts.

So whether you’re an aspiring or established UI designer, some time spent exploring, creating, and tweaking prompts might be a good long-term investment, especially as its capabilities and functions are only going to expand. 

It doesn’t end there—discover the best AI tools for UI design in this article.

Want to learn more about the world of UI design? Try our free short course.

And if you enjoyed this article, then you might also like these:

• The Impact of AI on UI: Why AI Won’t Replace UI Designers
• ChatGPT for UX Design: The Top 15 Prompts
• The Best UI Design Bootcamps: And How To Choose One

This concern certainly doesn’t spare tech employees, and even creative positions like user interface designers are worried AI UI design will be more profitable to companies than hiring actual employees. 

So, how will AI affect the UI design industry, and what can current and prospective designers expect as this new technology permeates our work culture? In this article, we’ll go through the top concerns about AI for UI design. Here’s what we’ll cover:

1. The impact of AI on UI design
2. Can AI replace UI designers?
3. What are the AI tools for UI design?
4. How to use AI in UI design
5. Key takeaways

Let’s get started!

1. The impact of AI on UI design

Utilizing AI for UI design seems like a relatively new topic. However, generative AI has been in use for a few years now. Most notable was the introduction of Einstein Designer from Salesforce in 2020, which aimed to use neural networks to rapidly generate multiple versions of a design. 

Ultimately, a human would sort through the variations and pick the best design, drastically cutting down the time it would take to create and review the same number of iterations on their own.

Since then, many different AI-driven design tools have become commercially available, including Genius, Magician, and Galileo. 

Most of the AI tools in use today still require a human to guide the AI by inputting parameters on what they want to see and then sorting through the output. The results are quicker, more diverse, and often expand what the human mind can produce at such speeds. 

AI for UI design is not limited to creating frameworks or designs for a web-based product.

It can also help UI designers sift through a vast amount of preliminary data or research that they can then use to guide their design process. 

UI designers may also have to account for AI being integrated into the product they are designing and thus must understand current and best practices for designing AI products for users. 

2. Can AI replace UI designers?

This question doesn’t warrant a strict “yes” or “no” answer, as the emergence and practice of AI UI design is quite complex.

AI certainly has the potential to transform the UI field as we know it, but many argue that it won’t ever be able to completely eradicate the need for the human eye. 

To answer this question, let’s first look at how advanced artificial intelligence is today and what experts propose could happen in the future.

These are three main categories of AI:

• Artificial Narrow Intelligence: AI that has a narrow or weak range of capabilities. It can only complete the single task it was programmed to do. It simulates human behavior but can not match it. This is the only level of AI we have been able to successfully achieve today. 
• Artificial General Intelligence: This level of AI is proposed to be on par with human intelligence. It can learn and use its knowledge to solve problems. For this level of AI to be possible, we would need to be able to program consciousness and full cognitive ability. 
• Artificial Super Intelligence: The highest proposed level of AI, super intelligence, would mean that AI not only becomes self-aware but also surpasses human capability and function. This form of AI is often what sci-fi and dystopian novels or movies depict when robots have their own needs, emotions, and identities and can outperform any human. 

If we do reach the level of artificial superintelligence, designers, and many other professions, will probably face heavy competition from AI systems. But that level of AI is unlikely at this stage and may not come to fruition in our lifetimes or ever. 

Currently, AI UI design is not complete or functional enough to completely replace a UI designer.

The knowledge a human designer brings, like user research, visual design, user behavior, and company preference, is still necessary for creating efficient designs with or without AI UI tools. 

While AI may be able to replace a UI designer for certain tasks, it can not fully replace them as a human is still needed to input information into the AI system and select what works and what doesn’t. 

Although anyone could just input qualifiers into the AI and pick the one they like best, a UI designer brings extensive knowledge as well as a competitive edge to the process, which makes them the best fit for the job. 

Not to mention, many people still desire and can tell the difference between the instinct, skill, and ability that only a human can provide when creating progressive designs.  

3. What are the AI tools for UI design?

There are many AI tools available for UI designers to make their day-to-day responsibilities a bit swifter and easier. Here are a few popular ones in use today:

Khroma

This innovative color tool is a wonderful choice for selecting colors and color palettes for your designs. 

This AI is quick to train and puts out endless selections of color palettes based on your preferences. You simply input your 50 favorite colors, and Khroma gives you back thousands of other similar shades grouped into palettes.

It even organizes them into their most popular uses, like text, gradients, or pictures, and allows designers to test the colors out on their original images. 

Uizard

This tool is the perfect choice when using AI for designing wireframes, prototypes, and mockups. Users have a few different options when using the Uizard platform. 

They can generate a mobile or desktop app from scratch using a sketch, or they can browse through hundreds of customizable templates for inspiration. Additionally, it will provide all screens and elements necessary to create a prototype testing the core feature of the app.

Adobe Firefly

This exciting new tool combines the popular and treasured Abode tools and generative AI. Users just input descriptive and qualifying text prompts to create brand-specific images, pictures, and more. 

You can simply describe the image you want to generate and Firefly will provide it. Furthermore, you can select images or text you’ve already created and ask AI to provide you with tons of different variations and styles. 

Dall E-2 

This popular AI tool took the world by storm when people saw how easy it was to create realistic images from simple language inputs.

One of the several revolutionary OpenAI products, Dall E-2 is a go-to for many creative professionals when looking to source photo-realistic pictures or images. 

The AI will accept text images as initial input meaning you can enter an existing picture or design and receive hundreds of variations back. 

Visual Eyes 

Visual Eyes is a heat mapping software that quickly gives UI creatives valuable information about their designs.

By inputting their screens into the software, the AI algorithm will process them using data from previous extensive studies about user behavior and give back visual heatmap reports within seconds. 

This is a great option for UI designers with little budget or time to conduct eye-tracking studies themselves.

Visily

This AI-powered design tool takes ideation to the next level that takes various types of prompts, like text, screenshots, URLs, sketches, or templates, and transforms them into editable wireframes and prototypes. 

Visily comes with the option to design for lo-fi or hi-fi mockups as well as an AI design assistant that helps correct common issues. 

It’s a great choice for using inspiration from other design systems or coming up with different ideations for your existing product.

If you liked these, be sure to read our full guide on how to use ChatGPT for UI design.

4. How to use AI in UI design

AI technology can be difficult to comprehend and even more overwhelming to incorporate into your daily life.

Luckily, with tools like the ones mentioned above, AI UI design has become accessible and extremely helpful to designers in the field today. 

• AI for UI design can be used to drastically cut down on time and resources by offering more in-depth analysis of vast amounts of data.
• Designers can use it as a brainstorming tool to ideate quicker and select from a broader range of innovative designs. 
• AI also provides numerous shortcuts within the design process that can keep UI designers more efficient and focused. These same shortcuts can be designed within the product for users to interact with making their experience with the brand feel easy, intuitive, and revolutionary.
• AI can help users have a more intimate experience with a brand by providing experiences tailored to their personal preferences. 

From research to wireframing, prototyping, testing, and all the way to product launch, there is an AI tool that can enhance a UI designer’s creative process and, in effect, provide clients with more successful products for their users. 

5. Key takeaways

The topic of AI invading our workforces is a conversation that has crept into many industries. And the UI design field has not been spared from the thought of designers being replaced by AI systems. 

Many are concerned that AI for UI design has made it more accessible for employers to achieve quality UI design work without hiring a designer.

However, there are many reasons actual UI designers are needed and desired and more of a chance AI UI design will actually improve UI designers’ work habits as opposed to replacing them. 

While upcoming generations are open to technology being further integrated into our societies, humans still harbor unique abilities that AI has not yet been able to achieve.

Our empathy, complex decision-making, and ability to set and observe the context keep human UI designers in high demand. 

If you’re interested in other topics related to AI for UI design, take a look at the articles below:

• The Impact of AI in UX Design: The Complete Guide
• Big Tech Layoffs 2023: Are Tech Jobs Secure?
• Machine Learning Models: A Beginner’s Guide for 2023

Before we look at the most popular UI design tools, let’s recap what it is that UI designers actually do.

UI design is all about how the user interacts with an interface: how do they get from one screen to another? What visual touch points do they encounter?

This is all decided by the UI designer: they take the UX designer’s blueprint and turn it into something visual and interactive. In terms of day-to-day work, this involves everything from designing buttons to choosing colors and fonts to prototyping and carrying out usability testing.

If you’re making the move into UI design, you need to be familiar with the tools of the trade. Over time, you’ll discover which ones are most effective for you—but to get you started, we’ve devised a list of some of the most popular in the industry.

And if you’re itching to get designing already, sign up for the UI design short course here for free.

1. InVision

InVision is a web-based prototyping tool popular with both UX and UI designers alike. You can upload static design files and quickly turn them into high-fidelity, interactive prototypes. It’s also great for collaboration, as clients and other team members can comment directly on your designs, and you can share your ideas across the team using Boards.

They’re always adding new features, such as this Craft Prototype for seamless crossover between Sketch and InVision, and sign-up is free. This is one of the most well-known tools in the industry, so it’s definitely worth using.

2. Zeplin

As a UI designer, it’s essential that you’re able to communicate your designs to the development team—and Zeplin has been built to facilitate this. All you need to do is upload your designs, and Zeplin will automatically generate specs and guidelines accordingly.

For frontend developers, it reduces the time and effort needed to convert your designs by generating platform-related code snippets. For smooth collaboration, you can also integrate Zeplin with Slack channels and add notes for the developers directly in the platform.

3. Balsamiq

When it comes to rapid wireframing, Balsamiq is a much-loved tool within the design industry. Available as a desktop or Cloud app, it markets itself as the perfect “in-between” tool for designers, product managers, and developers.

Perhaps one of the most valuable features for UI designers is the User Interface library—you can choose from a range of different UI elements and just drag and drop them onto the wireframe. Once your prototype is ready, you can print it out or run usability tests online before handing over to the developers.

4. Sketch

The digital design app that every UI pro needs: Sketch. This is a vector-based tool, so you can easily resize anything that you draw without losing sharpness. However, this is much more than just a drawing tool—Sketch is also great for wireframing and prototyping.

Available for Mac only, you pay for the app once and can then use it for as long as you want, but you’ll need to renew your license every year in order to get updates. You can find everything you need to know about getting started with Sketch right here. And if you’re just starting out, here are 5 common mistakes to avoid when learning Sketch as a UI designer.

5. Figma

Discover the very first in-browser interface design tool, Figma. With powerful editing tools and loads of handy features, Figma is a one-stop shop for designing, prototyping, and gathering feedback. UI designers especially can take advantage of the constraints feature, which adapts your designs when the screen size changes.

With the components feature, it’s also extremely easy to reuse elements across your designs. To find out more about how Figma works, check out their blog, or see for yourself with a free trial. You’ll find a complete hands-on introduction to designing and prototyping with Figma in this video tutorial. And, if you’re wondering whether Sketch or Figma is better for you, you might like to read our comparison of the two!

6. Flinto

Flinto is an interactive prototyping app for Mac that offers pretty much everything you need to bring your designs to life. Design micro-interactions and screen transitions, add video layers simply by dragging video or GIF files straight into your designs, incorporate UI sound effects and customizable scrolling—the list goes on.

You can also import your files from Sketch and, finally, preview how your designs look using the free iOS viewer.

7. Marvel

Marvel is a web-based tool that has everything you need for user interface design. Intuitive and easy to use—Marvel is an extremely versatile tool that offers a host of features for designing, prototyping, sharing, collaborating, and creating a complete design system.

Free for up to one project, Marvel is an ideal tool for beginners.

Building your UI toolkit

This is just a handful of tools that a UI designer might work with. When choosing your tools, there are certain things to take into consideration. First of all, what kinds of projects will you focus on? Do you need tools that are suitable for designing websites, mobile apps, or both?

Of course, you also need to make sure that the tools you choose are compatible with the laptop or system with which you’re working.

As well as plenty of independent research, it’s also not a bad idea to chat with experienced UI designers and find out what tools they recommend. If you take a good UI design course, you’ll work with seasoned experts in the field who can share their favorite tools and shortcuts.

However, the only way you’ll really know which tools are for you is by experimenting, so sign up for as many free trials as possible! Video tutorials are a great way to learn the basics, and most tools also come with their own guides and introductions.

Play around with a few different programs and you’ll quickly discover which features and interfaces you’re most at ease with.

Further Reading

• 9 Beautiful login screen examples
• 8 Examples Of Great UI Design
• All The Terms You Need To Know As A UI Designer
• 5 UI animation trends to follow

Depending on your application and its functionality, your choice of how you design your UI will differ. One thing is consistent, however: The tools needed to create the UI that will do justice to your mobile application. The following 12 mobile application UI design tools will equip your team with the necessary elements needed to create the ultimate UI. If you discover that you need more robust customization, custom mobile application agencies can create better solutions.

1. Adobe Photoshop 

Photoshop has been the preferred design tool of professional designers over the years. Photoshop can be used to create interfaces for complex mobile applications. The basic features for this program are easy to grasp, but there are many features that will take some training to utilize.

2. Sketch 

If you are a Mac user, Sketch is an excellent professional design tool. Launched in 2010, Sketch is a vector-based design program that rivals Adobe Photoshop. The user-friendly layout makes Sketch perfect for beginners. This tool is modern and places its focus squarely on creating UI/UX designs. This lightweight software application doesn’t require a monthly subscription, but you are required to renew your license annually.

3. Marvel App

This fresh, energetic platform allows you to design, wireframe, and prototype all in one—while still being incredibly intuitive and easy to learn. Perfect for beginners. And to top it all off, mobile app design is syncable with the major cloud storage platforms.

4. Framer.JS

If you want an interactive and flexible tool for mobile app design, Framer.JS just may be the tool for you. Framer.JS gives you the option of building UI using code or, alternatively, you can use the visual editor to design using a WYSIWYG format that generates code based on the visual design.

5. Balsamiq

Balsamiq is a tool that was created to assist with wireframes. Developed by former Adobe senior software engineer, Peldi Guilizzoni, this tool is laser-focused on wireframe designing. The program concentrates on the ideation phase by offering a clean layout to keep the workflow centered around the layout and not colors and icons. You can choose from clean wireframe designs, or you can design wireframe sketches.

6. InVision

InVision is a design tool that is compatible with most web browsers. This application easily creates prototypes and mockup designs that are interactive and clickable. The collaboration features allow you to share your files with your team.

7. UXPin

If you are looking for a tool that grants you the power to design dynamic UI layouts without coding, UXPin might be for you. The drag-and-drop ease that UXPin provides easily creates quality wireframes and prototypes. There are 1,000 built-in elements for mobile, desktop, and web products.

8. Origami Studio

Origami Studio is a free design tool developed by the team at Facebook in 2016. The software is conceived to help quickly design and share interactive interfaces. The program’s patch editor can be used to create prototypes, and the extensive patch library has design elements like animations, switches, and Boolean operators. If you have designs in Photoshop or Sketch, they can be copied into Origami.

9. Marvel 

For those looking to design and collaborate with a development team, Marvel is a good solution. There is also a synchronization feature that allows you to synchronize designs from Photoshop, Illustrator, Sketch, and select cloud storage accounts. This feature allows you to design your app with other tools and use Marvel to bring those elements together.

10. Proto.io

Proto.io is designed to make the process of UI design much easier by incorporating prototype and design templates. There is no need for coding with Proto.io, and you can also import designs from Photoshop and Sketch. Your Google Drive and Dropbox files can be imported into the program as well. Proto.io has an extensive Material Design UI Library, and its offline mode allows you to work even if you are not online. You can begin using this browser-based design tool with a free 15-day trial.

11. Adobe Illustrator

Illustrator by Adobe is a widely used design tool by mobile app developers. This vector-based software is ideal for creating quality UI designs. The vector file type preserves resolution when image dimensions are increased. Illustrator has long been held in high regard among the design community. While there is a learning curve involved with using the program, the results justify the time spent learning how to navigate within the software.

12. Figma

This browser-based design tool is compatible with most web browsers. With Figma, there is no need to install bulky software to your system or worry about compatibility issues. Figma features 60fps interactive editing and an intuitive pen tool. The use of team libraries makes sharing and collaboration simple. Figma gives design teams the ability to develop UI prototypes swiftly and simply.

Conclusion

When customizing your mobile app’s UI, your primary objective is to maximize the experience of the end user; all design efforts are intended to serve that purpose. By using the tools outlined here, you are now able to create custom designs for your mobile app that are unique and eye-catching. Remember that simplicity is the order of the day; in this era, less is more when it comes to a clean and intuitive design.