What is UI Design? What is a UI Kit?

Technology has come a long way, and its progress doesn’t seem to be disappointing us. And we couldn’t have been here without imagination and the power that creativity holds when used properly. Creativity is what transformed our society and still does. We need it to succeed and move forward with discoveries and advancement. 

‍

But when it comes to creativity, there are no shortcuts or easy ways out of the creative process. A design is divided into two main categories – UI and UX. I couldn’t be moving forward with this article without mentioning a famous quote from Albert Einstein: “Creativity is intelligence having fun”, describing best the UI part of the design.

UI design (user interface design) represents the visuals – how a product looks. It creates an immediate impact, and it is the first impression we make when we interact with a product. Adobe even said that 38% of users lose interest in an app or website if it lacks engagement or simply if it looks bad – that’s how important it is. 

A user interface is what we see and interact with when using a digital product. It’s the touchscreen of your phone or computer. Or even your car’s touchpad to adjust the temperature or change the song on shuffle. A UI design is all about creating a pretty and interactive platform while also making sure that the product is as intuitive and visually appealing as possible. 

That’s why UI design is the art of choosing the fitting color palette that makes our brand stand out, the right font, the perfect placement of elements, the cool animations, and the aesthetically pleasing images. Not only will UI designers think about how every button and every icon fits together, but they will also think about how everything fits with our brand and our industry. In my book, a UI designer and a UI developer are the true artists in the product design process. 

Can you imagine how something would work before training it? Or how you would experience a specific activity before trying it out. Think about riding a bike. When you first experience it, you can form an opinion about what bicycling is like. But before trying it out, you can’t really anticipate what will happen. And the same rules apply when designing. You can not be sure if your design will trigger a good user experience or if it will be deductible. And this is where prototyping comes in.

‍

Prototyping is an essential part of what a UI designer and UI developer does. In fact, this is what makes your design come to life. It’s an external process that can create your design ideas into more tangible ones that can be tested and understood. It is an external process that offers a first insight into how users are interacting and experiencing a design. 

‍

“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”, 

‍

And Steve Jobs is right. When prototyping, we can see if what we created is deductible, if it’s easy to interact with, and if it helps us present our ideas to clients. This is what makes the difference between a UI design and a UX design. 

‍

And another important part of the UI journey is scalability – making your design accessible for every screen available. We can all agree on the fact that entering a site that is not the right fit for your screen can be annoying, especially if the text is too small and indecipherable. No one wants that. So, scalability should be at the top of every UI designer's mind. 

‍

And if you are building a site or an app that needs to be adaptable, flexible, and can have an easy-to-maintain infrastructure, you will use a UI kit. A UI kit is suitable for projects that need to be done fast, offering premade elements that can be customized easily. 

Well, UI kits are more like a supermarket that you use when you are looking for the ingredients for your design. The difference between a UI kit and a design system is that the design system is the one that also includes guidelines. A UI kit is basically a component library that can contain every element you need in order to create a design. UI kits can also be encountered as UI design kits and are composed of a large compilation of reusable elements, templates, styles, and other resources you might require when building up a website. 

‍

So, if you are looking to map all the elements you need when creating an app or a website, you can use a UI kit that will save you time and lead to higher productivity levels. In a UI kit, you will encounter buttons to design elements like images, graphics, and templates. The best part about UI kits is that they are responsive and organized, so you’ll be able to find everything you need in no time. This brings us to the advantages you will have when using a UI kit.

It’s efficient. As an old saying goes, “Time waits for no one,” and neither do deadlines. We sometimes feel like time is running out, but when time is the problem, we can always find a shortcut to help us deliver the best solution available. When time stresses us out, we might neglect the quality of our design to provide it at the right time. And there is nothing worse than delivering a design that you don’t like. But the solution is waiting for us to make the call and use a UI kit in order to deliver faster designs and still be the creative person you are. 

‍

Let’s imagine the next situation. You are just starting out a new project that you are very excited about. So, naturally, you need to do your research and start the creative process in order to put your ideas and thoughts into something your client can see. 

‍

But, as you already know, the creative process might take up more time than you would expect. And the clock is thinking, and your client is waiting. But your savior has come to rescue you and helped you create the design faster, as a UI kit holds already-made elements that can be reused in multiple projects. So, next time you are overwhelmed and stressed, try UI kits and see how they can help you.

‍

UI Design kits help us deliver the best design while staying focused on our goals by delivering options for your design. A UI kit enables you to stay focused on your goal. When designing, every little element is crucial for your design. So, you try and give it your best all the time to deliver your best projects all the time. And it’s normal! But, for a non-designer, your cards or your buttons won’t really matter. If they understand their usability, the rest is history. 

‍

A UI design kit creates productivity and efficiency by developing elements that can be personalized and used by a designer or by everyone from a team. It makes accessible libraries that can store assets and later be used or integrated into a design. Ui design kit allows you to create a website or an app from scratch, only needing your personal touch when it comes to customizing your existing elements. 

We at uinkits understand the importance of inputs in great user experiences and creating amazing UI designs. That’s why we’ve developed a Figma UI Kit with design components that include these essential UI elements that enable you to design intuitive and user-friendly interfaces effortlessly.  

“You press the button, we do the rest.” – Kodak.

Inspired by this iconic tagline from Kodak, we believe in simplifying the design process for you. Our Figma UI Kit, uinkits, is a complete design system with UI components that allows you, as a UI UX designer, to create your products as quickly as pressing a button. 

Our design system includes UI components, icons, variables, cards, buttons and everything you need for your design process. All you have to do is take your UI design component needed, and you’re ready to use it in your designs!