UX/UI In The AI Era

Hello friends,

Remember when creating a web application meant juggling multiple tools, endless prototypes, and countless back-and-forths between designers and developers? Those days might be behind us! Today, I'm excited to share how AI is completely transforming the traditional design workflow into something remarkably simpler and more efficient.

🔄 The Old vs. New Workflow

Gone are the days of the traditional design process:

Instead, we're moving to a streamlined two-step process using just two AI tools:

1. A Large Language Model (like Claude or ChatGPT)

2. An AI Coding Tool (like Bolt, Replit, Cursor or V0)

💡 Why This Changes Everything

Here's the game-changer: It's now easier to create a functional coded website than to make a clickable prototype. Yes, you read that right! This means:

• No more "dumb" clickable prototypes

• Direct handoff of functional designs to developers

• Potential for designers to finish projects without developer support

• Developers can work independently of designers

🚀 The New Design Process in Action

Let's walk through how this works for a real project - creating an experience-finding web app:

1. Initial Planning with LLMs

• Share your requirements with Claude (the most powerful imo)

• Get detailed information architecture

• Receive technical requirements

• Generate user flowcharts

• Create initial wireframes

2. Design & Development (Combined!)

• Use AI coding tools to build the functional prototype, Bolt is the easiest to use

• Generate UI themes using image generators, Midjourney is my personal choice

• Create responsive, interactive designs

• Deploy immediately for testing

💪 Pro Tips for using Bolt

• Limit requests to two per prompt for best results

• If you hit an error spiral, revert to a previous working version

• With the monthly plan (10M tokens), you can create substantial projects

• Free tier (150K tokens/day) works well for smaller projects spread over time

🎯 Key Takeaways

This new workflow isn't just about replacing tools - it's about rethinking our entire approach to design. You become more of a design director than a traditional designer, opening new doors for creativity while maintaining efficiency.

🤔 What's Next?

As AI tools continue to evolve, so will this process. The key is staying adaptable and embracing these changes as opportunities rather than threats. Think of AI as your creative partner, helping you focus on the bigger picture while handling the technical details.

Want to try it yourself? Start small - take one of your current projects and experiment with this two-step process. You might be surprised at how much time you save!

Stay curious and keep innovating!