Designers are tired of hearing that AI will replace them. It won’t. But it will change what we get paid for.
Two new research systems show where the work is heading. UISim and SpecifyUI go past image generation. They learn how products behave and how intent shapes design.
That’s the real shift. Our job is not pushing pixels.
UISim predicts what your next screen should be
Every designer knows the gap between idea and flow. You build one screen, then imagine what happens after a tap or scroll. UISim fills that gap.
Give UISim a screenshot and an action. It predicts what the next interface should look like…even if that screen doesn’t exist yet.
It works in two steps. First, it maps the likely layout of the next screen. Then it renders it in the style of the original. Tests show it produces transitions that look more realistic than other models.
Design lesson: The next wave of tools won’t ask you to mock up every state. They’ll predict the missing ones. Your job will be building the overall flow and deciding which predictions feel right.
SpecifyUI gives designers back the wheel
Most AI tools make you describe what you want. SpecifyUI lets you define it.
It exposes layout grids, padding, and hierarchy so you can adjust structure directly instead of prompting again and again. In tests with sixteen designers, it produced work that matched intent better than Google’s Stitch.
This is not automation. The model builds options. You shape the boundaries.
Design lesson: The future belongs to designers who know how to set requirements & constraints, not just type prompts.
UI-Venus uses your app like a person would
UI-Venus can look at a screenshot, recognize buttons, and move through an interface. It scrolls, taps, and checks what happens next. It doesn’t need access to your code.
That changes usability testing. The model can explore your product all night and surface every confusing pattern you missed.
Design lesson: Clarity matters more than ever. If an algorithm can’t tell what something does, neither can a customer.
Why this matters
AI is no longer copying aesthetics. It’s starting to understand behavior. That puts more weight on what only people can do…decide which behaviors deserve to exist.
When automation reaches craft, judgment becomes the skill that scales.
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That’s the pulse this week from Design Mind.
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