Top 10 Design Tools For UX And UI (2025 GUIDE)

Differences In UX Demands Of A Desktop And Mobile App For A SaaS Product

While it was more common for individuals and institutions to buy software in the earlier days, the concept of software as a service isn’t that new either. And as smartphones get smarter and more accessible, many product companies are shifting their focus to this ballooning market to sustain and increase profit. But even though many have increased revenue by enhancing their mobile apps, some companies are excelling thanks to a good desktop app UX. Mobile apps often shine when it comes to daily life products for the individual end user while desktop apps encapsulate stunning collaboration and productivity solutions. A recent StatCounter study put desktop traffic at 56.51%, with mobile traffic at 50.48%. Many other reports show that there’s still a roughly 60-40 split in mobile and desktop traffic. Both market segments are here to stay, so let’s examine the differences between UX design for desktop and UX design for mobile: UI Details One of the significant differences is that desktop users are more comfortable having plenty of items fixed on a single UI screen/window. In contrast, mobile users have limited screen space and may use their thumbs more than any other finger, so you can hardly get away with a cluttered UI. Not only does it look overwhelming, but it also increases the chances of a user tapping the wrong button/option. Unfortunately, there are no straightforward solutions to this challenge. You're likely to tuck a feature/function two or more screens away, which users won't be so happy about. Luckily, some designs enable you to have retractable menus that slide into place and then slide away. You also have the option to create circular icon menus that appear when you hold down a button for a while. Ultimately, you should have a navigation option that makes it easy to go to the previous page or return to the general menu. Source: Freepik You’ll also need to include a button for the most important action a user can take at that stage in their journey. If it's the opening page, this could be a signup button; if it's a category page, it could be an "add to cart" button or a "buy" button if it's the checkout page. Whatever the CTA is, it should be visible. The user shouldn't have to first scroll down the page. It should also be within the thumb zone, so ensure it's wide enough. UX design for mobile should also consider the unique gestures like swiping, tilting and shaking that can make a mobile app more fun to use, not forgetting the use of haptic feedback to respond to a user’s command. >>> Explore more articles about UI and UX design: Top 10 Design Tools For UX And UI (2025 GUIDE)Top Emerging Trends In App UI Design (2025 OUTLOOK)Atomic Design In Software Development Performance Ideally, both desktop and mobile app versions should be as smooth and fast as possible. However, when you consider the context in which they operate and the behind-the-scenes work involved in making apps faster, you realize that you might need to put more emphasis on one of them. Mobile apps are more likely to be run on devices with limited RAM, storage space and processing power. Additionally, users are more likely to travel with mobile devices to remote areas where internet connectivity may be poorer. This is why it is essential to optimize mobile apps so they can still work fine when low on resources. From memory allocation to caching, reliance on CDNs and compression for lighter media file versions, offline modes, variable streaming bitrates and data template reuse, there are various techniques you can use to achieve higher mobile app performance. Additionally, don’t forget to test on as many devices and OS versions as possible. Personalization Many software users want to feel like the product was made just for them and it deeply understands them. In the past, personalization came in the form of changeable skins, fonts and colors. Later, it advanced to more important features like changing languages, currencies and measurement systems. However, personalization has to evolve even further. For instance, if the user has enabled your mobile app to access their location, can it suggest the perfect playlist when it detects that they are by the beach or at a riverside campsite or safari lodge. Can your shopping app switch to suggestions for sweaters and cold-weather clothes when the user is in a cold region? Will your food app point them to the places with the best hot beverages and confectioneries? Personalization covers several areas, including the way a person types and uses emojis, the order in which they browse pages, how they use search bars and more. Unlike desktop apps that run on devices like work computers that stay in the same place and are shared, or laptops that usually move between work and home, a mobile app often runs on a device that spends most of its time with one person, going everywhere. This is why making mobile app versions as adaptable to the user as possible is crucial. Security and Customer Support On the security front, mobility creates more headaches since it increases the chances of a user losing a device or connecting to an unsecured public network, among other scenarios. This means you should augment mobile apps with more security options, such as fingerprint locks, face ID and other approaches that a mobile device's native hardware can allow. On a deeper level, developers can look into code obfuscation, "root," and "jailbreak detection " to further protect against attack techniques that take advantage of the mobile app-specific architectural and operational characteristics. When it comes to customer support, mobile app UX designers can look into things like the ability to screenshot an error message page and quickly submit it via live chat or tap a call button to speak to an agent. Another vital customer support area is self-help. Remember, desktop app versions have the advantage since there's more space to display a help article column alongside the actual screen/dashboard where the user is working. They can also properly display video demos and offer an Info view where you see what a button or other element does by hovering the cursor over it. That said, mobile app UX designers need to find ways to condense knowledge bases and other self-help materials within the app to simplify the journey from learning to applying. They can also use GIFs to strike a middle-ground between heavy videos and static images when delivering demos. Wrapping Up Overall, it's prudent not to consider the desktop outdated. Instead, focus more on what it easily accommodates, then figure out how to emulate that on mobile devices. As always, it helps to work with a team of professionals conversant with the nuances of developing and delivering desktop and mobile SaaS apps. You can start this journey by contacting the SupremeTech team for a free consultation on how we bring software ideas to life for our clients.

Top Emerging Trends In App UI Design (2025 OUTLOOK)

While an app is made with a specific group of people in mind, that is, people who have a problem that the app solves, its user interface has to consider the existence of several sub-groups within that group. UI designers have to ask themselves a wide range of questions, such as: “Does everyone understand what a certain symbol means?” “Could there be an end-user who is blind?” “Will everyone be able to see this button or read this language?” On top of that, they also have to consider business interests like branding and cost efficiency. So, how are they getting better at harmonizing all this? To answer that, let’s discuss the emerging trends in app UI design through the SupremeTech article. Augmented Reality (AR) AR is gradually becoming a more common aspect of various app UIs, particularly because of its wide range of possibilities when using real graphics to communicate. This technology shows that you can communicate quickly and induce different responses by superimposing extra graphics onto an image or video of an actual entity captured. For example, you can create something that’s funny because it's not real, like showing yourself with dog ears or a flower crown. On the contrary, you can also create something that's captivating because it's almost real, like a view of your living room with a couch or your face with makeup. AR gives you a chance to visualize elements you'd otherwise have to put together physically and does so with unprecedented accuracy such that the imaginary representation is as close to the real thing as possible. Some examples of excellent AR usage include Modiface, See My Fit/Virtual Catwalk, IKEA Studio, Amazon Salon, Snapchat, Gucci Sneaker Garage, View in Room and Asian Paints. Voice UI Technically, Voice UI isn't entirely new. For a while, many software tools could respond to commands with something like an error message or instruction in audio form. However, what's changed recently is that thanks to artificial intelligence, users can converse with the software on a device. This is already in use with Google Assistant, Siri and Alexa, but there’s still room to expand. For example, designers can create interfaces that automatically pick up ambient noise in a room and use it as a guideline for adjusting music volume or as a trigger for something else, like a display of birthday party graphics and lighting when a crowd yells “Surprise.” Virtual Reality (VR) VR takes the concept of visualization one step further by immersing you into the space you’re viewing rather than simply pasting it onto a screen. It enables you to perceive dimensional changes when you move within a space, like an object getting closer or farther away. It's one thing seeing an object at the end of a room on a screen while being told the length and width of the room. However, it’s totally different when you’re actually in the room. You’re no longer trying to extrapolate from a smaller image on a screen that is also a certain distance away from your eyes. VR's capabilities are handy when trying to remotely touring a house. Moreover, it is about more than just viewing objects. VR can be used to relay commands that involve body movements, which makes it ideal for use cases like rehearsing a surgical procedure or assembling and repairing an intricate machine. Some good VR apps include Provata VR, Space Explorers, Tilt Brush, and Gravity Sketch. VR is also common in the gaming world. >>> Maybe you are interested: Top 10 Design Tools For UX And UI (2025 GUIDE)Differences In UX Demands Of A Desktop And Mobile App For A SaaS ProductAtomic Design In Software Development Haptic Feedback Haptic Feedback is designed to address a user through their sense of touch. In that sense, haptic feedback messages are usually conveyed as vibrations within the device a user handles. Initially, this technology was used in a basic manner, like notifying someone that they are being called if their phone is in silent mode or that they've chosen the right or wrong option on a screen. Later, it advanced into an exciting way to keep a user engaged by trying to simulate what it’s like to be in a particular situation, like the rattle in a car when it leaves a smooth tarmac track and goes off-road onto a rough and bumpy Murram strip. This use case has been prevalent in gaming controllers. Nevertheless, haptic feedback continues to evolve, with companies like NewHaptic using this technology to create fluid Braille touch screens that use tactile pixels (taxes). Clearly, haptic feedback could be a great tool for making apps more accessible to people with disabilities. Additional trends Many other UI trends are impressive, even though they may not have the most significant impact on user behavior. These include a dark mode, flat UI, glass morphism, metamorphism, animated illustrations, buttonless design and minimalism, asymmetrical layouts, and more. Ultimately, UI is an intersection of expression and technology, which means many designers will come across the same concepts, but the difference will be in execution. On that note, here are a few questions to answer before you jump onto a UI trend: Does it make life any easier for the user, or is it merely a fancy nice-to-have?What does it say about your brand? (futuristic, sleek, nostalgic, sexy, young and vibrant, sophisticated etc.)How much computing resources does it require? (Will it end up slowing down the app and making it heavier, or will everything still run smoothly)Is it inclusive, or does it speak to the strengths of a few while sidelining many who have a specific weakness?How much money will it cost to install and maintain? Lastly, remember that UI design goes hand-in-hand with many other elements of a software product. For instance, an e-commerce app's item display may require a slider to see different angles of a product, while a fitness app may only need a thumbnail for each workout. There are other considerations, like whether the subtle tones of neomorphic buttons would work well for a CTA, which usually needs to stand out. Wrapping Up UI design is a far-reaching aspect of app development that often requires various team members’ input. This can be tricky to execute while responding to changes in user demands and other project challenges during the development lifecycle. If you need professional guidance on addressing every facet of app UI design, contact us for a free consultation.

AI-Assisted Ecommerce Solution Wins Third Place at SupremeTech AI Hackathon 2025

SupremeTech’s first-ever AI Hackathon was more than just a competition. It was a thrilling test of creativity, focus, and endurance. For 22 hours, teams of passionate innovators raced against time to turn bold ideas into working prototypes that could bring real business value through AI. Among them was team Người Lào, whose project tackled one of the most relevant challenges in modern retail: building an omnichannel e-commerce and loyalty platform supported by AI. The goal was to create a system that connects online shopping, personalized loyalty programs, and in-store interactions into one seamless customer journey.What made Người Lào stand out was their business-driven mindset. Instead of treating the task as a purely technical challenge, they saw it as an opportunity to transform how Vietnamese cosmetic retailers connect with their customers. Their answer was ViEC Beauty, an innovative AI-powered e-commerce solution built on Zalo Mini App, turning a familiar local platform into a powerful tool for digital commerce. Meet The Team Team Người Lào was formed with the simple spirit of having fun, staying friendly, and learning together. Everyone joined with an open mind, ready to give their best once the challenge began. The team brought together members from different backgrounds, covering all key roles in a real project from infrastructure and front-end to back-end, business analysis, and quality control.Phuoc Pham, the team leader, believed great teamwork mattered more than perfect technical skills. What he looked for were people who knew their strengths and were willing to give their all. With that mindset, Người Lào grew into a team built on trust, respect, and laughter, values that ultimately became their greatest strength. When a Familiar Task Became the Toughest Challenge At first, the assignment sounded simple: create a multi-channel e-commerce and loyalty platform for retail stores. Building e-commerce systems was something most members already did in their daily work. But soon they realized that creating a typical shopping app would not stand out. To impress the judges, they needed something fresh, a solution with clear business impact and technical creativity. In just 22 hours, with five members and the support of AI tools, Người Lào had to deliver a product that was practical, scalable, and market-ready. Finding a Small Idea with Big Impact After a few brainstorming sessions, they decided to focus on a small but meaningful niche: the Vietnamese cosmetic retail market. This idea came from observing how many small cosmetic shops in Vietnam were struggling to keep up with the digital shift. While big players like Shopee and TikTok Shop dominate online sales, a large number of small cosmetic stores still lack proper digital tools to compete. These stores serve a loyal base of middle-aged customers who have strong purchasing power but are often left behind in the rush of digital transformation. They do not need complex apps or flashy platforms. What they need is something simple, familiar, and trustworthy. Người Lào identified three major problems these small retailers face: Losing connection with middle-aged customers who prefer personal interaction but no longer visit the store as often.Lack of customer insights makes it hard for shop owners to understand shopping habits or preferences.Being overshadowed by large e-commerce platforms, which are slowly taking over their loyal customer base. With those challenges in mind, Người Lào saw an opportunity to make a real difference. Instead of competing with big platforms, they wanted to empower small retailers with a digital tool that feels local, personal, and easy to use.That was when the idea of building an AI-powered e-commerce solution on Zalo Mini App, namely ViEC Beauty, was born. ViEC Beauty is a platform that could bring e-commerce and loyalty features right into the ecosystem that Vietnamese users already trust and use every day. It was a smart move that combined business empathy, technical creativity, and a clear understanding of the local market. From Idea to Prototype in 24 Hours Once the idea was clear, the real race began. With only 24 hours to bring ViEC Beauty to life, Người Lào jumped straight into action. The plan was simple: divide roles clearly, trust each other’s strengths, and move fast. Hieu Vo, the dev lead, took charge of integrations and overall coordination. Anh Duong focused on building the back end with Laravel and setting up the admin site. Hieu Cao worked on the front end of the Zalo Mini App. At the same time, Huong Nguyen took on both the Business Analyst and Quality Control roles to ensure everything aligned with the initial vision. Meanwhile, Phuoc Pham, the team leader, acted as the bridge connecting everyone - reviewing ideas, making key decisions, and preparing the final presentation slides. With all the key roles covered, the team had a 360-degree view of the project, from technical implementation to business logic and user experience. They spent the first ten hours coding with AI Copilot and documenting the workflow. It was intense but exciting until the team hit a wall. The AI started producing conflicting UI components due to unclear process design in the initial prompts. What was supposed to save time ended up creating bugs that needed hours to fix. But instead of getting frustrated, the team stayed calm, laughed it off, and worked together to debug and refine the product until everything clicked into place. When the final hour arrived, they had a fully working Zalo Mini App—not perfect, but functional, meaningful, and proudly built within a single sleepless day. The Product: Core Features That Matter ViEC Beauty, an AI-powered e-commerce solution built within the Zalo ecosystem, offered small beauty retailers an accessible and familiar way to sell online and engage customers. Core App Features Product Catalog: An easy-to-browse collection of beauty products directly inside Zalo.Basic Loyalty Point System: Customers earn and redeem points to encourage repeat purchases.Admin Dashboard Prototype: A simple dashboard for store owners to manage products, orders, and sales.Zalo Integration Setup: Allows stores to send personalized notifications, skincare reminders, and promotions through the Zalo Official Account. Super Admin System A more advanced panel included: Real-time data analytics for instant business insightsInventory management to track stock levelsCRM tools to maintain relationships and engagementCampaign and promotion management to run and measure marketing activities Even though some features like Group Orders and AI Skin Analysis were still in ideation, ViEC Beauty already demonstrated how a simple, focused solution could bring AI-powered value to small businesses. Tech Stack The team built ViEC Beauty with React and Zalo SDK for the front end, Laravel for the back end, MySQL for the database, and EC2 cloud infrastructure for hosting. They chose familiar and reliable technologies to move fast and deliver results within 24 hours, prioritizing execution over complexity. >>> Read more related articles: SupremeTech’s AI Hackathon 2025: A blend of Product-Focused Spirit and AI-assisted DevelopmentHow Human Intelligence and AI Capabilities Can Redefine Software Development | Featuring The 1st Runner-Up of SupremeTech AI Hackathon 2025 Judges’ Feedback The judges praised Người Lào’s strategic focus on a niche market and their decision to build on the Zalo Mini App, calling it a practical and high-potential approach. They noted that while the product targeted small beauty retailers, a limited market segment, it had strong potential for real-world implementation. They recommended expanding ViEC Beauty into a multi-store SaaS platform, adding community-driven features, and integrating AI more deeply for personalization and competitiveness. On the technical side, the judges commended the team’s clear planning, fast execution, and AI integration. They encouraged the team to make AI applications more visible and explore scalability for larger projects. Overall, Người Lào left a strong impression with a well-executed prototype and a clear vision for future growth. Teamwork Memorable Moments For Phuoc Pham, the leader, the biggest lesson was simple: strong determination makes anything possible. He learned to stay focused, manage effort wisely, and balance ambition with practicality so the team could deliver on time. To him, the real strength of Người Lào came from teamwork, from every member understanding their own strengths and supporting one another toward a shared goal. Huong Nguyen shared that the hackathon was an unforgettable experience, a test of creativity, patience, and collaboration. From ideation to final delivery, every member gave their best and learned how to manage time, communicate, and step outside their comfort zones. Winning third place was a proud moment, but for the team, the valid reward was the experience itself, learning, laughing, and building something meaningful together. Conclusion For Người Lào, the SupremeTech AI Hackathon 2025 was more than a contest. It was a journey of teamwork, creativity, and discovery. In just 24 hours, they turned an idea into a working Zalo Mini App that blended business insight, AI innovation, and human collaboration. Their story proved that success is not just about winning but about learning how to move fast, stay focused, and create with purpose. ViEC Beauty started as a hackathon project, but it carries the potential to grow into something much bigger for Vietnam’s beauty retail industry. Team Phuoc Pham T. - Senior Infra EngineerHieu Vo H. - Senior BE EngineerDuong Nguyen V. A. - BE EngineerHieu Cao K. - FE EngineerHuong Nguyen T.T. - Quality Control Engineer  Tech Stack Frontend: React, Zalo SDKBackend: LaravelDatabase: MySQLInfrastructure: EC2, Cloud 📩 Read more articles about us here: SupremeTech’s Blog

How Human Intelligence and AI Capabilities Can Redefine Software Development | Featuring The 1st Runner-Up of SupremeTech AI Hackathon 2025

After 2 weeks of thorough assessment, our judges have officially announced the top threes of SupremeTech AI Hackathon 2025. In a final scoreboard where the results were incredibly close, GenSync impressively secured the first runner-up position, missing the crown by just half a point. Their success didn’t come by chance. It was the product of sharp preparation, savvy use of AI, and teamwork that ran like clockwork. GenSync perfectly embodies how human intelligence and strategic thinking, when combined with effective AI application, can create exceptional outcomes.  That’s the same winning formula SupremeTech is bringing to life: Building AI-assisted solutions that elevate performance and cut costs without cutting corners. Let’s take a look back at what made GenSync stand out, and how about trying to apply AI the way they did to build a truly working MVP in just 22 hours. For details about the solutions, tech stack and highlighted prompts, scroll down to the Appendix section. Prepare a Strong Foundation Before the Starting Line  Right after registering for the Hackathon, this crew was already architecting the workflow and put into practice the whole process. GenSyncs is no doubt the most well-prepared team in this hackathon.  They treated preparation like a mini hackathon of its own, consolidating in just two intensive planning sessions: Session one: Roles were assigned to make sure that each member knew exactly which hat to wear: Backend, Frontend, Mobile, BA, QC, Scrum Master. The smart move was to utilize the Agile Development Project Life Cycle and craft it into a mini version that runs smoothly in 22 hours. We will dive deeper into this point in the next section. Session two: The team dove into the fun part: prompt experimentation. They exchanged prompt-crafting know-how like secret recipes and tested which AI models played best with their ideas. Trial runs with mock challenges helped them fine-tune the prompts to generate the satisfied output. By the end, they’d not only aligned as a team but had built what can be called “a structured prompt playbook”. “We treated AI as part of the team, not just a tool. For the “master” prompt that generates system design, I tested the prompt myself based on past experiences to come up with the most efficient prompt. If you took the prompt from somewhere on the Internet without curating it, it may never work the way you want”Tuan Mai - Technical Leader of the team AI-Assisted, 22-hour Mini Version of the Agile Development Project Life Cycle As said, one of the smart moves of GenSync is to utilize Agile Development Project Life Cycle as a skeleton of their hackathon strategy. By applying selectively the framework, GenSync achieved harmonized, well-managed project management. Members collaborated smoothly with each other like a rhythm because everyone is already familiar with Agile in their daily work.  They simply empower Agile with several AI co-pilots, namely GPT-5, Claude 4.0 and Github Copilot.   The team broke the challenge into sprints just like any other project. But instead of endless spreadsheets, they let prompts do the heavy lifting: Sprint 1: Ideation. GPT-5 and Deep Search acted as their research department, scanning the latest tourism tech trends and helping the team shape their concept in record time. Then came the human touch: the team weighed every AI suggestion against their own experience across backend, frontend, and mobile development to come up with the final concept file. It acts as the North Star of their project.Sprint 2: Design. Claude 4.0 turned those ideas into tangible structures. From architecture diagrams to data flow logic, every detail was auto-documented and formatted with machine precision. The team even used prompts to list and prioritize screens according to business objectives.  Sprint 3: Implementation. Using GPT-5, Copilot, and Claude Sonnet, they created a complete work lifecycle. GPT-5 helped write guidance files for Copilot, defining logic structures, and coding styles.Copilot followed screen flows in the master design to code while developers focused on creative logic.Claude Sonnet handled documentation and integration.Sprint 4: Review & Testing. Code was co-reviewed by robots and humans. Copilot and GPT-4 took the first pass, while Claude Sonnet and the QC member ran automated API testing, BA handled UI tests to ensure the demo ran beautifully.  In short, they built a collaboration model with AI. Humans provided direction, AI delivered results, then humans curated the results and instructed AI to improve. Most importantly, the system design and master concept serve as the guiding compass for aligning every feature’s design, ensuring that all functionalities stay true to the product’s overall goal. A Hackathon Experience that Changes the Perspectives of Development Team For Good When asked about what they bring home after the hackathon, Quỳnh Anh, the Business Analyst, shared: “We aim for the trophy, but 1st runner-up place is not bad (haha). Most importantly, this Hackathon completely altered my perspectives towards using AI at work. Now I can use AI as an agent to help analyze and process business requirements”. Quỳnh Anh - Business Analyst Vũ Nguyễn looked back at the journey from a different angle: “Joining the hackathon helped me gain a deeper understanding of the roles of other specialized teams in a project and how to leverage AI to build a product from scratch. After the competition, I even built my own website to support QC certification exams with AI. I used the very same prompts our team created during the hackathon. The journey was truly a blast. The leftovers are memories and invaluable experiences.”Vũ Nguyễn - Scrum Master, QC and Team Leader GenSync currently holds the record as the team with the most code written in the hackathon, boasting over 100,000 lines of code. Final Words We are glad that our first AI hackathon turns out to be exactly what it’s designed to be, a laboratory for the future of teamwork, creativity, and intelligent development.  At the end of the day, is AI stealing jobs from software developers? After hosting an internal AI hackathon and witnessing the performance of our engineers, we SupremeTech seem to have an answer for ourselves. Artificial intelligence definitely cannot replace the creativity and sophistication in human minds. And those are among the driving forces of a product’s success. If well managed, however, AI will create an unprecedented advantage in terms of speed and implementation capabilities for those who act first. Follow us to get more insights about how to utilize AI-assisted development to build products faster and more cost-efficiently. Or simply book a free consultation if you have an idea that you want to make it happen fast.  >>> Read more related articles: SupremeTech’s AI Hackathon 2025: A blend of Product-Focused Spirit and AI-assisted DevelopmentA to Z about SupremeTech’s AI Hackathon 2025: Why We Do It and What to Expect Appendix: Overview of the Product The challenge: Destination and Experience Management System for Tourism In this statement, teams are required to develop a platform that streamlines group trip management. The solution should enable organizers to coordinate transportation, schedules, and interactions in one place, instead of relying on scattered tools like messenger apps.  The solution: MVP mobile apps that allow users to view tour details and interact with other tour members. Admin apps that allow companies in the tourism industry to manage destination and customer experience.  The apps is optimized for group tour management with 6 main features: Tour creation Scan QR code to view tour schedules holistically Realtime chatbot to stay connected with other members in the tourAI chatbot to support search and customer servicePush notifications to keep users updated with new changes in tour scheduleRecommendation engine for tourist attraction suggestions Highlighted Prompts Sprint 1: Ideation: Sprint 2: Design Sprint 4: Review & Testing Team Vu Nguyen Q - Scrum Master, QC and Team LeaderTuan Mai A - Technical LeaderHan Le T S - AI EngineerLong Ngo D Q - FE EngineerAnh Nguyen T Q - Business Analyst Tech Stack Frontend: Next JSBackend: Nest.JS, Open AIMobile: Flutter Infrastructure: AWS, Render Recommendation engine: GorseChatbot & Memorizer: RAG 📩 Read more articles about us here: SupremeTech's Blog