What’s Coming to Design (and Why We’re Launching This Now)

Hey UI Collective -

Figma’s annual conference, Config, is just around the corner — and there’s one thing almost everyone in the design world is expecting:

An AI-powered editor is coming.

It hasn’t been officially announced yet, but all signs point to it.
And when it drops, things are going to move fast.

For months now, we’ve been preparing for this shift — not just testing tools, but reworking our entire design workflow around AI. And today, I’m excited to share something we’ve been quietly building behind the scenes.

The First Course from UI Collective Academy is Live 🎓

AI in Design is the first course in a new platform — part of what we’re calling UI Collective Academy. It’s an introductory deep dive into how to actually work with AI, not just talk about it. We know this concept is still new, and our process will evolve, so don’t worry, we’ll continue to update the course as we go.

In the course, I break down:

• How I use AI tools in a real design process

• How to write structured prompts that go beyond surface-level results to train AI

• How to build UIs using AI and your own design system

• How to use AI to build PRDs, validate ideas, and guide friendly output

• And yes — how to deploy a working app you can use to showoff from an AI-generated design

This isn’t theory — it’s the exact workflow I use, step by step.

Yes, this is a paid course (scroll down to learn why), but purchase within the next two hours and you can take 20% off either plan using code: UIC.

This Course Is Paid — Here’s Why

If you’ve been with UI Collective for a while, you know all of what we release is free.
But after seeing our free design system kits and resources being sold, repackaged, and redistributed without permission or credit — it’s time to draw a line. Mentally, I can’t send another cease & desist notice.

We believe in giving back.

But we also believe in protecting the work we put in, and making sure our community gets the full value of what we create.

So moving forward, premium content pieces — like this course — will live behind a paywall.

If you’ve found our free content valuable before, this course goes way deeper.
And it’s just the beginning.

What Else Is Coming from UI Collective Academy

We’re not stopping here. Over the next few months, we’re rolling out:

• Enhanced courses on building design systems

• Design leadership courses

• Courses on UX design

• Stakeholder management lessons

We’re building this for designers who want to stay ahead — not get caught off guard.

Final Thought

If you’re waiting for a sign to take AI seriously in your workflow — this is it.
Figma’s about to make a move. Big tools are shifting. Teams are watching.

Designers who understand how to direct AI — not fear it — will have the edge.

Let’s get ahead of it.

Talk soon,
Kirk

P.S.
If you want to be part of the Academy launch or check out the course, it’s live now.
And if you’ve got questions? Just hit reply. I’ll respond directly.