Notes from the people building and growing tech companies

Practical writing on startups, AI, growth, careers and design.
An independent magazine, trusted by 17,000 readers a month.

What we published this week

Startups & SaaS

8 best SaaS UI/UX design agencies for user retention in 2026

Eight agencies that design SaaS products, compared by research depth, onboarding work, design systems and entry pricing.

8 best SaaS UI/UX design agencies for user retention in 2026

Design & Code

Why AI-generated UI looks bad, and the vocabulary that fixes it

Why agents write generic UI, and how a component library served over MCP gives them parts with rules attached.

Why AI-generated UI looks bad, and the vocabulary that fixes it

SEO

An SEO check tool scored us 77, so I rewrote its prompt to 90

77 to 90 on a free SEO check tool, and why every serious fix came from rewriting its prompt first.

An SEO check tool scored us 77, so I rewrote its prompt to 90

Startups & SaaS

Top 7 UI/UX design agencies for startups that drive adoption

Seven agencies that design products for early-stage startups, compared by research depth, scope, engagement model and entry price.

Top 7 UI/UX design agencies for startups that drive adoption

UI Design

Why AI-generated 3D looks like slop, a Three.js art direction fix

Nine live Three.js stages that take a generated scene to a directed frame, with the measurements and one open defect.

Why AI-generated 3D looks like slop, a Three.js art direction fix

Design & Code

Design to code with AI agents, without the re-check nightmare

How the open-source design-to-code skill makes an AI agent audit its own screenshot-to-code build, and how to review it in ten minutes.

Design to code with AI agents, without the re-check nightmare

Design & Code

13 design skills for AI agents compared, and how to pick one

Thirteen repos call themselves design skills. They do five different jobs, and picking by stars gets you the wrong one.

13 design skills for AI agents compared, and how to pick one

Tools

Nine desktop jobs worth handing to Vercel's agent-desktop CLI

Nine agent-desktop use cases with prompts and commands, plus the jobs it cannot do.

Nine desktop jobs worth handing to Vercel's agent-desktop CLI

UI Design

Types of charts, how to choose and design 40+ dashboard charts

40+ chart types grouped by the question they answer, with the anatomy and failure mode of each, plus mobile swaps and 14 anti-patterns.

Types of charts, how to choose and design 40+ dashboard charts

UI Design

Sidebar navigation UI design, 16 patterns and 8 product teardowns

Pixel specs for every width mode, nested trees for 30+ sections, a mobile plan per breakpoint, teardowns of 8 products plus a ship checklist.

Sidebar navigation UI design, 16 patterns and 8 product teardowns

Startups & SaaS

8 best SaaS web design agencies for B2B tech brands, reviewed

Eight B2B SaaS web design agencies compared by scope, platform, pricing, and the work they leave out.

8 best SaaS web design agencies for B2B tech brands, reviewed

Tools

8 best graphic design subscription services worth your money

Eight design subscriptions compared by price and capacity, with the questions worth asking before you sign anything.

8 best graphic design subscription services worth your money

Career

Designer resume that landed 22 interviews and 4 offers in 2026

A plain one-page designer resume hit a 20% interview rate in 2026. See the outcome-first bullet formula and where a designer finds real metrics.

Designer resume that landed 22 interviews and 4 offers in 2026

Tools

Free iPhone mockup generator review, 3D and 8K with no watermark

A hands-on review of a free browser tool for 3D iPhone mockups with transparent export and no account.

Free iPhone mockup generator review, 3D and 8K with no watermark

Tools

10 open source tools we bookmarked in September and October 2026

Ten tools we added to Resources this autumn, with the caveat that matters for each one.

10 open source tools we bookmarked in September and October 2026

Tools

From 2007 to the AI era, how VectorStock is reinventing the stock graphics marketplace

How an established vector marketplace added AI-powered search and moved its library inside Figma.

From 2007 to the AI era, how VectorStock is reinventing the stock graphics marketplace

Resources for your team

Claylo landing page preview

Claylo landing page

Claymorphism website HTML template. Zero JS, zero build, 100/100 PageSpeed, AI-agent ready. 13 sections in the pack, thoughtful UI animations, mobile-friendly. Rebrand it with Claude, Codex, or Cursor.

Orion UI kit preview

Orion UI kit

Figma library with 40+ full-width charts templates served in light & dark themes. Contains 200+ of dataviz widgets that look perfect on desktop & mobile screens.

Nocra UI kit preview

Nocra UI kit

Nocra is a design system for AI products. Built specifically for startups harnessing AI generation: images, video, audio, music, prompts, and beyond.

Figma Charts UI kit preview

Figma Charts UI kit

Components-driven graphs design kit for dashboards, presentations, infographics & data visualisation. Includes 25+ charts types for all the viewports.

Nucleus UI preview

Nucleus UI

Nucleus UI contains 1000 components and variants with 500+ mobile screens designed for Figma (including 9 themes from Event, E-commerce, Finance, NFT, etc.).

Material X for Figma preview

Material X for Figma

Figma library with 1100+ components & 40 app templates beyond Material Design. Powered by top-notch shapes and Manrope font. Customizable & Adjustable UI kit now available for Angular & Figma

Material You UI kit preview

Material You UI kit

Figma & React library with 2600+ variants of 32 components compatible with Material Design 3. Plus 220+ dashboard templates for all the viewports. Now available for NextJS & TailwindCSS.

Figma React UI kit preview

Figma React UI kit

Designed and well-organized in Figma React-based UI toolkit for the web. Optimized for building complex data-dense interfaces for desktop and mobile applications.

Panda Design System preview

Panda Design System

Figma library with dashboard, calendar, kanban, profile, table, ecommerce and 80+ templates in total. Components with variants, dark theme included.

Eclipse UI kit preview

Eclipse UI kit

Figma library with 1100+ components & 74 templates for data-driven web applications. Powered by auto-layout. Supercharged by Figma's variants.

Rome UI kit for Figma preview

Rome UI kit for Figma

Customizable and well-organized team library. Contains 250+ components & 30 web app templates powered by stylish and trendy guidelines.

Material Design System preview

Material Design System

Figma library is based on 100% guidelines compliance with Material.io. Contains ready-to-use templates to accelerate app UI design.

Neolex Dashboard UI kit preview

Neolex Dashboard UI kit

Customizable & adjustable dashboard design system with 50+ ready-to-use app layouts, 1900+ variants for 30 components with auto-layout.

Zeus UI kit preview

Zeus UI kit

Create hassle-free landing pages in Figma. This kit is based on 10 landing page templates, powered by 1600+ variants for 630+ web blocks.

Figma Landing Pages UI kit preview

Figma Landing Pages UI kit

Landing pages templates library based on constrained & organized components aimed to speed-up the production of effective websites.

Your questions answered

The Setproduct AI UI inspiration gallery is a searchable library of AI-generated UI examples: buttons, cards, tabs, and full layouts you can browse by component. Like anything to save it to your personal library, and check back often since we add new images weekly. Try it on the Setproduct app.

The key difference is that Setproduct shows AI-generated references, not real shipped products, so there's no legal risk if a pattern inspires your work. The component search also makes it faster to find exactly what you need. It's built for brainstorming, not pixel-copying. There's more on that in this guide.

Yes, you can use them as inspiration rather than finished assets. The healthy way is to study a layout, understand why it works, then design your own version. Copying a visual one-to-one isn't the point and won't serve your client. We wrote about getting more out of these examples in studying AI-generated UI.

Start with the kit that matches your goal. For SaaS, try Material You or Eclipse. For an AI product, Nocra. For landing pages, Zeus. For mobile, Mobile X. For data viz, Charts or Orion. Browse everything on the full catalog.

Yes, Setproduct offers free Figma UI kits you can use right away. Head to free resources to duplicate them into your own Figma account at no cost. They're a good way to try the build quality and component structure before buying a full kit.

A UI kit is a set of ready-made components and screens you can drop into a project. A design system goes further, adding the rules, tokens, and documentation that keep those components consistent at scale. Most Setproduct products are full design systems, not just loose component packs. Browse them on the catalog.

Yes, beginners can absolutely use them. Every Setproduct kit is documented, so you can learn by exploring how real components and layouts are built. A good starting point is our free resources, no purchase needed. The blog also has tutorials to help you find your way around Figma.

To import a kit in Figma, add it as a team library: open the file, hit "Publish library," then enable it across your projects. Most kits are Figma-only. If you specifically need design paired with code, the React UI kit covers the Figma plus React workflow, with components you can install and use directly.

Yes, the license allows it. One kit covers an unlimited number of commercial projects for a single person or company, with no per-project fee. Just pick the license tier that matches your team size before buying. Full details are on the license page.

Personal is for a single designer, so freelancers and solo builders. Team is for agencies and groups of five or more designers sharing the files. Enterprise is for larger companies that also need distribution rights. If you're unsure, the license page breaks down exactly what each one covers.

The Setproduct blog publishes practical UI design guides, with deep dives into components like buttons, tabs, and tooltips, plus design trends, startup advice, growth tactics, AI tools for designers, and research-backed UX articles. It's written to be useful, not filler. Have a look at the blog.

Yes. We also write about running a SaaS, marketing on a tight budget, and AI tooling. One of our most-read pieces is a guide on paying for Claude with crypto when cards aren't an option, handy if you're outside the regions these services support.

Yes, Setproduct offers both. The bundle packs several kits together at a lower combined price, and we run seasonal sales fairly often. Newsletter subscribers hear about discounts first, so sign up at the bottom of any page to stay in the loop.

Checkout runs through Gumroad, which supports card and PayPal. If those aren't available to you, you can fund a virtual crypto card and pay that way. We walk through it in paying with USDT and our SolCard review.

Yes, we take on custom design and development work, often building on top of our own Figma libraries. Tell us about your brief, budget, and timeline through the contact form, and we'll let you know if it's a fit.

Yes, we accept guest posts on design and technology topics. Submission guidelines and pricing live on our publishing portal, see publish.setproduct.com.