I work as an information and communication technology specialist at FrostBit Software Laboratory, where I have had the opportunity to design and implement various applications in the web and mobile team, as well as explore design tools like Figma, Adobe XD, and Adobe Photoshop. The section on game interfaces draws from the perspectives and experiences gained from studies, internships, and personal projects.
In my work, I have primarily used Adobe XD (for the Energy ECS project) and Adobe Photoshop (for the ELU – “Eväitä elämään luonnollisesti Lapista” project) in comprehensive, user interface and user experience design to design, implement, and modify layouts and individual components. These tools offer excellent features for creating prototypes and refining user interfaces, but sometimes projects also require speed and visually easy-to-implement examples. In such cases, the choice of design tool can be crucial.
What is Wix?
Wix is widely known as an easy-to-use website-building platform, offering a drag-and-drop editor, ready-made themes, and tools for mobile optimization (Amery 2024). While Wix is primarily designed for creating user-friendly websites, the question arises: Can Wix be used for UI and UX design, even when the final application would be built on other platforms, such as WordPress, React, or other custom technologies?
In this article, I examine the free versions of Wix Editor and Wix Studio as UI design tools, evaluating their benefits and challenges, particularly from the UI and UX design perspectives (Ahonen 2025). The goal is to determine whether Wix could serve as a viable alternative to traditional design tools, especially when quick and visually compelling examples are needed in the early stages of the design process.
Wix Editor vs. Wix Studio
Wix Editor is an easy-to-use website creation tool suitable even for beginners, offering a drag-and-drop interface and a wide selection of templates and intuitive design tools. This makes it an ideal tool for those who want to create a basic website without coding (Amery 2024).
Wix Studio, on the other hand, is a more advanced platform for those who require deeper customization and control in their designs. It offers flexibility for users to adjust their sites to different screen sizes and create responsive layouts. Wix Studio also supports no-code animations, advanced professional features, and AI integration, making it an excellent choice for more experienced designers or businesses needing a sophisticated, future-proof website with complex details and high-end functionality (Amery 2024).
If the goal is to create a quick design, I would choose Wix Editor for this purpose, as it is easier and faster to use. However, if the design requires more extensive features, such as a tablet view, it may be wiser to use Wix Studio, as it includes more tools and functionalities, such as tablet view implementation.
Themes and Styles: Inspiration or Limitation?
Wix offers a wide range of pre-made themes and styles that can serve as inspiration for UI design. These themes allow users to create color themes, layouts, and typography, but they can also pose challenges, especially if the designs are too tied to Wix’s own structures. For example, if pages are developed in React, Wix themes cannot be used directly, as this would violate Wix’s terms of service (Wix Help Center 2025b). It’s also important to note that Wix designs cannot be transferred directly to other environments. Unlike Figma or Adobe XD, Wix does not offer the ability to export designs as code that could be used in React or Vue projects (Wix Help Center 2025a).
As an example, consider the image below (Image 2), where a third-party AI-generated image has been used, along with Wix’s fonts and buttons, which have been customized to fit the page’s appearance. While transferring elements outside of Wix to other platforms is not feasible and not recommended, the project client and developer can get an idea of what the overall appearance of the site should be and what settings could be used to implement the components.
Wix in Prototyping
Wix allows for the creation of simple user journeys and interactive elements without coding. This is useful when quickly testing how users react to different menu structures or buttons, as the test page can be shared via a link with multiple users who can try it like a finished page.
However, Wix’s capabilities for managing interactions are limited compared to prototype tools like Figma. Implementing complex animations or custom transitions can be challenging and time-consuming. Furthermore, Wix lacks the wireframe navigation creation capability found in Figma or Adobe XD, where navigation can be defined and tested across different levels and interactions. In Wix, navigation elements are easier to build, but they often remain simple compared to prototypes where multi-step and dynamic user journeys can be created. This can limit design when attempting to create more detailed and complex applications.
Wix in Game UI Design
The initial concepts for game UIs can be implemented in Wix fairly easily, as it offers a fast way to sketch out basic UI elements, such as placement and color schemes. However, Wix’s biggest challenge lies in its limited component selection, which can restrict the designer’s options. Although adding custom components improves usability, the end result cannot be directly transferred to a game engine, as with elements designed in Photoshop. This means that the designer will eventually have to do the same work twice.
Wix vs. Photoshop and Other Design Tools
Game UIs often require precise visual design, and for this purpose, Photoshop outshines both Wix and most other popular UI design tools, such as Figma and Adobe XD (Charlesworth 2025; DbS Institute 2025). Photoshop’s strength lies in its extensive editing capabilities: layer management, precise texture adjustments, raster and vector image handling, and the addition of various effects and shadows make it an incredibly flexible tool for game UI design. Furthermore, components designed in Photoshop can be transferred directly to the game engine almost as-is, speeding up the development process while maintaining the original visual quality (DbS Institute). Unlike vector tools like Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop requires careful attention to resolution during the component creation phase (Adobe 2025). This means making the component large enough, such as 30 x 30 cm, so that details are preserved even when transferred to the game engine. In game engines like Unreal Engine and Unity, scaling tools for components help mitigate this, although the scaling feature may not be sufficient for textures.
Summary: Should Wix Be Used as a UI and UX Design Tool?
Wix’s editor allows for quick visual modification of UI elements, such as buttons, images, and forms, making it an attractive tool for rapid ideation without coding. However, can Wix replace traditional UI design tools like Figma, Adobe XD, or Sketch? The answer is two-fold. Wix is intuitive and allows for quick experimentation, but its usage is largely confined to Wix’s own components and structures. This can be problematic if the designs need to be transferred to another environment, as Wix’s limitations in exporting style-libraries and components can complicate seamless transitions and even violate Wix’s terms of service.
The use of Wix as a design tool depends entirely on the project’s needs. If the goal is rapid prototyping without the need to transfer designs to other platforms, Wix can be a helpful tool. However, many projects require a more detailed user experience and UI design, where screen-to-screen navigation is clearly showcased. Therefore, Wix is not suitable for creating the final design but can be most useful as an illustration tool in the early stages of the project when colors, elements, and the general look are still being refined.
UI and UX Design Perspective
Benefits
- Fast prototyping: Wix is well-suited for quick ideation and visual concept presentations to clients.
- Ease of use: Wix offers a simple interface that does not require coding skills.
Challenges
- Code management limitations: Wix does not allow exporting custom code to other environments.
- Component management: Wix’s component libraries are fixed, limiting flexibility.
- File export: No direct export options, e.g., for React components.
Practical Example: Using Wix as a Design Tool
Situation: A UI/UX designer creates a UI prototype in Wix, but the developer implements the page in React.
Challenges: Transferring designs to other platforms requires essentially rebuilding everything.
Benefits: Wix allows quick ideation and client presentations before detailed design begins.
Recommendation:
- Use Wix for: Rapid ideation and visual concepts that don’t need to be transferred to other platforms.
- Avoid Wix for: Technically advanced designs that need to be exported to other systems.
Wix can be a useful addition to a UI and UX designer’s toolkit, but it cannot replace traditional design tools.
Sources
Adobe 2025. Illustrator vs. Photoshop: When to use each application. Understand the difference between apps that work in vectors and pixels to weave graphic design and photo editing into one smooth workflow, Adobe 2025. Accessed 3.4.2025 https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/design/illustrator-vs-photoshop.html
Ahonen V. 2025. UI and UX – what is the difference between them? Identio Oy 2025. Accessed 2.4.2025 https://identio.fi/blogi/ui-ja-ux-mita-eroa-niilla-on/
Amery A. 2024. Wix vs. Wix Studio: Which should you choose? 24.6.2024, Wix.com, Inc. Accessed 2.4.2025 https://www.wix.com/blog/wix-vs-wix-studio
Charlesworth L. 2025. 10 Best Game Design Tools in 2025, 26.3.2025 Access Creative Collage 2025. Accessed 3.4.2025. https://www.accesscreative.ac.uk/blog/10-best-game-design-tools-in-2025/
DbS Institute 2025. The top 5 softwares used by game artists, 19.10.2023. Accessed 3.4.2025 https://insider.dbsinstitute.ac.uk/the-top-5-softwares-used-by-game-artists
Wix Help Center 2025a. Exporting or Embedding Your Wix Site Elsewhere, Wix.com, Inc 2025. Accessed 3.4.2025 https://support.wix.com/en/article/exporting-or-embedding-your-wix-site-elsewhere
Wix Help Center 2025b. Wix Media: Adding Free Media from Wix, Wix.com, Inc 2025. Accessed 3.4.2025 https://support.wix.com/en/article/wix-media-adding-free-media-from-wix
The article publications are written by the professionals at FrostBit, related to the activities and results of the projects, as well as on other topics related to RDI activities and the ICT sector. The articles are evaluated by FrostBit’s publishing committee.
Mirka Hienonen
Mirka works as a software development expert at FrostBit. Her main focus is on full-stack development, but she is also happy to work in other roles, extending her expertise to UI and UX design, 3D modeling, and game engines.