< BLOG >

Ready-made components or custom UI?

03/25/2025✲Mateusz Kruhlik
Modern Web Design

How we launched Bitelink.pl in 2 weeks, saving over 30% of the budget using ready-made components

As a UI/UX Designer, I often face a dilemma: should I design the interface from scratch or use prebuilt UI libraries? Custom UI offers full control and uniqueness, but the reality for solopreneurs and bootstrapped founders is a constant pressure of time, budget, and fast market validation.

A great example is our project Bitelink.pl – a platform for generating and managing QR codes that had to go from idea to MVP in just 2 weeks.

It was just two of us: a designer and a developer.

Goal: quickly test the idea, get an initial Product-Market Fit signal, and gather feedback from early users.

Why did we choose ready-made components?

Using a UI library allowed us to:

  • Save over 30% of the budget – instead of spending thousands of euros designing and coding basic elements, we invested in market testing.
  • Deliver the MVP 3x faster – instead of 6 weeks, we needed only 2, giving us a head start over the competition.
  • Maintain a consistent UX/UI – we avoided design chaos by using proven interaction patterns.

Design tip

If you want to speed up development, choose a reliable UI library that works well with your framework (e.g., Material UI for React).

When do ready-made components really make sense?

UI libraries (Material UI, Ant Design, Alignui, Tailwind UI) work best when:

  • You have limited time and resources.
  • You need to quickly validate an idea (MVP).
  • You want to ensure smooth designer-developer collaboration.

When is custom UI a must?

Custom UI is essential if:

  • Your brand demands uniqueness and strong visual identity.
  • You need custom animations or interactions.
  • You care about maximum performance and full control over code.

How to create an effective “hybrid” UI system?

In Bitelink.pl, we applied a hybrid approach:

  • Basic elements (forms, buttons, navigation) – from a ready-made library (Material UI).
  • Key screens (QR code editor, user dashboard) – custom-designed to give the product a distinctive edge.

This gave users a consistent yet recognizable interface.

Design tip

Always adapt the branding (colors, icons, typography) of ready-made components to your UI to avoid a generic app look.

What did the Bitelink.pl MVP implementation look like?

1. From idea to MVP (2 weeks)

  • 3 days: layout and flow design using prebuilt components.
  • Parallel implementation by the developer using Material UI.
  • Key screens (QR code generator) – built custom.
  • Iterative testing and UX/UI tweaks over the following days.

Results:

  • We delivered a working MVP in just 2 weeks.
  • We confirmed initial Product-Market Fit without unnecessary costs.
  • We saved over 30% of the budget compared to a fully custom solution.

2. Challenges we faced

  • Some library components required non-trivial modifications.
  • It was necessary to adjust branding (colors, icons) to maintain a unique identity.

Our custom FAST method for deciding between ready-made and custom components

In Bitelink.pl, we created a custom decision-making method called FAST:

  • Fit – Does the library meet our UX/UI needs?
  • Adaptability – Can we easily customize styles and interactions?
  • Speed – Does the library significantly accelerate development?
  • Testability – Does it allow for fast hypothesis validation?

Thanks to FAST, we could quickly assess when to use ready-made components and when to build something custom.

Design tip

Test UI libraries early in the project. If, after a few days, it turns out that adapting them is more time-consuming than building from scratch, it’s better to switch to a custom solution.

Conclusion

Choosing ready-made components is a matter of strategy. Using libraries doesn’t mean giving up uniqueness—it’s a strategic choice that saves resources in the early stage. After validating the market, you can always invest in a more custom design.

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Analyze your idea with us in terms of technology selection and let's choose the solution that best suits your product. We will be happy to help you make the right decision!

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