Why I used emojis instead of icons in my app design

Hi everyone 👋

I’m Valerii, solo founder of PlanEat AI — an AI-powered meal planning app.

When designing the interface, I had two goals:

• Make it emotional — I didn’t want just sterile icons, but something that makes people feel something.
• Move fast — as a solo founder, I needed a quick way to prototype without spending weeks hunting for the “perfect” icons.

💡 My solution? Emojis.

Instead of searching for icon packs or hiring a designer, I simply leaned on emojis:
✅ Success states → playful emoji with a wink
🎉 Subscription → confetti emoji
🤔 Decision screens → thinking face
🔥 Activity level → flame emoji
🍽️ Eating style → plate & utensils

It turned out to be both fast and surprisingly effective:

Users instantly understood the meaning (no legend needed).

Emojis gave the app a human touch, making serious tasks like “reset password” or “track allergies” feel less heavy.

It also saved me hours of design time.

Of course, emojis have limits — they don’t scale perfectly, and consistency is tricky. But for an MVP, they helped me create a design that feels alive and friendly.

👉 Question for you: Have you ever used emojis (or other “non-standard” assets) in your UI to speed up design? Did it work, or did it backfire with users?

You can also see the full app here: planeatai.com