Web Design And Web Development: Part Of The Same World Or Not?
A lot of tech-savvy folks will give a detailed answer to this, pointing out all the ways web development and design are fundamentally different from one another. And a lot of people would shrug and ask if it really makes a difference.
It kind of does.
In recent times many of us have used these two words interchangeably, not bothering to understand why design and development might be disparate. And this lack of understanding leads to serious confusion, especially during the website building process.
So let’s start by trying to understand the development and design concepts, and determine if they are worlds apart, or similar.
Web Design And Web Development: Entities From Different Dimensions?
To make a seamless site, we need both design and development. Both processes contribute to the creation of an entire site with features and functionalities that are needed to help the users.
The difference, however, is in the purpose of the operation. Let’s take a look at how each procedure works to understand its purpose.
Web Design: The Fairy Godmother Of Ideas
What is a design process if not a fairy godmother to all those early ideas and sketches on how the site might look like?
It’s true. Web designers take all the early discussion, ideas, stories, and experience and translate them into a functional, responsive web design interface that not only needs to work perfectly but looks beautiful as well. It is quite a complicated, yet underrated process. Professional web designers have to study and understand different market segments, understand the user and how they are going to react, and many other social and psychological factors before delivering the client with the final design.
A designer’s job, however, is not limited to simply designing a layout for the website. Designers need to integrate the proper UX rules as well. This means that all the design decisions, from what font should be used to which animations can not be used, everything will be determined by the kind of user experience designers are trying to build.
Now after reading all this if anyone is thinking that the design process must be quite straightforward, then let’s stop right there.
The process is anything but straightforward. It has quite a few steps and failing to follow any of them will derail the entire process. Here is a brief rundown of the design process steps-
- Understanding the user persona and their needs
- Researching and ideation
- Creating low fidelity sketches
- Building high fidelity wireframes
- Prototyping and testing
And after all these stages they have to get the design approved. If the design is approved, the site can move onto the next stage, which is development.
Web Development: Changing The Vision And Making It A Reality
Development is the process of taking the design created by the designer and simply adding functionalities to it and making it go live. Think of it as the pumpkin carriage that drove Cinderella to the ball.
Only in this scenario, Cinderella is the design of the website, and the ball is the interwebs.
Okay but all similes set aside, the development process comes after the design is done, and the processes differ vastly from one another. Developers at a web development company are the people who use the software, frameworks, and tools to turn the features of the design prototype into a functional website.
Developers are divided into two groups. On the one hand, we have the front-end developers, and on the other, we have the back end developers. Here is a small description of what they basically do-
Front end developers: these are the ones who take the design and turn it into a website. Front-end developers use programming languages and platforms such as JavaScript, Laravel, Angular JS, etc to create a functional website that the people can use. Front end developers act as a bridge between the back-end developer and the designers.
Backend developers: for any website that is dealing with dynamic data, back-end developers are a must. They are the ones who handle the technicalities of server connection, data storages, database handling, etc. backend developers use server languages such as SQL and MySQL for writing database queries.
And there we have proof- of how different the two processes are. The purpose of the design process is to make the website look glamorous and beautiful, while the purpose of the development process is to make that glamorous design work. It won’t be wrong to say that these two processes are from entirely different dimensions. Or maybe not?
Two Sides Of The Same Coin
Let’s start with the universal truth of web design
There is no design without development, and there is no development without design.
Granted they are different processes, for different purposes. But one can’t exist without the other. It just does not work. Let’s consider this further-
Web Design: Making ‘Online Presence’ Stronger Since Forever
Having a website is pointless if it looks like wet cardboard.
Most companies invest in developing a website with a web design and development company so that the online presence of the organization is strengthened. The site is deliberately designed to create an impact on the visitors. So avoiding this process is not going to do anyone any good.
Design projects such as eCommerce web design are not just choosing random colors, texts, images, and videos to display on the pages. It is an intricate procedure that is driven by the same social and psychological aspects that drive the users when choosing a product and service. The aim is to subtly guide the users to choose the same service again and again, in a market full of competitors.
Now for a second let’s imagine, you got rid of the design process. What will happen?
Well, you will have nothing to develop on. the designs, layouts. And wireframes created by professional web designers serve as the building blocks for the developers to create sites. If there is no functional design to build on, then there would be no site!
Web Development: The Nutrient Of A Good Website
Now, there are ways you can create a website and make it go live. But they are not really that effective.
Thanks to drag-and-drop site creators, a lot of people in need of a site don’t even consider going to a web design and development services anymore. Users can simply register for one of the above-mentioned services and get started. But there is a reason why these template-based sites don’t run well with the users.
Firstly these websites lack personalization. The website is going to be the first line of contact between you and the clients out there. They want to be surprised, amazed, and maybe a little awestruck. And template-based websites without proper integration of content Management System, though easy to use, do not inspire these feelings among the users.
And then comes the matter of customization. Even if the site is well-designed, it is still going to be the sculpture made with marble. Only through robust development, it can come to like. Development is important for a site’s success because, without it, the features and functionalities of the site get negatively affected. And that is why most web development in New York and other cities give equal importance to both design and development, to ensure the success of the site.
Final Answer: Development And Design, Are They Linked?
So, are these processes the same? Or different?
Well, they are definitely not the same. When it comes to the whole procedure of building a website, development and design are the two sides of the same coin. These are intertwined processes that deserve the same amount of focus and attention. No one can have design without development. So don’t make the mistake of thinking that web design and development are the same things, because that will harm the site’s chances of success.
