UI vs UX, What’s What…
UI and UX from the perspective of a novice designer.
Let’s start with what I believe UI(User Interface) and UX(User Experience) are. In simple terms, UI can be defined as what the users see, and the things they interact with. In web design, buttons, images, input fields, etc are some examples of UI. It represents the graphical layout of an application in the context of web design. UI decides what the users see and where they see it.
Now moving on to UX, it defines what the users feel when they interact with the elements presented to them via the UI. If a user doesn't find the application fun or easy to use , he/she has no reason to come back to it, this reduces the number of users. But, if he/she feels the application is easy to use, they will recommend it to their peers, increasing the number of users. This is how, UX can make or break an application.
So, when creating any type of application the major things we need to consider is; what it will look like and how the users, who use the application, feel like while using it. When creating an application, one should always consider what the user will find good, rather than his/her own interests. We should focus more on what they like and what they think is easy, rather than on what looks good to us and what we feel is easy. Some things we can consider while thinking about this are:
- Why do the users use the application?
- The users’ behavior and environment
- The users’ goals, needs and motivations
Before starting any project, we should create user centered designs driven by user insights. Some major questions to ask the users when starting the object can be:
- What are the goals the project needs to achieve?
- Who are the users of the application?
- Why would they use your application or service?
- How will we know how our application has become successful?
UI and UX are the life of any application. If you create an application where navigation is super easy and fun but the icons, text, buttons, etc. look cramped or aren't aligned properly then most people won’t want to use the application again. Similarly, if you create a breathtaking application with the prettiest design but navigating it is really tedious then people won’t want to use the application again. So UI and UX go hand in hand to create applications that give the best of both worlds, that is fun to navigate and is easy on the eyes.
