UI and UX are not synonymous: What are the differences?
First Things First
While the terms “UI” and “UX” are coupled closely and often used together and within the same context, there are some important distinctions. UI design refers to “user interface design,” while UX design refers to “user experience design.” Both considerations work in tandem to deliver a captivating, successful product but require different skill sets.
User Experience Design (UX)
UX design is a human-first design methodology for designing products that consider each element that shapes a user’s journey. UX design is guided by questions like, “How will this make the user feel?”, “How intuitive is it for the user to complete their desired tasks while using the product?”
Consider an e-commerce website, for example. If the checkout process is long-winded, over-complicated, and buggy, the user will be less likely to convert and walk away feeling like they had a bad user experience, an experience that they won’t be in a hurry to repeat. On the other hand, if the process is quick, straightforward, and hassle-free, they will consider it a good user experience. Therefore, for UX designers to ensure a good user experience, they will combine market research and product development strategies to uncover user wants and needs in a particular context. They then use their findings to design a product that puts the user first.
UX designers will start by conducting extensive research and answer the following:
- Who are their target users?
- What do they want and expect from the product or service?
The user research phase consists of conducting face-to-face interviews, online questionnaires, surveys, observing existing or potential users, and building personas. As stated in the last blog post, UX Designers must be empathetic and have the ability to put themselves in the user’s shoes. The UX designer works out the users’ journey and maps out the user workflows. They then create wireframes and prototypes tested and iterated upon until the final design is ready.
The UX design process centers on understanding the user’s logical and emotional journey through a product to optimize the end-to-end experience. UX design is also very heavily linked to business objectives, aligning the user's desires with those of the company. Unlike UI design, UX has nothing to do with visuals or making elements look aesthetically pleasing.
User Interface Design (UI)
User interface design focuses specifically on the users’ visual interactive experience. Questions UI designers must answer while designing are the following:
- How does the user interact with the product’s interface?
- How do users move from one screen to another?
- What happens when they click a button or tap an image?
UI designers design every single screen and interactive touchpoint that the users encounter. They consider each page's layout, the spacing between every element, button design, scrollbars, sliders, color palettes, and even typography to ensure consistency and familiarity across the product.
Like UX designers, the UI designers also create mock-ups and prototypes to see how the final product will look. Succinctly, UI design is all about the presentation, look, and feel of the product. Of course, the UI of a product has a huge impact on the users’ overall experience, but UI is much more closely related to visual communication and graphic design. Fundamentally, the UI Designer takes the framed blueprint from the UX design and turns it into something visually pleasing and interactively seamless.
In short, UX is focused on the user’s journey to solve a particular problem. UI design is focused on how a product’s interactive components look and “feel”.
Final Words
Having explored both UX and UI in more detail, we can see that they’re very different. UX is highly methodical and rooted in psychology and cognitive behavior. It’s all about problem-solving, understanding how the user thinks, and making a product functional and useful while ensuring that they can open an app or website and easily achieve the desired outcome. On the other hand, UI is much more focused on the visuals, whether or not the product is aesthetically and interactively pleasing. UI is more concerned with making a product beautiful, interactive, and making a real emotional connection. The concept of UX applies to everything. It’s the entire experience that the user has with a brand, product, or service. By definition, UI design is just about digital interfaces, but the two very much go hand in hand.
We’re Here to Help
At M&S Consulting, we understand that designing the best UI and UX is essential to technology products or projects. Our team of world-class technologists and UI/UX Designers can help you create your users' optimal experience. Whether you’re looking to take the next step, ask questions, or want a general consultation, we’d love to help! Visit our website (www.mandsconsulting.com) to learn more today.
