UI/UX Design: Difference, Importance and Denotation
Imagine your favourite website. Why would you say it is your favourite website?
1. Probably because it is eye-catchy.
2. It displays information about something you like.
3. Most importantly because navigating through the website is the most. effortless experience you can have.
Now imagine if you had to design your favourite website. Before thinking of creating the design elements and solutions, you would first analyse the behaviour of your target users, their habits, needs, inclinations and feelings and then brainstorm about the aspects that the company/ provider want to display. This is the job of a User Experience (UX) Designer.
Now picture yourself navigating through your favourite website as a user; does it take time for you to first familiarize yourself with the tools and components of the website or do you instinctively know how and where you need to go? Yes, the trademark of a good website is that it is effortless to operate. User Interface (UI) designer takes the theory and analysis of the UX to bring it into practice. User Interface designer uses colour, spacing, and pictures to communicate/guide the user to navigate through the website effectively.
Thus, to summarise, the responsibilities of a UI Designer are as follows:
✔ Visual design
✔ Colour, typography, illustrations and layouts
✔ Design research
✔ Interactivity and animation
✔ UI prototyping
✔ Implementation with developers
Consequently, the responsibilities of a UX Designer are:
✔ Customer and competitor analysis
✔ User research
✔ Information architect
✔ Prototyping and wireframing
✔ Testing and iterating
✔ Coordinating with developers and UI designers
Now let us discuss the skill-set that UI Designers demonstrate in their industry-based practices:
Interpersonal Skills:
To design attractive and at the same time responsible and inclusive design solutions, it is necessary for a designer to be culturally-connected, informed, and engaged citizen. Also, a crucial role of the designer is to effectively communicate the function and importance of the design elements created by him/her both within the team and with the different stakeholders involved. Moreover, frequenting with clients regarding the designs is also the responsibility of a UI designer. Pertaining to these reasons, having the right set of soft skills is required of a good UI designer. Thus, a UI Designer maintains productive communication with the UX Designer, Web Designer and clients.
Technical Skills:
To excel in the field of UI design, it is necessary to have a basic understanding of colour theory, typography, styling and UI design patterns. Furthermore, a UI designer displays proficiency in industry-standard tools such as- Sketch, Adobe XD, and prototyping tools like InVision. Some of the other tools are Flinto, Figma, Balsamiq, Zeplin, etc.
Analytical Skills:
One of the most hidden and instrumental talents that the UI Designer exhibits is the ability to deeply analyse various aspects such as the target user behaviour and preferences to the latest industry trends.
Ever wondered what makes excellent designs stand out from the rest? Try the following ways to improve your design techniques :
1. Break free from the ‘always use 2 typefaces’ club and see how using single typefaces provides a more consistent and strong result.
2. Give your user the liberty to immediately locate the ‘skip’ button on your Mobile App Onboarding.
3. Use 20pt with your long-form content- ranging from Blogs to Articles for a good reading experience.
4. Use just one light source for shadows.
5. Make sure to improve the contrast between Text and Images using subtle and simple overlay.
6. Use adequate but precise amount of white space to make your design look more natural and fall easy on the eyes; remember that this maintains
the simplicity of your design and nothing is more elegant than simplicity.
7. Remember to use the old school typesetting technique of keeping Centred Text in moderation; everything except the Headline should be left-aligned.
8. In light backgrounds, darken your text for effective readability.
The user experience and user interface of any product should be as effortless, easily understandable. If a user lands on a website or an app, they should be easily able to navigate from A to Z without even thinking about it..
“Design is everywhere. From the dress you’re wearing to the smartphone. you’re holding, it’s design.”
— Samadara Ginige, Designer and Developer
