The terms user experience and user interface appear interchangeable, but they mean very different things. What exactly are the differences between the two? You’ve come to the right place if you’re interested in learning what UX and UI are and how they differ. We will discuss both UX and UI below, what they mean, how they work, and how they differ.
What is UX?
Designing products for user experience (UX) is a collaborative process that teams of designers use to make products that give their users meaningful and relevant experiences when they use them. The design, branding, usability, and functional aspects of the entire acquisition and integration process are all considered.
What is UI?
A UI is an acronym for “user interface.” User interfaces are the graphical layouts of applications. A user’s interaction includes clicking buttons, reading text, viewing images, using sliders, entering text, and interacting with other features. Each micro-interaction relates to the screen’s layout, transitions, animations and micro-interactions. Any visual element must have a design and sometimes is as simple as the font being Times New Roman instead of Comic Sans.
Differences
User Interface (UI) is the aesthetic elements people use to interact with a product, while User Experience (UX) is the user experience with the product. UX focuses on the user’s journey through the product, whereas UI focuses on the visual interface elements such as typography, colours, menu bars, etc. Imagining you’re designing a house is an easier way to understand. A foundation would be UX, while furniture and paint would be UI.
How they function together
User interfaces are designed by UX designers, while UI designers design user interfaces. There is a lot of collaboration between the two design teams, and they tend to work closely together. It is common for UX and UI design tasks to overlap. It is possible, however, to have separate UX and UI teams on a large-scale web design project. A UI designer begins designing the visual aspects of the solution once the UX designer has mapped out the basic functionality. Designing buttons, scrolling down the page, and filling out forms are part of the UI input.
Example
An example of how UX and UI work well together is in the online gaming industry. For instance, let’s say you live in Ireland. To find the right wms slot machines online, you may as well choose from the website that offers you one of the best interfaces to make your user experience the most enjoyable. A website’s design and navigation features vary according to the user’s needs.
Conclusion
The roles of UX and UI within a website design are highly specialised and differentiated. There is no guarantee that every web designer is equally skilled in both areas – but understanding what they do will allow you to ask questions and learn more about their work.
Header image credit: Christina Morillo via Pexels
