What’s the Difference Between UX and UI?
UX and UI (user experience and user interface) design are two pivotal aspects to consider with any digital product, especially when updating your website or undergoing a rebranding.
So, how do UX and UI work together? Well, it goes without saying that UX and UI complement each other to create an eye-catching and effective product.
Both UX and UI design strategies play a crucial role in the delivery of a well-thought-out and intuitive app, system, portal and website.
In this post, we will be exploring the world of user experience and user interface design to find out what a UX and UI designers are, how they fit into the product development process, and why they are essential to creating any successful user-focused digital product.
Keep reading to find out more about UX vs UI…
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UX vs UI Design
Before we dive into what a UX/UI designer is, we must first establish what UX and UI are, and more importantly, what separates them from each other.
What is UX Design?
UX design is the practice of optimising a product or service for a satisfying and efficient user experience.
The primary goal of UX design is to make sure a product is both intuitive and easy to use, making for an overall enjoyable and memorable experience that fulfils the user’s needs. This includes everything from:
- Designing product features
- Working on the functionality of the product
- Developing a content strategy
- Developing information architecture
- Usability testing
- Performance optimisation
- And more…
In order to achieve these goals, UX designers must identify user pain points, analyse customer behaviour, create wireframes and storyboards for product features, conduct usability tests, monitor performance metrics, and make data-driven decisions.
UX designers use research and their deep industry knowledge to understand customer needs, create prototypes, test ideas through user feedback, and launch innovative solutions that meet those needs. By providing users with a great experience, UX design helps to create customer loyalty and trust in the product or service.
In short, user experience design is all about making sure users have a great experience when they interact with and use your product or service.
What is UI Design?
UI design is the practice of creating a visually pleasing and functional interface that enables users to navigate and interact with a product or service.
UI designers are responsible for everything from developing the look and feel of the product to designing menus, buttons, toggles, and input fields. User interface designers must then ensure that these components are consistent and visually appealing across all platforms (e.g. web, mobile apps).
A team will usually have several UI designers working on multiple aspects of the same digital product. Their roles typically include that of product designer, product manager, and product owner.
In addition to the aesthetics of crafting a visually appealing and user-friendly interface that enables users to interact with your product effectively, UI design also involves optimising user flows so that people can find and access what they need quickly and easily.
This process includes creating information architectures, wireframes, sitemaps, prototypes, navigation menus, and more.
UI designers use a combination of design theory, visual communication skills, user experience research techniques, and technical knowledge to create effective interfaces that put the user first.
Any UI element used on a website or app should be designed in a way that helps users navigate the product quickly and easily. This means taking into account factors such as colour scheme, typography, spacing between elements, size of elements, and overall visual hierarchy.
At the end of the day, UI design should help users interact with your product as smoothly and easily as possible, with the goal being to create an interface that feels comfortable and intuitive for users.
Differences Between UX and UI
Although UI and UX design often go hand-in-hand, there are some key differences between the two.
The key difference between UX and UI designers is the role they play in the creation of a website, app, system or portal.
While UX designers are heavily involved in the planning stages of the digital product’s creation through the means of wireframes and testable prototypes, UI designers are more concerned with the look and functionality of the finalised product.
Simply put, a great user experience designer knows how to create an intuitive user experience for users, while a great user interface designer knows how to make it look good.
Another major difference is between look and feel. UX focuses on the feel of a product or service, while UI focuses on its look. This means that UX designers will focus on identifying user needs and creating a product that meets those needs, while UI designers will be focused more on how the product looks and feels.
The third key difference is the view each approach takes to a page. A UX designer will take a ‘high-level’ view that focuses on the user’s journey and how each page fits into that overall experience. On the other hand, a UI designer will take a more ‘micro-level’ view, focusing on creating an aesthetically pleasing interface with consistent elements that are easy to use.
Truthfully, the debate of UX vs UI is a redundant one. While there are obvious similarities between UX and UI, they are difficult to showcase the differences between them since they are two things that aren’t completely comparable to each other.
Each technique works in conjunction with the other, but the aims and ambitions of each design strategy are vastly different to one another.
What is a UX/UI Designer?
Although we’ve discussed and broken down the differences between UX and UI design, there’s no reason why they can’t be used together.
After all, it should never be a decision of UI or UX design – at least not when you’re working with Inc Studio for an intuitive website, app, system or portal design.
A great UX/UI designer will combine techniques from both processes to create products and services that are both visually appealing and functionally effective.
A UX/UI designer will need to understand user needs and behaviours, have a strong design eye, and be knowledgeable in the latest technologies so they can create innovative products that deliver an exceptional user experience.
They are responsible for the large quantity of product’s creation process, typically covering:
1) UX research
- Competitor and industry analysis
- Market research
- Create a brief
- UX strategy
2) UX Design
- informational hierarchy
- Identify pain and eliminate points
- Focus on the user journey (improve ease of use and speed up a process)
- UX testing
3) UI Design
- Onboarding process
- Client interface
- UI testing
From here, a UX/UI designer will hand off the digital product to a dev team to finalise the app, system, portal or website. These developers typically specialise in:
- Front end development
- Back end development
- Specific languages, such as code
- Testing – user, browser, device, system etc testing
- Technical architecture
To break it down to the bottom line, the job of a UX/UI designer is to be a creative problem-solver who uses both technical and artistic skills to develop great products.
How do UX & UI Work Together?
So, how do UX and UI work together? Well, it goes without saying that UX and UI complement each other to create an eye-catching and effective product.
They’re both a human-first way of creating products or services, and when used together they can create an incredibly powerful user experience. If either one is ignored, then a website, app or system can quickly become difficult for a user to navigate or engage with.
The UX designer will use research and analysis to identify user needs and design a way for users to interact with the product in an intuitive way, while the UI designer will use their expertise in visual hierarchy, colour theory, typography, animation, and more to make sure the product looks as good as it functions.
It is the combination of these two disciplines that creates an experience that users can’t resist – not to mention, one that they won’t forget.
The UX designer will ensure the product provides a positive user experience, while the UI designer will make sure it looks great and gets people excited to use it. Designers will abide by a decided style guide to maintain brand consistency and functionality across the end digital product.
Whether it’s completed by a whole team or one singular designer, this synergy between UX and UI is what sets successful products apart from the rest. By combining UX research, UI design principles, and creative problem-solving skills, a great UX/UI designer can create something that users will love.
Using a deep understanding of user needs, a UX UI designer can create products that are both visually appealing and functionally effective. They must be able to think creatively while considering user behaviours in order to craft experiences that keep users coming back.
Cost of Effective & Intuitive UX/UI Design
In today’s digital landscape, having a great UX/UI designer on your team is essential for success. For any web product, the user experience and user interface must be of the highest quality, especially if you want to entice users to stay on and explore your website or app.
By combining usability testing with design thinking, they can ensure the product is intuitive, engaging, and user-friendly. Ultimately, this leads to more satisfied customers and stronger brand loyalty.
However, creating a great website, app or other user-focused digital products is only the first step, especially if you’re looking to get your website noticed. By setting aside a dedicated marketing budget, you can elevate your brand and reach a wider audience naturally.
We may be biased, but we believe that Inc Studio is the agency for forward-thinking companies to evolve their UI/UX design and reach new heights.
Our team of dedicated UX/UI designers, backed by our years of expertise and industry-leading tools, can create design solutions that are cost-effective and engaging for users.
We understand the importance of creating products that look good and work well – let us help you get there.
Tell us about your business in our contact form and a member of our team will be in touch to discuss the project further. We look forward to hearing from you.