Spotting the Differences between UX vs UI for Every Designer

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4 years ago

Spotting the Differences between UX vs UI for Every Designer

The UX, also known as user experience, and the UI, commonly referred to as user interface, are two of the most crucial elements in design that can help build a product or destroy it. Many individuals who deem themselves designers still tend to confuse between the two by treating them as one and using them interchangeably. These two terms mean different things, and even though they may both be purposely used for design, their functions vary.

If you intend to create one of the best digital products such as websites or applications, you will need to understand and be familiar with UI and UX to make it a successful project. These two terms have been growing in popularity over the years and especially with technology-based companies and industries. There are generally used as UI/UX design and are usually implemented together by various companies to create some of the best and award-winning products. If you’re interested in understanding how to help people use a product quickly and with pleasure, then using UX and UI can help you find a solution.

You have to find sense in using these two features together and in different ways putting their differences to developing worthy projects.

UX design explained

User experience can be defined as the overall experience that a user has with a designer’s product. The experiences can be categorized as good or bad and are determined by the level of difficulty when it comes to interacting with every element of the product. Designers use UX to gather a lot of information and data needed to create or improve existing products that users engage with. It helps them know whether the user flow is simple or confusing if the buttons persuade users to click more, and how on earth to increase conversion rates.

When it comes to UX design, what is entailed is majorly concerned with research that helps designers identify the potential market gaps that occur due to unattended customer needs and demands. It also helps them carefully analyze their competitors’ products and how they affect their user’s preferences for products. UX also considers the various objectives of a designer or company to help create digital products that are in line with the organization’s goals. It aims to enhance user interaction with products and their perception of this software as proposed by the designer.

UX is a helpful tool that allows the designer to consistently maintain improve their products by making the necessary changes on the user interface. Through monitoring the reaction and interaction of different users on the interface, designers can understand what it is precisely that users want and thus, make the right decisions that guide the targeted audience towards their intentions or desires. This explains how UX is used together with UI.

The breakdown of UI

When we talk about user interface design, we revolve around the outlook or layout. It depicts how every element or feature of a product looks like and includes the buttons, images, placeholders, or any other visual interface feature that users tend to interact with, thereby giving a user experience, UX. While the UX design interprets how the interface functions and how users engage with it, a UI defines how the interface looks like in the eyes of all the concerned parties.

Therefore, UX and UI designers have different purposes. The UX designer operates by carrying out market research to familiarize themselves with the customer’s needs and demands. On the other hand, a UI designer focuses on the graphic patterns and trends that revolve around different designs depending on the customer’s change in taste, preferences and behavior. Important UI rules assist designers in creating elegant and straightforward products that are easy to use and, most importantly, human-centered.

The significant differences between UX and UI exposed

The two are both crucial elements for designing a product, but they also consist of differences in which every designer needs to be aware of to use them effectively and appropriately.

1. UX focuses on learning and enhancing experience, while UI focuses on the layout to attract customers.

For UX, the audience is the determining factor and most of the research work carried out in this type of design is aimed at learning and enhancing user experience. The user’s journey is the essential factor with UX and includes their behaviors and emotional responses to the interaction. Designers use this type f design to enter the minds of the targeted audience and confide in their feedback that came from the engagement between them and the interface.

However, UI is mainly transfixed with the layout and how on earth it can be manipulated to entice customers to make the desired decisions or actions that were intended and targeted by their UX counterparts. The UI designers transform conceptual layout into an attractive interface for users.

2. UX looks for the solutions for customer demands while UI defines the look

UX design’s main objective is to establish the expectations of the users for a specific product and identify the problems faced as well as provide relevant solutions to them. On the other hand, UI design is tasked at creating the interface for the product based on the various functional requirements. It also makes use of design theories and set standards to invent top-notch experience on the user’s screen.

The roles of UI and UX designers

UI designers

Help developers clearly understand the project by testing and offering feedback about specific products until the completion of the final version.
Create high-fidelity layouts that come with responsive guidelines and define the various animations and transitions.
Ensure that the final product is similar to what the users wanted.

UX designers

Research on the various consumer needs and demands for a product.
Analyze market data collected and come up with solutions that improve the user experience at every touchpoint.
Create prototypes from wireframes and submitting them to the UI designers.

Conclusion

UX and UI may serve similar company objectives but for them to be applied effectively, they require different thinking processes and resources. While UX is a science-based on audience wants and demands, UI is an art based on implementing these wants into an attractive outlook.