UI
design and UX design are two of the most often confused and conflated
terms in web and app design. And understandably so. They’re usually
placed together in a single term, UI/UX design, and viewed from the
surface they seem to be describing the same thing.
What is UI Design?
The
“UI” in UI design stands for “user interface.” The user interface is
the graphical layout of an application. It consists of the buttons users
click on, the text they read, the images, sliders, text entry fields,
and all the rest of the items the user interacts with. This includes
screen layout, transitions, interface animations and every single
micro-interaction. Any sort of visual element, interaction, or animation
must all be designed.
This
job falls to UI designers. They decide what the application is going to
look like. They have to choose color schemes and button shapes — the
width of lines and the fonts used for text. UI designers create the look
and feel of an application’s user interface.
UI
designers are graphic designers. They’re concerned with aesthetics.
It’s up to them to make sure the application’s interface is attractive,
visually-stimulating and themed appropriately to match the purpose
and/or personality of the app. And they need to make sure every single
visual element feels united, both aesthetically, and in purpose.
What is UX Design?
“UX”
stands for “user experience.” A user’s experience of the app is
determined by how they interact with it. Is the experience smooth and
intuitive or clunky and confusing? Does navigating the app feel logical
or does it feel arbitrary? Does interacting with the app give people the
sense that they’re efficiently accomplishing the tasks they set out to
achieve or does it feel like a struggle? User experience is determined
by how easy or difficult it is to interact with the user interface
elements that the UI designers have created.
So
UX designers are also concerned with an application’s user interface,
and this is why people get confused about the difference between the
two. But whereas UI designers are tasked with deciding how the user
interface will look, UX designers are in charge of determining how the
user interface operates.
They
determine the structure of the interface and the functionality. How
it’s organized and how all the parts relate to one another. In short,
they design how the interface works. If it works well and feels
seamless, the user will have a good experience. But if navigation is
complicated or unintuitive, then a lousy user experience is likely. UX
designers work to avoid the second scenario.
There’s
also a certain amount of iterative analysis involved in UX design. UX
designers will create wireframe rendering of their interface
interactions and get user feedback. They’ll integrate this into their
designs. It’s important for UX designers to have a holistic
understanding of how users prefer to interact with their applications.
5 key differences between them are:
UX Is Not UI
UX
design or user experience design, is the process by which a pain point
or user need is identified. From there, a rough prototype is drawn which
is later validated (or invalidated) through testing. When both the
business model and the value proposition have been validated the product
is built.
You can think of UI design or user interface design like this:
User Interface Design = Visual Design + Interaction Design.
UX Makes Interfaces Useful, UI Makes Interfaces Beautiful
A
useful product meets a need that is not already being met in the
market. The research process of a UX designer involves doing a
competitive analysis, developing personas, and then developing a minimum
viable product or more apropos, minimum valuable product; a product
that will be valuable to your targeted customer niche. This is validated
through testing throughout the life-cycle of the product.
Once
the user flows and wireframes are prototyped and tested, it’s the UI
designer’s role to make them aesthetically pleasing. This includes
choosing a color scheme and typography that will be both attractive and
simple to use. However, color choices, typography and interactions are
not based on the designer’s personal preference but rather on clearly
articulated reasons specific to the personas developed by the UX
designers. With these, UI designers implement a visual hierarchy that
will serve as a guide to users, letting them know what to do and when to
do it, in order to meet their objectives.
UX Helps Users Accomplish Goals, UI Makes Emotional Connections
People
come to your site to do stuff. Whether it’s researching the best kind
of doggie companion for small apartment living or paying their taxes
(ouch!). The former may be more fun, however in either case they come to
your site with a goal in mind.
The
UX side of things might look at people like dog lovers and try to
figure out what’s important to them. What is it that they value or need
when looking for assistance in choosing their next furry friend? So,
they get to work to figure it out. They ask questions, they observe
people, they interview people, they may make prototypes and do a bit of
guerrilla testing to see if they can validate their business and product
value propositions.
Once
you have the basic usability right, according to Aarron Walter author
of Designing for Emotion, it’s really the personality of your interface
that will elicit loyalty in your users. People may be drawn to your site
because of its striking design, they may stick around for a while if it
allows them to do stuff. However, once they make a personal connection,
then they’re hooked. Does your interface make them laugh? Does it “get”
them? Is it cheeky? Aaron says, “People will forgive your shortcomings,
follow your lead, and sing your praises if your reward them with
positive emotion.” That’s where the expertise of the UI designer comes
in.
UX Design Is Done First, UI Design Is Done Second…(Sometimes)
Within the process of design how do UX and UI designers work together?
Normally,
UX design and research is the first step when deciding whether to build
a product or application. UX designers handle much of the research that
will validate or invalidate initial product ideas and guide the
development of the product.
Once
the prototype has gone through several iterations and is largely
finalized (for now) the UI designer steps in and begins to work on the
visual design and micro-interactions.
However, this may not always be a linear path. It depends on many factors. For example:
Who handles the UX and UI?
Is it the same person or a different person or team?
UX Is Employed Across Products, Interfaces And Services, UI Only Pertains To Interfaces
User
experience design is a broad field and becoming more popular by the
day. Now, not only companies with a web presence but many others that
develop products or provide services are catching-on to the value of
understanding their users and validating their hypotheses before they
build.
User
Interface design is, well, only for user interfaces. This doesn’t mean
it is limited to the graphical user interfaces of computers, tablets and
mobile devices. We are also seeing interfaces on many other products
these days like watches, washing machines, car dashboards, vending
machines, ticket kiosks and many more.
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