UI Design India

Difference between User Experience (UX) Design & User Interface (UI) Design

There has been always a confusion about User Experience Design & User Interface Design. Some take these as the same thing, others differentiate them. However the line has been blurred between these since the first article on the internet about them emerged. So the question is still there whether they are separate concepts? Or are they connected closely?

Some people use these terms on blogs and pages as UI/UX design while others use them as User Experience Design & User Interface Design. UX design provides you with amazing design solution so that your clients are satisfied with the look and feel of their web pages and applications.

Let’s look at what’s the difference between UX and UI Design.

ui vs ux designer

Basics:

At basic level, what unites UI & UX is that they both are types of designs. UI stands for User Interface while UX stands for User Experience but today both of these terms are used to refer to services and solutions that are provided by software development companies.

However if we take a look at them UX and UI are different types of designs. UX is the schematic backbone of a given solution. This is just like a blueprint of a building with all the walls, floors, pipes and other elements drawn as a map to be followed upon. UX Designers draw a map for the website or page to be developed encompassing all the elements from top menu to the last button. This UX is created with the aim of providing maximum comfort to the customer while using the website, for example while buying a pair of Nike shows from the online page.

UI on the other hand is how the user will interact with the machine. This is all the information, buttons, menus and other objects with which the user interacts. We can say UI is the gift wrapping over the UX design or scheme to make it look good and appealing. UI web Designers selects the Button Styles, Illustrations, Menus, Pictures, Fonts and Colors so as to make the product look amazing to the user.

Some companies out there employ a single expert for both UI & UX while others employ different professionals for UI & UX design. They are different as we have seen above, they solve different problems however they do overlap. A typical example of this is animation, you can’t create and deliver an amazing animation if UX and UI are not in Sync with each other.

User Experience:

The concept of User Experience was created to cover the interactions between humans and machines, not covered by other concepts like Human Interface and Usability. UX design gives much more attention to every single stage of development. UX determines the placement of visuals on the screen, user actions and functions like how the search functionality will work. UX design is responsible for establishing communication between the product and the user. It also creates prototypes and scenarios for the user as well as any analytics that the user may want to perform. Hence it is responsible for the total feel of the product when the user interacts with it.

So to full fill these requirements and to create a great UX Design, the UX Designer should be well versed in Psychology and social sciences in order to create such experience that is according to the user’s habits and likings. This not only requires mastering the best UX tools but to learn from the user experiences and interactions as well. This is similar to how marketing research is conducted and requires a huge amount of data to be gathered and results to be analyzed and coordinated.

Ideally a UX Design should be:

> User Friendly in its functionality.

> Notify about any extra features and synchronizations with other applications.

> Intuitiveness, Consistency and facilitation is the key.

> Able to spot-on prototype experiences.

> User Profiling

So it is safe to say that the design of UX should be to keep things simple and to allow the user to achieve what he wants to do on a given page with all the ease.

Check: bad ux design patterns

User Interface:

These are the looks of the Product, The Colors, Different Styles, fonts and other visual components are part of the User Interface with the aim of turning the UX designing into an eye candy for the consumer. UI Design Developers choose different visual styles and elements and make them to work together properly and efficiently. The UI Design should make the product appealing to the costumer but should not be overwhelming. This could be taken as the voice or image of the brand to consumers so that the consumer admires the brand and the product on very first look.

So this process of creating a good and appealing UI design requires a lot of creativity and communication skills from the designer. The design of UI should be such that it carries the costumer through the UX Journey and ends with the costumer making purchase of the product.

The Difference between User Experience and User Interface is simple and clear. However there are more than one way to develop an Application or a website out there. UX & UI are interrelated in a number of ways and so many people learn them both, also many companies hire a single person to handle them both to keep the cost as low as possible. So this is where UI/UX designer term comes into play or more commonly the term Digital Designer is used in such situations.

Then there is the other situation or mode of development taken up by companies who hire one person for UX and a spate one for UI, so as to separate the duties and to get the best out of UX & UI design. These companies aim for perfection, however care should be takes as there should be perfect cooperation between the UX design developer and the UI design developer.

As we have seen UX & UI both are important for creating a great product and an amazing user experience. The designers and front-end developers at UX design India ensure that the both these major components are considered while building mobile applications or website development.

Are you looking to outsource UX & UI design? then Aalpha the top web design agency in India can help you, connect with us today.

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Written by:

Stuti Dhruv

Stuti Dhruv is a Senior Consultant at Aalpha Information Systems, specializing in pre-sales and advising clients on the latest technology trends. With years of experience in the IT industry, she helps businesses harness the power of technology for growth and success.

Stuti Dhruv is a Senior Consultant at Aalpha Information Systems, specializing in pre-sales and advising clients on the latest technology trends. With years of experience in the IT industry, she helps businesses harness the power of technology for growth and success.