4 Major Differences Between UI And UX Design

If you work in an environment focused on creating and dealing with websites, apps, games, or any other digital products, UI and UX design are terms you must be familiar with. But even so, a lot of people get confused between the two terms. Both the terms are indeed used in an intertwined manner by a majority of brands and companies, but this does not mean they’re both the same.

User experience refers to the experience any user has with the products and services of a company. Whether their experience was good or bad, convenient or inconvenient, confusing or productive, all depends upon the simplicity and complexity of the design your website or app has. Whereas User Interface design is more focused on your layout and feel of your app or website; how each image, button, setup, etc will look like and how it can function on your website or app.

With the rise of technology and the increasing use of internet services, the terms UI/UX have become common. And the functions they both provide have become vital in defining how a brand’s audience gets satisfied with the services they’re receiving online. Since they’re used in such an intertwined manner, people often confuse them to be as one. But that’s definitely not the case. Let’s have a look at 4 of the major differences between the two.

UX Focuses on Problem Solving, UI Focuses on Product Functioning

UX emphasizes solving problems for the audience. All the ways your website or app tends to solve people’s queries or issues, become a part of its user experience design. UX is basically concerned with fulfilling the user’s expectations and finding their answers appropriately. In a way, you could say that UX designers focus on the concepts that will enhance the experience your audience has on your web or app. While UI designers focus on the more tangible, visible aspects of that experience.

UI is the Bridge that Leads to UX

If you want a simple understanding between the two, think of UI as the bridge leading us where we want to go, and UX as the feeling we attain when we arrive at our destination. Meaning, in order to provide good high-quality UX, you need to design your UI such that all future problems can be avoided. This includes removing navigation errors, adjusting the design to be functional as well as accessible. After this, you end up with an app that is well-researched and polished to provide users with the best possible services.

UX Optimizes User Journey, UI Optimizes Your Product Layout

The main focus of UX is to optimize the user’s journey. This is done by optimizing the content on your app or platform, which refers to images, videos, advertisements, and so on. What does UX have to do with this? Firstly, UX helps design a user persona on your app or website, and these personas help UX get a gist of what your target audience needs from you. And hence you end up with content that caters to those needs. UI, on the other hand, doesn’t focus on the kind of content rather how that content reaches the audience. By decreasing search time and increasing accessibility on your app or website, UI improves your layout which helps improve UX in the end.

UX Encompasses Overall User Experience, UI Focuses on the Means that Allow That Experience

UI focuses on the means that allow for UX to occur i.e. when you have a simpler interface that allows easy navigation and simplified searches, you attract new users and they continue coming back to your platform for their digital experience. When you have a good UI, it increases conversion rates and decreases the probability of bounce rates on your platform. This is what we mean when we say that UI focuses on the steps that allow for UX to happen. As for UX, it doesn’t just attract users but retains them. The main focus of UX is to provide personalized, positive experiences to the user. UI has everything to do with how you’re providing services to your users and UX is all about what users are getting from those services.

I’ve tried to narrow down the differences between UI and UX as accurately as possible. But just to summarize it all, you need to remember that User Interface design is concerned with providing a means for the user to interact and communicate with your brand and User Experience design is the encounter that occurs through the interface, which leaves an impression on your user and makes them decide whether they want to come back to your platform or not.

Shoaib Noor

A Computer Science Graduate, Graphic Designer, food blogger and so much more...

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