Whenever any product has to be designed, there are several people running behind the job, the most prominent people who are responsible for how any product feels for the users are the UX and UI designers. They are referred together and people confuse them to be the same thing. But that is not the case. Let us explore a bit to get a better understanding of how these professions differ.
Designing is the art to represent the core aspects of a product or service to its customers or users through various tools. The digital space is growing faster than ever before, and the demand for designers in the industry is quite high. These designers are the creators of the product from the start of the idea, to the finished product. They work together but have different roles to fulfill.
This blog will help you understand what is User Interface (UI) design, User Experience (UX) design, and the difference between them.
Before moving further, don’t forget to check out these latest creative design trends.
Table of Contents
- What is User Interface (UI) design?
- What is User Experience (UX) design?
- What is the difference between them?
What is User Interface (UI) design?
User Interface (UI) design involves the planning and creation of the visual content that the user interacts with after getting hold of the product. It is the visual aesthetic part of the digital product.
The main elements of User Interface (UI) design include:
- Typography- Typography usually involves font style, structure, and other textual details which help the user understand and feel a certain way about the product.
- Images- Visual elements such as images help the customers relate to the idea the company wants to portray.
- Textures- UI designers are also involved with graphic details which include patterns, colours, and themes that contribute to the majority of the look and feel of the product.
- Navigational components- This includes all the different keys, menus, lists and ways by which users will move across different pages through the product.
It is a creative process of transforming wireframes into a polished user interface. This leads to the enhancement of the product’s usability and also helps develop an emotional bond between the user and the product.
The UI designer’s job is all about interfaces. The design of individual screens or interfaces on a user’s journey is the sole focus of UI design. They are required to take care of the visual aesthetic and the look and feel of the product. They mostly work under UX designers. Now let us understand what UX designers do and how they are responsible for the overall working of the product.
What is User Experience (UX) design?
UX design is all about analyzing and studying the experience a user had, and using that experience as a tool to develop a product that meets the needs and the demands of the specific target audience. They are basically the architects of digital products. The experience of the user is at the center from which conclusions are derived with the intention of further improving the product. The UX designer tries to answer the question of how the goals of the target audience can be achieved most simply and creatively.
In other words, the UX designer concerns itself with the user-friendliness of the customer’s experience with the product. There needs to be an understanding, as the foundation, of the user’s journey, for the UX designer to be effective in their work. The methods that the UX designer adopts include interviewing the target audience in order to understand their mindset, needs, and concerns. The UX designer begins their task by formulating a strategic plan that ensures the involvement of the stakeholders working towards a common goal. The work of the UX designer mostly involves conceptual problem-solving that is based on research and data.
Since now you know the main key points in both of the different professions, we can further get into understanding how they both work together and on what areas they focus on.
What is the difference between them?
So as we understood, UI designing works on much more technical aspects of the designing process whereas UX designing deals with the whole user experience that any product plans to give.
To understand it better, let’s put this analogy to the test. Consider a grand house to be built. The UX now directs the construction of all the other rooms, the kitchen, and the bathroom. Now, UX must ensure that all rooms are properly located and that all fittings are properly completed. We can say that the UX designer is very much like the architect. UI designers are then responsible for the more aesthetic aspects of the job and are comparable to the interior designer in a similar aspect. They are responsible for how the product looks and feels to the users.
Some of the time UX designers do the UI design work themselves but it is usually delegated to a UI designer.
Conclusion
Through these key differences between the two different professions in designing, I guess now you have a better idea of how they are different in the working aspects of their professions but at the same time they are very intrinsically linked together. The UX designer is responsible for all the aspects of the digital product from the very idea to the functionalities and the aesthetic appeal of it. They are like the directors whereas the UI designer is more concerned with how the product looks and feels to their users.
After reading through their functionalities and key details we can say that these two professions are quite different from each other. The UX designer basically is the one who runs the show whereas the UI designer is someone who helps in the aesthetic appeal and the working of the product to make it the most user-friendly possible. These two professionals are very much in demand in today’s time and I hope after reading this blog you guys have a better idea of how these two professions work in the design industry.