The first GUI (graphical user interface) was developed in the 1980s by Xerox PARC scientist. Back in the 70s, using a computer required using the command line interface. Today’s UI designer has almost limitless chances to work on mobile apps, websites, wearable tech, and smart home devices, just to mention but a few. Steve Jobs, Apple Inc. founder, once said, the design is not only what it appears like and feels like. Design is how it works.
UX and UI are two terminologies that frequently used interchangeably. However, they mean very different things. You've probably heard tech capitals continually making discussions about the great UX of a brand, or the poor UI of a website. Thus, you might ask yourself if it's a secret language that you will never be aware of or just a slang. Gradually, UX designers are discovering that many companies expect that they have not only UX proficiency but also UI design expertise. There are many explanations for this demand. Yet, one certainty is for sure. Having a practical knowledge of both specialties gives designers an undisputable employable edge.
There is an applied need to recognize the two terms. Paying attention to the UI and UX design of your brand might make or break the achievement of a product or service.
Both elements, UX and UI, are vital to a brand and work closely together. However, even with their proficient relationship, their roles are relatively different. This refers to very different features of the design discipline and product development process.
What is User Experience (UX) Design?
Tech firms use the acronym UX to refer to user experience. UX is a technology field that studies the user base of digital products, tests the products with typical users, and applies the findings to improve people's experience on finished products. Such products include apps and websites.
The experience includes the user's impression while using the digital product, its different features, ease of use, and the comprehensive, appealing nature of the product. UX is more positioned on creativity and critical thinking skills to incorporate user interview results into the whole product experience.
In user experience (UX) work, the design is just a part of the job. According to Don Norman, UX covers all features of the end-users interaction with the firm, its services, and products. Norman is Nielsen Norman Group Design Consultancy’s cognitive scientist and co-founder.
What do User Experience designers do?
These designers think about the product’s impression to the user, including how it simplifies them to complete their desired tasks. For instance, how your online banking app makes it easy for you to manage your money. The UX design decisive resolve is to make secure, efficient, appropriate, and exceptional pleasing experiences for the user.
Another idea contributes to the concept that UX is the whole enchilada. This means starting while the plan is still being perceived and moving fluidly via all components of the building. Also, bringing the app to the consumer or developer. In that scenario, UI design either overlays or acts as a subsection by handling the user interface of the spouts as part of the UX design plan.
What is User Interface (UI) Design?
Tech firms use the abbreviation UI while referring to a subsection of, or accolade to, the more exceptional UX picture. UI takes the ideologies of UX and applies them explicitly to a product’s interface, such as a website's menu, screen layout, form placement, and sitemap. Due to this emphasis, UI design is more comparable to traditional graphic or web design careers, just fancy.
The UI design is a complex and challenging role, as it's responsible for the transference of a brand's research, development, content, and layout. It provides a striking, guiding, and receptive experience for users. Both UX Design and Product Design needs the designer to be concentrated on making a better complete product for the end-user. In cooperation, UX Design and Product Design need the designer to be able to calculate and analyze information. Mutually, UX Design and Product Design require the designer to use comparable tools throughout their process.
What do UI designers do?
UI designers make sure that the product is as intuitive as possible. This means carefully bearing in mind each visual, interactive element that the consumer may encounter. They think about typography, spacing, responsive design, icons and buttons, imagery, and color schemes. The benefits of having a well-designed brand are that the user has a higher user retention rate.
How much does this matter?
A corporate needing a brand or website designed and taken to market needs to see what services they are procuring. Besides, whom they need to employ if they are doing it internally and what skills that an individual need to bring to the table.
A small company desiring internal UX and UI might be looking for an individual to do both. Hence, they will end up employing a UI creator who does not have the UX ability set or vice versa.
Without a clear understanding of what the two terminologies mean, somebody in need of a website may end up hiring a company that does not provide all the services that they require. Also, one that does not possess the skill to make what they are looking for.
A designer looking for a career may result in wasting their time applying for and even interviewing for roles that do not relate to their skill set. This is because the individual posting or employing the position did not realize the terms.
What makes a good UX?
UX design is entirely about creating pain-free and enjoyable experiences. Here are things to consider while verifying how good it is.
User profiling: you need to know who your users are and their expectations with your app by profiling them. Perform thorough exercises to know your market by narrowing down your target audience.
Usability: understand what the user needs your app for, its core functionality, and how to achieve these things.
Inquiring consents: get permission from your app users on alert messages that pop up on the screen. Use the Benjamin Franklin effect instead of asking for permission at once. Make sure your app sends the notification as soon as the user launches it.
Always go for functionality over form (color, fonts, etc.)
Consistency: ensure reliability throughout your app. Irregularity in designs creates confusion result from an unhappy user.
Don’t make things difficult for the user. When programming, try to make the code as lightweight and as resourceful as possible. When designing, try to make the interface as clear and least confusing as possible
What to consider when creating an attractive UI?
It’s human nature. On the screen, users will always read the largest, the boldest, and the brightest first, and that catches our attention. Designers can use this info to curate the experience of your users.
Alignment is a crucial feature of UI design. The principle is minimizing the number of configuration lines to improve readability, and it's more pleasing to the eye. Here are two essential types of alignment: edge and center alignment. In edge alignment, all the elements lined-up on one edge with a single line. In center alignment, all the details are lined-up by their midpoint. Edge alignment has an upper-hand in the two.
Be an attention architect using two ways: first, grab the user’s attention with your design and two, take note of each little thing in your designs.
The UI design is about modifying your UX by guiding their focus towards different vital things. Testing is the essential thing when designing. Therefore, try different colors, tones, fonts, layout, angles, and alignment, among others. Test with various designs so that you can design a user journey using several ways of commanding attention.
Differences between UI and UX design
UI is not UX
User Experience design refers to the procedure by which a user need is identified. From here, a rough model is drawn, which is later authenticated (or invalidated) via testing. When both the value proposition and the business model are confirmed, the product is built.
Thus, UI can be interpreted as the amalgamation of visual and interaction designs. Visual design refers to the appearance and impression of the site or the personality of the brand. Interaction design refers to the way individuals interact with your website. At the click of the button on your site, what notable changes are there to indicate success?
While both UI and UX creators design interactions, UX designers are the architects of macro-interactions. UI designers can be viewed as the architects of micro-interactions, attending to the details.
Nick Babich, a designer, says that there are two things that users do well. These are the features and details. Features draw individuals to the product, while more information retains them. A UX architect will probably design user flows. Then, the design is presented to the UI designer, who refines those interactions adding emphasis to the original design.
UX makes interfaces useful while UI makes them beautiful
A valuable brand meets a requirement that’s unmet in the market. The study procedure of a UX architect involves performing a viable examination, developing personas, and developing a minimum, competitive product. This is a product that will be valuable to your targeted client niche via testing.
Once the wireframes and user flows are prototyped and verified, the UI designer makes them visually attractive. This involves selecting typography and color schemes, both pleasing and easy to use. These factors aren't based on the designer's partiality but voiced reasons precise to the personas developed by the UX creators.
With these, UI inventors implement a visual grading that will serve as a guide to users. It lets them understand what and when to do to meet their aims. An elegant hierarchy will highlight one key objective per page. This clarifies to the user the exact position on the site and their timely accomplishments.
This will be done by using patterns conventions that users are already conversant with. These patterns will act as hints to the client as to how to get where they are going.
UX aids user in achieving goals, while UI makes emotional networks
People will click your site for all kinds of searches, with an aim in their minds. The UX designers may take time to figure out that one thing that’s essential to the user. They will ask questions, observe people, interview them, make prototypes, and test to see its value.
Aaron Walter says that once you have the simple usability right, your personality interface will prompt consistency in your clients. People might be drawn to your site due to its outstanding design and might hang around for some time if it is beneficial. Yet, they can be retained by making a personal connection.
What’s the impact of your interface on people? Is it exciting? Does it serve the purpose? According to Walter, people will exonerate your faults, follow your lead and exalt you if you reward them with positive emotion. That’s where the UI designer’s skill comes in. Walter is Designing for Emotion author.
UX design comes first, then UI follows (at times)
How do UI and UX designers work together within the procedure?
When deciding whether to build an application or a product, UX design and study is the first stage. UX inventors handle much of the examination that will either authorize or nullify original product designs and guide the growth of the product.
When the prototype has gone through some iterations and is mostly completed, the UI designer intervenes. He begins to work on the visual design and micro-interactions. However, this might not always be a direct path as it relies on several factors. For instance, who handles the UI and UX? Is it a similar person, a different person, or a team?
UX is employed across interfaces, products, and services, UI only relates to interfaces
User experience (UX) design is an extensive field and is becoming more prevalent by the day. Nowadays, not only firms with a web presence. Many others that develop products or provide services are catching-on to the worth of recognizing their users and authenticating their theories before they build.
User interface (UI) design is, however, for user interfaces. Yet, it does not mean it is restricted to the graphical user interfaces of mobile devices, tablets, and computers. There are some interfaces on products such as ticket kiosks, watches, and car dashboards, among others.
Recently, iPhone released an app that unlocks your car door. It seems like this set of interactions takes many more stages than using your key for opening your car door. Whether designing experiences or interfaces, designers should lookout to keep the users at the heart of their design process.
UX and UI are not areas to hold back on. Irrespective of the meanings and division of labor, they are both crucial parts of product growth and delivery. Study shows that customer experience drives income growth. UX and UI are a venture in the product or service. The product or service is what clients are spending money on. If spending their cash does not obtain the reward they are looking for, they will change their venture to a product that does.
Whether a business is being obtained or personnel being employed, it is vital to keep in mind that both UI and UX concepts and practices are active in the market. The query needs to be asked: how do you remain in touch with the existing UX and UI models and methods? The answer should come fast, and simply if they are attractive in any form of current education.
Bear in mind that these terms are still used interchangeably. Besides, it is not possible to stop anytime soon. Do not assume that the words are being used properly by the individual using them. Even if the individual is a specialist in the area, she or he may possess a different philosophy about how labor is to be divided between a UI and a UI designer.
Drill down in order to have the required precision. The actual aim is discovering out what users want. There is no need to prove individuals wrong or claim semantics. Dialectal is about comprehending each other. In the event that’s you recognize each other, that’s about all that matters. Both UX and UI are reliant on the efficiency of understanding.
With the basics of the product mapped out, the UI architect steps in to bring it to life. The UI designer reflects on all the visual features of the user’s journey, including all the specific screens and touchpoints that the client may encounter. For instance, tapping a button, moving down a page, or moving through an image gallery. While the UX creator works out the journey, the UX designer highlights the complete details that make this drive possible. That is not to say that UI design is all about appearances. UI designers have a massive impact on whether a product is available and inclusive or not.
Some of the questions they will ask questions are: how can, unlike color blends, be used to create contrast and improve readability? What color do blends cater to color blindness? Among others.
In a nutshell,
UX design is entirely about recognizing and solving user glitches, while UI design is altogether about generating innate, aesthetically-pleasing, collaborative interfaces.
Typically, UX design comes first in the product growth process, followed by UI. The UX designer works out the bare bones of the end-user journey. Then, the UI designer fills it in with visual and collaborative elements.
UX may apply to any kind of brand, service, or experience. Yet, UI is precise to digital products and experiences.