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UX and UI: What's the main difference?

Thu.04.11.2021 BY Admin
Difference between UX and UI
Art by Olaf Val


Two of the most popular topics in the design/tech communities are user experience (UX) and user interface (UI). If you’re struggling to differentiate between the two, or know someone who is, then today’s post is for you.

The fact that the names were not coined at the same time does not help matters. That is probably one of the causes for their widespread misunderstanding. Because UI and UX were not created at the same time they were not precisely defined at the outset. Around the same time as computers were introduced to the market, the term "user interface" was coined.

We’ll explore some of the differences between UX and UI, as well as some phrases that can help!


What is UI?

The user interface, or Ui, is the component of a software that allows people to interact with it. The user interface controls everything you do in a program, from inputting text to clicking buttons. The word user interface (UI) normally refers to the visible components of an interface, but it also includes features like transitions, animations, and micro-interactions.

A skilled user interface designer cares just as much about how the software's pieces feel as they do about how they seem. Software that assists users in achieving a goal has a "feel" to it. When you use Instagram, for example, you acknowledge the app's "feel" by touching the camera symbol at the top, finding the square or rectangle that represents your most recent photo, choosing it with an arrow icon, and publishing it with a purple icon. If you select the incorrect icon from this list,

From usability and accessibility to information architecture and interaction design, user interface design involves a wide variety of talents and disciplines. You must have a good grasp of design, empathy for your users, and mastery of a mix of hard and soft skills to be successful in the sector.

UI designers are in charge of running with the ideas obtained from user research and personas – generally the realm of UI designers – as the design process advances. You may start building user interfaces using this information by constructing interactive design components such as buttons, tabs, menus, widgets, scrollbars, sliders, and search boxes. Depending on the profession and seniority, a UI specialist may also have influence on fonts, layouts, color, graphic design components, images, animations, and icons.

Depending on the project and where they are in the design process, a UI Designer may use one of the three types of prototypes stated below:

  • Wireframes with a low level of fidelity. The cheapest and quickest approach to communicate a design idea is to quickly draw user flows on paper or on a whiteboard.
  • Prototypes that can be clicked on. Now that the screen layout, user journey, and overall visual design have been determined, a clickable prototype — a static screen with at least a medium degree of detail — may be created.
  • High-fidelity prototypes with sophisticated interactions, which should seem very close to the final product, may be developed when it's time to finalize concepts before handing them off to developers.


And what's then is UX?

The phrase "user experience design" refers to the process through which design teams build products that give users with meaningful and relevant experiences. This includes features of branding, design, usability, and function, as well as the full process of obtaining and integrating the product. The abilities of industrial designers, interaction designers, information architects, usability specialists, and others are often used in user experience initiatives. The genuine value of a user experience design process rests in its capacity to deliver a consistent human-centered design approach for a specific project. This reinforces the idea that the process of developing software must include not just what consumers want, but also how they think and solve issues.

Let's look at the Why, What, and How of product utilization for a moment. The Why is concerned with a user's motives for adopting a product, whether those reasons are related to a task they seek to complete with it or values and viewpoints that consumers identify with product ownership and use. What concerns the design of functioning in a way that is both accessible and visually pleasing, while also eliminating obstacles to usage. The How entails the creation of physical dimensions as well as interaction patterns that users may easily adopt.


Daily UX design phrases

Before we get into the deep gritty of UX design, it's a good idea to define a few terms that you'll hear. Here are some ideas to help you get started:
A/B testing - A strategy for evaluating which of two versions of a service or product is more successful by comparing them.
Accessibility - The idea of whether or not a service or product can be used by people of all abilities, regardless of their circumstances.
Human computer interaction - Computer technology design and the interface between humans and computers are investigated in this field of research.
Information architecture - is the process of structuring data in order to make it more intelligible.
Prototype - A prototype or simulation of a finished product that is used to test and collect feedback.
User flow - A diagram that maps out each step a user takes when using a product or service
Wireframe - web page layout that has been stripped of its visual design and is used to prioritize page elements depending on the needs of the user.


Choose both

Regardless of their variations, you won't get very far without a good UX and UI. This is because you may have great UI design but terrible UX design, in which case your metaphorical cake looks wonderful but tastes terrible, or you can have great UX design but terrible UI design, in which case it tastes great but you don't have a fork to eat it with.
The phrases UI and UX are commonly interchanged because individuals are unable to discern what they see from their internal experience. It's easy to mistake Facebook's logo and blue theme for UX design, but they're actually UI design elements that enhance your overall user experience.
It may be used in situations when both UX and UI are required.


CONCLUSION

So let's try in 3 short phrases to summarize the main differences!

  • The UI refers to how things seem, whereas the UX refers to how they function.
  • UX is a method, whereas UI is a product.
  • UX makes interfaces usable, whereas UI makes them attractive.


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