Let’s talk about the controversial and most interesting yet perplexing topic, i.e UI vs UX.
In this blog i’m gonna talk about what’s the difference between UI & UX and how i’ve learnt the difference between these two in my learning journey till the date (Although it is less but let’s still talk about this Crucial topic) that everyone needs to understand.
At the start of my journey i was more intrigued by UI/UX Design that i wanted to learn more about it so Ardently, Initially like others i thought that the UI & UX Design were the same and the job was done by a single person (Most of the people still don’t have an Idea that these both terms are different and have their own key aspects).
Let’s start with the term UI first
User Interface (UI) Design
At the initial stage for me I was everything, i was so excited to create a beautiful user interface that i forgot the key aspects of User Interface (UI) Design like the look & feel of the product, it mainly focuses on visual aspects of design like layout, color, typography and use of imagery etc. and while i was learning and getting eager to design a good interface i came to know that these key aspects were so important in order to create a User Interface that is visually appealing.
I kept learning more and I went as deep as I could and learnt that color palette and font pairing were also the key aspects as there’s psychology involved in this. For example, Combining blue and pastel pink creates a nice balance. Pink’s softer, spring-like pastel aesthetic alongside blue’s hints of sophistication creates a serene-like duality of balance and harmony.
Color Wheel is a powerful tool for UI Designers and Assists them for visualising the relationships between colors, Thus putting color theory into practice.
User Experience (UX) Design
As the term suggests, User Experience Design is all about the overall experience of the User. it considers how a user thinks and feels about the product they are using.
While a user is using or surfing through a specific product all they want is a good user experience i.e. is the product easy to use if it isn’t then the user experience is bad. Let’s go back to my journey, as I’ve designed a good user interface now i thought my work is done here and it can be launched but the one thing that was left out was a good user experience, a colleague of mine told me that i should explore more about the experience as the user experience in the application i designed was more in a complicated and confused way.
I designed an ecommerce application but missed a few details on User Experience like Usability, Accessibility, Function & Value. If i didn’t follow the specific aspect, the user wouldn’t even have a second thought about using the application.
In order to create a good User experience one must do research like lots of research that includes
1. Who are the target Audience ?
2. What are the goals of the company ?
3. What is the primary goal of the user when they are interacting with the product ?
4. Who are the competitors ?
5. How is this app different from the other apps & what is the unique selling point (USP) of this app ?
I can go on and on about these but the list goes on, I guess you’ve got a basic idea of how the research is going to be like, you can google on this topic if you’re interested.
How UI & UX Design Work Together ?
User Interface (UI) & User Experience (UX) are intricately connected and work together to create an effective design that is visually appealing and also easy to use at the same time. Even if one or the other aspect is left out, the product is not successful.
For Example; An application or website can have an aesthetically appealing UI, but if the user can’t find a specific link or button, it will result in bad User Experience and the user will not find it easy to use the product and will not use the product in the near future, Likewise if the User Experience of an app is good, i.e. easy to use and easy to navigate but the Interface is not good, the user will find the product to be boring and will result in Limited audience or users.
UI & UX designers work closely to ensure that visual and interactive elements align together with broader UX goals. While UI designers enhance the usability of the product, UX Designers focus more on the Accessibility (i.e the product is accessible for all members of the target audience) of the product. UI designers focus on the prototyping and mockups to get a clear idea of the product before the development while UX designers focus on the usability testing of these prototypes, where they have a clear feedback of the product and can iterate according to these feedbacks to improve the usability of the product.
Soft Skills
UI Design:
UI designers consider various opinions then produce solutions to arrive at best fit. UI designers require a wide range of soft skills some of these include:
1. Creativity
2. Attention to detail
3. Critical Thinking
4. Adaptability
5. Problem Solving
UX Design:
UX designer’s main goal is to create a product that is easy to use and aligns with their Target audience, the key skills of the UX designer include:
1. Communication
2. Collaboration
3. User Research
4. Curiosity
5. Openness to detail
These are the key skills needed for both UI,UX Designers but there are more and one can research more and know more about these. Conclusion While the UI design is all about Visual Aspects of design, UX design is all about the experience of the product The goal of the UI Designer is to create an Aesthetically pleasing design interface that is optimized for various screens and the UI designer accomplishes their goal through the visual elements like Layout, Typography, Color etc.
The goal of the UX Designer is to create a good experience for the user that is delightful and easy to use at the same time & the UX designer accomplishes their goal through user testing, flowcharts, wireframes etc.
One is always a beginner in this field and will have lots of doubts about their ability, but to be very frank, every person has gone through this phase so don’t worry and keep going and that’s that I’ve learnt in this field of Boundless creativity and I’m still learning and trying to keep up with the industry, So one has to always adapt to the environment by staying updated on the latest trends of design in order to capture the target audience and to have a successful product.
Keep Crafting!