Design is a topic of active discussion nowadays. Not a single properly implemented website, web application or software piece for public use can do without insightful design. Specialists in the field of UX/UI design form a huge buzzing community of like-minded thinkers. But at the same time, many do not know the difference between UX vs UI design, which often causes project work issues.
The terms UX and UI design are very often combined into one. At first glance, it may seem that these are co-dependent concepts. But they are not, actually. Despite the fact that these concepts have certain common features and certainly depend on each other to some extent, there is a number of defining differences.
What’s UX design in a nutshell? An abbreviation for “user experience” translates the level of convenience during interaction and accessibility of implementing target actions in a certain piece of software. In essence, defines the “feel” a certain software solution gives off.
UI, on the other hand, is a “user interface”, which describes a complex of visuals and navigation elements a user sees before their eyes when working with a solution. We are talking about the color scheme, interactive elements, text markup, and other visually represented components.
Accordingly, UX design is all about the functionality of the product and the impressions users get from it. The simpler the software interface is, the easier it will be to convert users into customers and carry out the targeted impact.
UI design, however, is focused on the visualization your target audience is to experience when accessing your solution. Illustrations, design of buttons, menus, fonts, and other visual aspects are encompassed by UI design.
Thus, the main difference between UX and UI is the difference in tasks these concepts perceive. Due to the fact that user experiences may vary, UX design should analyze the actions of users based on tests and special prototypes. But the main goal of the UI designer is to convey how to use the product to the user in the clearest manner possible.
| UX Designer | UI Designer |
| Thought Process | |
| Critical Thinking | Convergent Thinking |
| Creative Thinking | Creative Thinking |
| Visual Strenghts | |
| Task Flows | Colors |
| Scenarios | Typography |
| Design Based on | |
| Users | Client’s |
| Needs | Needs |
| Research | Requirements |
| Design Principles | |
| Human Centered Design | Visual Design |
| Expertise | |
| Wireframes | Mockups |
| Prototypes | Graphics |
| Research | Layout |
| Sometimes Fills | |
| Information Architect | Graphic Designer |
| Program Manager | Brand Designer |
| Content Strategist | Web Designer |
| Functional Analyst | Frontend Developer |
To achieve the popularity of your solution among the audience of users, it’s important to keep in mind the major UX design trends 2019 and 2020 brought us.
All users have the natural desire to get an application that would perform without any crashes and issues. Therefore, before going for the market, your solution must undergo the most thorough testing to eliminate all possible errors that can put future users off. By the way, we are a leading UX design company in our region with a whole staff of experienced testers working via advanced tools.
The proper adaptation of the application to public use realities depends on the systematic introduction of updates. It is important that they are introduced regularly and not delayed until “something becomes completely obsolete”. Constant updates, news posts, and photo reports show that the company is actively working and developing the product further.
The concept of “usability” describes how convenient a particular product is in use, as well as how easy it is for a new user to master it on their first try. The term is often applied to graphic components of an application where the quality of the animation, the size of buttons, the background color, and fonts are of prime importance. Indeed, even a thing as unobvious at first as the background can scare users away from using your solution.
There should be a possibility to easily find the application through search engines. Otherwise, the product may not reach users at all, getting lost among the analogs. That’s why there should always be something that distinguishes your solution from competitors and, at the same time, facilitates the search.
Limiting user input is necessary in order to protect the system from accidental registrations, re-registrations or attempts to gain unauthorized access. Such measures reinforce the ultimate security of customer personal data.
Security online is fundamental and poses one of the most highlighted issues in the industry. That’s why website designers should never neglect any possible ways to efficiently protect all processed data. Start with an unobtrusive offer to choose a more complex password or pose certain requirements for the quality of the password. Captcha may also help before you get to adapt more complex web security measures.
Given the fact that most people currently tend to go online via smartphones, modern designers should consider mobile capacities when developing, for instance, the Android-compatible app UX design. Enabling mobile hardware capabilities, such as tilting and screen rotation, would be great.
Developing any type of product, it is necessary to let users contact technical support or get help in any other way. After all, not everyone has the opportunity or time to figure out all the functional nuances on their own. And most users avoid paying attention to anything that doesn’t seem clear at the first look.
More and more aspects of personalization are handled by software designers nowadays. In terms of improved personalization, user geolocation tracking, product offerings based on previously viewed categories, segmentation of the target audience, and other techniques can be employed.
In order for the final design to meet all requirements and to fulfill all functions, the designer must be properly integrated with the project team, interacting with other related specialists all along. This allows experts to see the bigger picture of what’s going on and focus on the primary aspects of the project.
The user interface is tightly connected to the overall level of user experience in that it affects how a user sees the whole solution in a major way. You can make it much better and more attractive in a bunch of ways, including the following.
Maximizing screen space has recently been very popular with the iPhone app UX design. The menu bar and other excessive elements can be hidden automatically, activating a full-screen mode.
The ability to launch the web resource or access ap by phone number can come in quite handy. Users get instant access to what you have to offer from a smartphone, which frees them from entering a login and password each time.
You can conveniently lead users through your app by highlighting certain buttons over the others. Thanks to this, it becomes possible to individualize a specific product for personal use as well.
No ads means essentially better user perception. There is a lot of advertising on the Internet, most of which is intrusive and annoying. Let people relax when using your app.
The less likely that some kind of failure will occur in the application, the more often it will be used. As a rule, a common user becomes seriously irritated with the app after the first or second error occurs.
The app shouldn’t be too striking in color. Background colors such as bright red, bright yellow, bright orange, bright blue may quickly tire the user’s eyes. Colors are especially important when it comes to mobile, for instance, Android app UI/UX design.
The simpler the user interface is, the better. With a large selection of apps on the market, many will opt for one that’s easier to figure out. Focusing on a specific set of features that can be quickly accessed may be your best bet.
The app shouldn’t have empty areas. Each button, each tab must be tied to a specific command. Otherwise, users will feel the lack of functional freedom.
All software must be regularly updated. And the smartphone tends to run out pretty fast. Let your users delete cached and obsolete files generated by your app so that there is space for timely updates.
Users are unlikely to purchase a completely unfamiliar app. Demo version is always a great advertising tool and an efficient way to test a limited set of features for your future app in the field.
Both UX and UI design lie at the core of creating profitable mobile applications and sites. The ultimate difference between the two is that one lets users see and another feel what your software has to offer.
Our UX design agency in San Francisco will gladly work on both of these crucial aspects for your future mobile or web app of any complexity. Let the true professional handle the project to bring you passive income in the future!
