UI vs UX – What’s there to know?

The world of website, application or interface design and visual discipline associated with it is contoured by various challenges. The two most common words used are ‘UI and UX.’ What are they and what do they really mean? You also may have commonly come across these words being used interchangeably and even on many occasions incorrectly. So, let’s clear them out.

What is User Interface (UI)?

User Interface (UI) at its very basic level are the elements (pages, buttons, icons, colours) that help individuals interact with a product or service. This may also include sounds, lights, touch toggle tools so on and so forth. To further elaborate, UI design is the process of creating the look and feel of an application or a website’s user interface. The user interface (UI) encompasses both the appearance and interactivity of an app. Overall it can be referred to as the process used by designers to build interfaces in software that is focused on looks or style. User Interface is a more tangible outcome in a more visual interactive form.

Application: Focused on Digital Products

Focus: Visual touch-points that allow individuals to interact

Creates: Combinations of typography, colour palates, buttons

Results In: Products that delight users aesthetically???

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What is User Experience (UX)?

User Experience (UX) can be referred to as the internal experience that a person has as they interact with every aspect of a company’s products and services. From the design point of view, it is the process used by design teams to create products that provide meaningful and relevant experiences to users. From acquiring and integrating the product to branding, design, usability, and function – the designer owning a project makes the individual interaction central to the experience. User Experience caters to logic, structure, process, psychology and the emotions behind the interactions that the end user does with any of the company's end-points and equally important is the connection, continuity and consistency across the journey of these interactions. “User experience encompasses all aspects of the end-user’s interaction with the company, its services, and its products.” – Don Norman, Cognitive Scientist & User Experience Architect.

Application: Physical & digital products??

Focus: Complete user experience

Creates: Structural design solutions

Results In: Products that delight users with practical effectiveness

UI and UX have the characteristics that set them apart in terms of tasks and objectives. The two are very interrelated and indispensable in the overall journey where we bring the product or service to the user. For example, one may have a very well 'designed' screen with beautiful colours, buttons, fonts but the structure may not be logical, the elements are placed in a confusing order and there might be too many buttons. This can lead to a lot of confusion in the user's mind about what the screen intends to tell and what she has to do leading to a poor 'experience' It is crucial to plan your work streams and teams to do sufficient justice to both UX and UI to with the sole objective to ship out the best to your users.

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