What are UX and UI?
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The best place to start is with what these terms actually mean. UX refers to “user experience design” and UI is “user interface design.” These can work very closely together and are both equally important, but also very different. It can sometimes be hard to separate the two since they are so important to each other. A bad user interface leads to a bad user experience. There is no good UX without a good UI.
Another way to look at it is, “UI is the bridge that gets us where we want to go, UX is the feeling we get when we arrive.”
Lamprecht uses an analogy in his article, The Difference Between UX And UI Design – A Layman’s Guide, that explains the difference between UX and UI in the terms of the human body, “If you imagine a product as the human body, the bones represent the code which gives it structure. The organs represent the UX design: measuring and optimizing against input for supporting life functions. And UI design represents the cosmetics of the body; its presentation, its senses, and reactions.”
UX: Explained
User experience design is a human-first design approach that focuses on the user’s experience and interactions with the company, its services, and its products. Its purpose is to improve “the quality of interaction between a user and all facets of a company,” and is not at all about visuals, instead, it prioritizes the overall feel of the experience.
UI: Explained
Unlike user experience design, user interface design is “focused on the optimization of a product for effective and enjoyable use.” It is meant to complete the feel of it with the look of it. Additionally, UI works with visuals, where UX does not.
What does a UX designer do?
Competitive analysis
User Research and Personas
Creating an information architecture (IA)
Designing user flows and wireframes
User Testing
Coordinating with UI designer(s)
Analysis and iteration
What does a UI designer do?
Collaborate with UX designers for user research and personas, and wireframes
Designing layout
Working out Responsive design
Creating the color pallets and typography
Designing the interactivity
Creating animations
Establishing a style guide
Prototyping
UX: Skills
Communication
Collaboration
Empathy
Critical thinking and problem solving
Proficient and user research and analysis techniques
Understanding of IA, as well as, wireframing and prototyping
Usability testing
UI: Skills
Communication
Collaboration
Empathy
Proficient in designing and prototyping tools
Understandings of methods, theories, and practices
In order to become a better designer and hone your skills, UX designer, Sarah Doody, recommends looking for problems in your everyday life, as that skill “will strengthen your creativity and it will translate into ideas you have for the products you’re designing.”
Combination of UX and UI
“Something that looks great but is difficult to use is exemplary of great UI and poor UX. While something very usable that looks terrible is exemplary of great UX and poor UI.”
UX and UI complement each other and need to work together in order to have a successful final product. With a bad UI, the good UX doesn’t stand a chance. Even if there is a good UI, but it is a pain to use, the UI can’t make up for the UX.
UX and UI are the yin and yang of the design world, which is why both UX and UI are equally important and absolute must-haves in any design involving a user.
Sources:
https://careerfoundry.com/en/blog/ux-design/what-does-a-ux-designer-actually-do/
https://careerfoundry.com/en/blog/ux-design/the-difference-between-ux-and-ui-design-a-laymans-guide/
