In this article, we will talk about the differences between UI and UX and why a designer needs to understand them.
What is user experience, or UX
The abbreviation UX stands for User Experience (user experience) – a user experience that occurs when interacting with a product, service, or service.
And UX-design is the creation of useful, simple, and pleasant to use products.
The goal of the UX designer is to make the user easily and quickly get what he came from the site (application, program). A UX designer is required to have good analytical skills – this is the main requirement for such a specialist.
How can the user experience be improved? For this, the UX designer has a number of responsibilities – consider them.
User Profiling – the study of personal data of users: gender, age, country, interests, and so on.
Creation or improvement of the information architecture, that is, the information structure of the product.
User behavior research. How long has the user searched for the Buy button? Why leaves the page, does not reach the goal?
Study usability. Is it comfortable to work with the application with a weak Internet signal? Do notifications benefit or only annoy the user?
Work with content. How much information should be on the initial landing page? What text should be placed on the button? How many words should fit on one line to make it easy to read?
UX design is about usability. On the streets and in the parks you probably saw paths crossing the lawns, although sidewalks and paved alleys were laid nearby. Have you ever wondered why people leave them, cutting off the path? Everything is very simple: because it is more convenient and faster. The UX designer should pay attention to this and make a path on the path where people will be happy to walk without getting their feet dirty and keeping the lawn.
What is a user interface or UI?
User Interface is a way of user interaction with a product, service, or service. UI designers focus on how the interface looks: menu, search, filtering on the site, and other elements. The goal of the UI designer is to create an aesthetic design for the product interface.
UX-design is similar to science, where all decisions are based on numbers and patterns, unlike UI-design – this is art, where the designer focuses on the attractiveness and aesthetics of all elements – from font and colors to animation of elements.
Let’s see what are the responsibilities of a UI designer.
Understanding visual perception. For example, you need to place the button “Buy product” – this is the main action for the user on the site. The UI designer decides what color she will be, with what style of the text, and how she will react to the cursor.
Creation of graphic accompaniment. Pictures and illustrations are also selected by the UI designer, but a graphic designer can also be involved in this work.
Creating visual continuity and versatility. The interface designer should also think about the mobile version of the site and how errors will be displayed, ensure the same behavior and display of elements in different places of the site.
UI and UX designers deal with different aspects of the same product. The UX designer creates the system, organizes and structures the information, and the interface designer gives the system a form and color – this is how the product turns out. The UX designer focuses on how the product works, and the UI designer focuses on how it looks. It’s not easy to make a product beautiful and convenient, therefore UI and UX specialists are in demand on the market.