What are the Differences Between User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI)?

Satisfied visitors lead to increased revenue and leads.

They want a fast and easy experience to get what they want from the website without thinking too much.

That is why having a well designed user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) is essential for a beautiful website design.

However, what exactly are UX and UI? What are the differences between them?

What are UX Designs?

UX and UI designs are two core design disciplines that deeply connect with each other especially in web design.

By definition, UX is a design framework used to make sure users are satisfied through their interaction with the website.

Used primarily in wireframing and prototyping, it helps designers to strategize how content is being structured and applied so that users can understand the content easily.

UX design is not just about putting things in place so it looks nice.

It is about putting things in place so it makes sense to the user during interaction.

Ultimately, it is about connecting the business needs to the user’s needs.

For instance, if you are looking to generate leads for your business, you need to put yourself in the shoes of your visitors so you can maximise conversions by placing the call to action at the right spot of your landing page.

What are UI designs?

On the other hand, UI design is more about visual communication.

Sometimes, it’s about inspiring users through aesthetic means such as choice of graphics and animations. For instance, graphics with human elements have a stronger appeal as compared to cold product images.

Sometimes, it’s about helping the users to better interact with the content visually such as color contrast and typography. For instance, using bold typography with large font size for headings is a great way to make your content pop.

In short, UI design is the look and feel of your website.

How Does UX and UI Work Together in Web Design?

To put it simply, UX design is like the skeleton of your website while UI design is about putting its skin, flesh and clothing onto the skeleton.

UI without UX is like splashing colors onto a canvas randomly without a sketch, hoping it looks good and make sense.

UX without UI is like a barebone wire sculpture that is plain, dull and unable to capture users’ attention.

Both design disciplines have to work hand in hand together to deliver an optimal user experience.

That requires a dip in different facets of competencies such as marketing psychology, empathy, design thinking and having an analytical mindset.

Which design discipline do you feel is more important? Share with us in the comment section below.