UI and UX. What’s the difference?
Introduction
User interface (UI) and user experience (UX) are two terms you might have heard spoken (often interchangeably) in the tech industry. For anyone outside these circles they can often be a point of confusion. The two terms describe distinct aspects of the product design process and are both key to the success of a product. But what do they actually mean, and what are the roles of a UI and UX designer?
What is the difference?
To put it simply, UX is a users experience and feelings interacting with a digital product or service. UX design is the process employed when designing new or existing products to create pleasant and meaningful user experiences. The process spans the entirety of the creation and delivery of a digital product, from understanding and defining users needs through research and testing, to mapping flows and creating low-fidelity wireframes. These tasks are the role of a UX designer.
UI is the graphical interface we interact with on any number of digital devices and services we use in our lives. It’s the look and feel of a product and the components it consists of, such as buttons, text fields, toggles, and visual elements. The UI is a contributing factor to the overall user experience, and its creation and design are commonly the role of a UI designer.
UX and UI influence and feed into one another. For a digital product or service to be successful, a strong UI and UX is a must. For example, let's say a local food ordering app has a beautifully designed, trendy interface, but doesn't fulfil users needs. People aren't going to want to use it. Similarly, if the product addresses all users needs and pain points, but is impossibly difficult to use and horribly laid out, people will move elsewhere.
Roles and responsibilities
Both UX and UI designers play pivotal roles in a product’s development, and while some of the tasks and responsibilities overlap they are usually distinct.
UX Designer
The roles and responsibilities of a UX designer tend to focus more on understanding and distilling a users motivations and behaviours when using a service or product. In the wild, you might see a UX designer:
Talking to users to see how they currently use a product or service (user research)
Talking to stakeholders in a project to understand business needs
Carrying out usability studies (to make sure the product/service isn’t difficult to use)
Distilling and sharing any findings with the rest of the team
Facilitating ideation workshops
Creating some low-mid fidelity examples of how an idea might work (wireframes and prototypes)
UI Designer
The roles and responsibilities of a UI designer are generally that of look and feel; the aesthetics of a product. UI designers seek to create harmonious, easy-to-navigate, visually appealing interfaces and have a skill set in visual and graphic communication. Some of the fundamental tasks carried out are:
Composition and page layout
Integrating brand and visual aesthetics into a product interface
Defining typography, hierarchy, colours palettes and imagery
Designing the components that make up the UI. For example, buttons, toggles, checkboxes…
Defining how the interface should look and feel on different devices and screen sizes
Liaising with developers to implement the design
Summary
Ultimately, both of these skillsets aim to advocate the needs of users and deliver a great product experience. The responsibilities of a UX designer tends to be more ‘backstage’ - helping decide whether the house is needed, then understanding what features it needs. How many rooms? Where will the plugs go? How many bathrooms? A UI designer might then come along and ensure that the house reflects the creative requirements of the owner - they turn the house into a home.
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