19 Mar, 2023

UI and UX? There’s a difference?

User Interface and User Experience might seem connected but there are also differences between them. A User Interface is what facilitates interaction between a human and a machine, both input and output. Originally UI was only text-based, known as Command Line Interface, until advances in technology allowed the visual display that is used today known as Graphical User Interface. Another emerging UI is the voice based interface that is slowly becoming easy to use. User Experience, on the other hand, is the experience a customer has when interacting with a product, its company and services. User Experience is designed to make the experience of a customer as smooth as possible.

Designing a User Interface is simply making as many features visible as possible. A UI designer will make every step of the interface look good. Designing a User Experience, however, is much harder. It requires making the product as easy to understand as possible. A UX Designer can be involved in many different areas of product design and development. They have to understand the target audience for a specific product and how the users will interact with it from beginning to end, as well as any different preferences the users have about how they want tasks performed.

The User Experience design is more crucial for customer retention and is the first step, sometimes even before the actual product design. • First the UX Designer researches the needs of the target audience, tries to empathise with them. • The next step is understanding the product’s purpose, the logic behind its creation. • Then the designer extrapolates the ways in which the product will be used by the target audience. • Now the designer will create a wireframe, also known as a skeleton and share it with the rest of the design team. • This is where the UI designer comes in. They will add the “bells and whistles” as they say to the UX skeleton to make it look visually appealing. • Another thing that UI designers need to do now, with the prevalence of mobile devices, is ensuring the User Interface works properly on any screen size as more people are using smartphone browsers instead of desktops.

• Your design shouldn’t be hard to understand for the user. It doesn’t matter how good the interface looks if the user can’t understand what the buttons actually do. • The end of any interface is the call-to-action button, the one the user clicks to make a purchase, or sign up for a newsletter, or simply contact the company etc. This button should be perfectly visible, but more importantly, its text should be tailored to the user’s needs. • Games are fun. Designing some aspect of the interface, such as filling a form, can be made into a mini game. This makes the user feel like they completed a challenge. • Using minimalist free versions can entice the seriously interested user to purchase the full version to access all features of the interface. • Remember that the product is for the user. What may look good to you might not match the needs of the target audience.