What is the difference between UX and UI?

As a discipline matures, it begins to produce ever finer sub-disciplines that make ever finer distinctions between different types of tasks. From the outside, it can be difficult to identify the characteristics that distinguish Subdiscipline A from Subdiscipline B, a fact you can relate to if you've ever seen friends argue over the finer points of a game you've never played have played.

But when one begins to explore a new field, uncovering the hidden structure of its components is not only rewarding, but also an important step on the path to competence in that field.

Web development has been around for a while, and in the decades since computers and websites became things that everyone interacts with, we've learned a lot about what it takes to create tools and entertainment that people actually want to use.

This area of ​​"design" has at least two recognizable parts: user interface (UI) design and user experience ( UX )-Design. Although they may seem identical at first glance, they actually focus on different aspects of human-machine interaction and require different skills.

Today we will discuss what these differences are.

Was ist User Experience Design?

User experience design is the entire process of developing products that provide end users with a pleasant and meaningful experience. Similar to the term "data science," it covers a wide range of activities and concerns, including functionality, usability, branding, design, the integration of one product with others, and much more.

Don Norman, who coined the term “user experience,” even went so far as to say that a product is best conceptualized not as a single physical or digital product that a user interacts with, but as “...cohesive, integrated series of experiences".
This means that a UX-Designer addresses every experience a user may have with its product, including initial information about the product, purchase, use, and troubleshooting problems.

Was ist User Interface Design?

In his astonishing book-length essay "In The Beginning Was The Command Line," science fiction author Neal Stephenson uses a variety of colorful metaphors to illustrate the difference between interacting with a computer using the Command Line Interface (CLI). ) and interacting with a computer via a graphical user interface.

Most of us are so used to clicking on "icons" with the mouse that we forget how far away we are from the actual processes. Like anything else, there are tradeoffs with graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Modern graphical user interfaces make operating a computer much more intuitive, but they are also far less powerful and flexible than the command line. The CLI, in turn, takes a lot of time to understand.

Designers at work - Source: pexels.com

These are exactly the things UI designers worry about. You want to make sure that the menu layout is intuitive, that there are features to solve common problems, and that mistakes are forgivable.

How are UX design and UI design different?

UI design is a subset of UX design. UI designers focus more on what happens when a user sits down with their product, while UX designers step back and look at the entire process by which a user comes to a product in the first place.

Both areas are fascinating and important, and hopefully with this information you can decide which area makes more sense for you!