When it comes to website design, UI Design and UX Design are often grouped as a package under the umbrella term "UI/UX Design." The truth is that they're both unique and contribute to different elements to the overall design, as well as how your website moves customers through your sales funnel. In this week's blog, we'll explore the difference between UI and UX and how they work in tandem with one another.

What is UI Design?    

The “UI” in UI design stands for “user interface.” The user interface is the graphical layout of a website or an app. It usually consists of the buttons users click on, the text they read, the images, sliders, text entry fields, and all the rest of the website that your potential client will interact with when entering your website. UI also includes screen layout, transitions, interface animations, and every single micro-interaction. Any sort of visual element, interaction, or animation must all be designed keeping the following markings in mind:

Clarity: All elements of UI mentioned above should be crystal clear for your clientele. They shouldn’t have to decode the purpose of a particular element on your webpages.

Familiarity: While innovating your website to be different from your competitors seems like a good idea, keeping in mind your audience’s mental models and making your site familiar with what they expect a site to be is the better option.

Consistency: Keeping your branding and interface consistent across all pages on your site allows your audience to recognize who you are.

                                         
What is UX Design?    

All of the things we've touched on UI are part of the UX design, which stands for "User Experience". While the UI touches on what the client will see, the user experience design is all about the flow you would like your audience to take when interacting with your website. Cognitive psychologist and designer Don Norman coined the term "user experience" in the 1990s. Don Norman says that "User experience' encompasses all aspects of the end-users interaction with the company, its services, and its products."

If a website design or redesign is precisely what you need, then a great UX design will start by mapped-out ideas based on the content flow and navigation. Another approach for a UX strategy is to know your audience's goals. Why did they come to your website, what do they need to be able to do, and how can you help them quickly accomplish it?

UX and UI go well hand-in-hand, as we've discovered. Think of it like this. UI Design is like the UX sundae's sprinkles; a sundae without sprinkles is still ice-cream, but the sprinkles are what makes a classic sundae.

If you have a great website with significant research on what purpose it will serve and an incredible customer journey mapped out. Still, the client can't read it because the font is too small or the button is too tiny to click on, then that is a classic example of bad UI affecting an otherwise excellent customer experience.

Vice-versa, you can have a very well-designed website, great assets, beautiful imagery, perfect fonts, and insane animations, but that is so hard to use, causing your clients to feel frustrated and leave right away. Useful UI simply cannot make up for bad UX. So, getting both your UX and UI aspects right is an absolute must when it comes to website design.

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