In the world of web and app designing, the UI and UX design are often misunderstood as two of the most confused and conflated terms. They’re usually placed together in a single term, UI/UX design, and viewed from the surface they seem to be describing the same thing. It’s often hard to find solid descriptions of the two that don’t descend too far into jargon. But fear not!
By the end of this article, you’ll have a good understanding of what is UI and UX design and how they relate to each other. So let’s dive in!
What is UI Design?
The “UI” in UI design stands for “user interface.” User-Interface or UI is the interface between the end-user of an application and the software behind it. In a smartphone, the user screen of a mobile application through which the user provides input to the application and gets a response, is the user interface. Website designers, mobile apps creators and e-commerce businesses take immense care to understand the requirements of their users – such as how they would navigate, what is the menu required — before designing the user interface of their applications. The entire process of gathering user requirements, putting together the different software elements and creating an effective user-interface is called user interface design or UI design.
Components of UI Design:
•Layout : The layout specifies what elements you’ll have on the page, and where and how they’ll be placed. This is the decisive factor. The Layout should be simple, making it easy for users to find what they’re looking for, and more importantly to draw them in to your call to action.
•Color: The colors you use have a major impact on the UI design. They must reflect the brand of your company, and also resonate with the users persona. Using dull grey colors for a a CrossFit training website isn’t really going to motivate or engage your users.
•Typography: The correct typography can make or break your UI design. Though it may seem to be just text, the text has a subconscious visual appeal.
•Graphics: It’s become easier than ever before to create your own graphics. Graphics are about conveying the message you want with just an image. This too has to be done right so that it draws in your target audience.
•UI Deliverables: Style tiles, layout mockups
•UI Tools: Colour swatches, typography, photography, graphic editing software.
•UI Deliverables: Style tiles, layout mockups
•UI Tools: Colour swatches, typography, photography, graphic editing software.
What is UX design?
“UX” stands for “user experience.”UX design brings critical analysis and logic to the design process: designing systems, structure, and flows that a user will take. This user-centric design considers what the user wants and needs, and how they will best get there. Website navigation — how a user reads through a page, where they click to navigate between pages, how they find and access the information they want — is part of the user experience.
UX design specifically for the web also takes into consideration search engine optimization (SEO), browser restrictions, and other web-specific requirements.
UX Deliverables: Site map, wireframes and prototyping
UX Tools: Research, analytics, diagrams.
UX design specifically for the web also takes into consideration search engine optimization (SEO), browser restrictions, and other web-specific requirements.
UX Deliverables: Site map, wireframes and prototyping
UX Tools: Research, analytics, diagrams.
Components of UX Design:
•Information Architecture (IA):
Information Architecture is about connecting people to content in a way that is most understandable to them. It creates a hierarchy of content on a page and uses different elements such as navigation to add structure. It takes the different types of information into context and organises it in a manner to make it easy to find content.
Information Architecture is about connecting people to content in a way that is most understandable to them. It creates a hierarchy of content on a page and uses different elements such as navigation to add structure. It takes the different types of information into context and organises it in a manner to make it easy to find content.
•Interaction Design:
Interaction Design deals with the specific interactions between users and a screen. Visual Design responds to the user goals supported in Interaction Design to communicate the brand using graphics, images, fonts, color, icons, and so on.
Interaction Design deals with the specific interactions between users and a screen. Visual Design responds to the user goals supported in Interaction Design to communicate the brand using graphics, images, fonts, color, icons, and so on.
Interaction design also uses prototyping to define specific behaviours and functions for different components.
•Usability:
Usability deals with leveraging data to determine the validity of design decisions. While in any given company there are people from different backgrounds speaking to the goals of the business or specific engineering constraints, it is the role of the UX designer to champion for the needs of a user and communicate any frustrations/pain points felt during the use of a product.
Usability deals with leveraging data to determine the validity of design decisions. While in any given company there are people from different backgrounds speaking to the goals of the business or specific engineering constraints, it is the role of the UX designer to champion for the needs of a user and communicate any frustrations/pain points felt during the use of a product.
•Prototyping:
A prototype can be defined as a preliminary version from which other forms are developed. It is a way to set design priorities, cheaply test out options, then figure out logistical constraints and conflicts regarding implementation. Ultimately, prototyping is important because it brings you closer to the final functionality of the product before investing time, resources and money into development.
A prototype can be defined as a preliminary version from which other forms are developed. It is a way to set design priorities, cheaply test out options, then figure out logistical constraints and conflicts regarding implementation. Ultimately, prototyping is important because it brings you closer to the final functionality of the product before investing time, resources and money into development.
•Visual Design:
Visual design is about using the visual aspect of a product to improve the user’s experience. While visual design is not all there is to design, it is a crucial part of a well-thought-out product. It communicates a lot about a company’s brand and can be influential in how desirable and engaging a product is.
Visual design is about using the visual aspect of a product to improve the user’s experience. While visual design is not all there is to design, it is a crucial part of a well-thought-out product. It communicates a lot about a company’s brand and can be influential in how desirable and engaging a product is.
Visual design informs us how a product works via color, visual hierarchy, typography and thus is a crucial part of the overall user experience.
UI vs. UX: Two Very Different Disciplines that Work in Harmony.
UX and UI work together to create the most beautiful, modern and user-friendly websites that you have ever experienced. A UX designer decides how the user interface works while the UI designer decides how the user interface looks. This is a very collaborative process, and the two design teams tend to work closely together. The UX team will be working out the flow of the app, how all of the buttons navigate you through your tasks, and how the interface efficiently serves up the information user’s need, the UI team will be working on how all of these interface elements will appear on screen.
UI design and UX design involve very different skill sets, but they are integral to each other’s success. Both UI and UX designs need to be flawlessly executed and perfectly aligned with pre-existing user expectations to create an excellent user interface/experience. And when those stars align the results can be astounding.
UI design and UX design involve very different skill sets, but they are integral to each other’s success. Both UI and UX designs need to be flawlessly executed and perfectly aligned with pre-existing user expectations to create an excellent user interface/experience. And when those stars align the results can be astounding.
-Blog by Aditi Debnath
No comments:
Post a Comment