What are UX and UI Design?
Yes, we admit UX and UI sound like some secret code we web guys and graphic designers use. You may have heard the terms being tossed around, especially if you have been considering a new website. So what are UX and UI Design, and what are the differences between them?
UX refers to User Experience and UI is User Interface. Both are important when it comes to designing the layout of a website. The team here at Barry Design all come from a graphic design background. When building a website we treat design as important as functionality, combining both UX and UI with our experience in design and programming, to bring our clients a website that will stand out from their competitors every time.
In simple terms, UX is how it works, UI is how it looks.
User Experience (UX) Design
As the name suggests UX design is all about creating a website that will give users a pain-free, enjoyable experience. As Wikipedia says:-
User experience design (UXD or UED) is the process of enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty by improving the usability, ease of use, and pleasure provided in the interaction between the customer and the product.
UX Design makes a website interface useful and user friendly, it looks at the ‘Why, What and How’, the motivations and values, the functionality and features, the accessibility and aesthetics. It’s all about creating a good user experience; for a website this means it should be quick to load on all devices, be easy to navigate, minimal steps to reach destination. For e-commerce sites a simple purchase and check-out process is a must if you want that sale!
It’s critical that UX designers are on the same page as their client when working on a new website. Professional UX designers, like the guys here at Barry Design, spend time with their client, understanding their business goals, their target audience and most importantly, thinking ‘outside the box’. These brainstorming sessions ultimately lead to a pain-free user-friendly website.
User Interface (UI) Design
UI Design compliments the UX Design, giving your website the look, feel and presentation your want to convey to your target audience. This is the part of your website design process that makes it you; strengthens your brand and presents your website as a visual asset to your business.
The goal of user interface design is to make the user’s interaction as simple and efficient as possible, in terms of accomplishing user goals – Wikipedia
Good UI Design tailors the user experience by guiding their attention to the important things. This can be done with…
- Text – choosing the right style typography, making it larger or smaller, bold or colour, italics or bullet points.
- Colour and gradients – use to strengthen your branding, building trust in your website and your business.
- Custom illustrations and images – will give your website a unique style and a better user experience.
- Videos – are becoming more and more important. Used in context and complimenting your website and business they are easy for users to share, attracting more traffic to your website.
Now you can see why both UX and UI design are of equal importance. Great UX can be very usable but look awful, while great UI can look brilliant but be very difficult to use.
At Barry Design we care about both and are expert at both. So if you want a website that is equal in user experience and aesthetically pleasing with a strong personality that reflects your branding, we are the guys to talk to!
