UI Versus UX Design

Today, I am going to talk about the difference between the User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX). UI and UX are misunderstood acronyms since they have completely different meanings but are often used interchangeably by many people who just don’t know the difference. UI is short for user interface in the software world and this means everything that shows up on your screen, the images, hex diagrams and widgets. As well as the color, size and positioning. UX stands for user in experience and it’s much more comprehensive than UI. It’s the entire experience a user has when they use your product. For example, when you order something from amazon and it comes a day earlier then that’s good UX but if the delivery from Amazon is late then that’s bad user experience.

One of the best examples is this Heinz Ketchup bottle; On the very left (image below), we have got a very cool looking glass jar where the main focus was on the design aka UI aspect. Next to it, we see another cool design but this time the brand went beyond just what the design looks like and focused also on how the user’s experience will be while using it, that’s UX. Because users were having bad user experience when trying to get the ketchup out of the glass bottle then a few years later, the Heinz Company decided to reinvent or modify the shape of the bottle so it’s easy to squeeze ketchup out of it therefore providing a better user experience.

UX is all about making sure that whatever you are creating, designing or developing is best tailored for its target users. Telling a story through the product at hand, effortlessly integrating it into the day-to-day life of a user. Whether it is a mobile app or website, the process remains the same which is to define, create, test and refine the product.

In conclusion, UI design is creating the User Interface, the look and feel of the product; its icons, colors etc. Whereas, UX is all about how it functions; where each and every element is placed on any given screen and how it all logically flows into one another. UX and UI design are two very different roles but you can also see that they are very interdependent. In a well-functioning design team, you should find business people, design people and engineering people sitting around the same table collaborating and working together towards the base product.

Umair Jeelani

UX/UI Designer