Designing is well known for creating and building tangible items to complete our daily tasks, products to be used in our houses, clothes to be wear and many other aspects of conceptualizing an idea to bring it into real life, almost like giving birth. But then, how does it applies to UI/UX?
First of all, let’t get closer into those 4 letters and what they represent to companies nowadays. UI is abbreviation for User Interface, that means anything related to visual assets created to be in contact with user while they’re in touch with our product. While UX is abbreviation to User Experience, correlated to how our users perceive and feel the system flow created within our product. Not quite sure? Let’s break it into small blocks.
User Interface Design (UI)
The UI is everything we build to create visual contact with our users, in other words the appealing layout, typography, colours, buttons, images, texts, graphics and all related to what we can see through the screen.
This interface is responsible to ensure brand guidelines, making easier to clients identify the brand without much effort, because they have been seen those same specifics in each brand collateral. In psychology we understand that repetition is a great way to create a solid memory.
Also, we can play with diversity within the system, exploring the brand personality into web designing, maybe we can elaborate a iconography to be unique for the system, or select a type of shape for buttons unifying all of them. It sounds super fun, right?
I really love UI Design, but bear in mind that only UI itself won’t make your product works. Because we need UX to take the first step into the process.
User Experience Design (UX)
The UX is the most important part inside the whole process, because this step will lead our design choices based on how people are interacting with the product, conducting research, data analysis, user behaviour, market needs, benchmarking. It feels like deep diving into a sea world.
Experience is something that can be trick to be measured, because it a person will perceive it in their own way, considering their background, previous experiences, emotions, and cultural environment for example. So, there’s only one way to get to know them better: observing.
How are we going to solve a problem without knowing the problem? That’s exactly why UX has been more approached into tech companies, because they are responsible to create user journey, map user flow, identify errors and elaborate solutions to make an incredible experience for the people using our products.
And it is only possible when you deep understand your target, talk to them, presents your product, do market research, collect data, combine it into a document to be shared with your creative peers. It’s a lot of work, but with one main goal: create a better experience.
UI or UX? Which one should I go for?
In my point of view, there’s no UI without UX, otherwise it’s just a beautiful layout without purpose. So, if you are a company do not ask yourself one or the other, embrace both and get to see the real change in your scalability. If you are a professional, maybe you can focus in one task, but having a understanding of each component within your project.
Not everyone is made to make everything, but the basic knowledge will guide you to a wiser approach for your chosen field, bringing up thoughtful insights actively into account.
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