UI vs. UX
UX and UI (User Interface) design are often paired with each other, but they focus on very different goals.
“Imagine you're building a house. UX would be the foundation. UI would be the paint and furniture.”
| UI (User Interface) | UX (User Experience) |
|---|---|
| Refers to the visual elements that allow users to interact with a product | Refers to the feelings and emotions users experience when interacting with a product |
| Focuses on the look & feel of a product – typography, colors, etc | Focuses on the overall user-friendliness of the user journey |
| The goal is to make products aesthetically appealing and optimized for different screen sizes | The goal is to make the product efficient and easy to use for users |
UI design’s objective is to create a functioning product that is aesthetically pleasing while also implementing functioning interactive elements (typography, color, buttons, links, videos, graphs, etc.) that can be easily understood by its user. UX designers may create prototypes and wireframes of the end product, such as websites and apps, but UI designers are the ones that make sure that prototype comes to fruition. UX designers then conduct user research to receive feedback about the product, which they study to create improvements.