UI/UX
UI, or User Interface Design, is often spoken about in the same breath as UX, or User Experience Design. The goal for both disciplines is the same: to ensure that a product is accessible to the end user. However, the ways in which UI and UX accomplish this is quite different.
In simple terms, UI is the visual aspect of an application, whereas UX is about understanding user thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Both of these things are critical to making a product appeal to its intended demographic.
UI Design
User interface design refers to the frontend of an application — that is, the things that a user can see, such as colours, fonts, buttons and imagery.
The aesthetics of your application should not be thought of as an afterthought, but instead understood to be the way content is curated and delivered to the end user. A great user interface will be stylish, on-brand and communicate aspects of the user experience to the user.
Even more importantly, however, a user interface needs to be accessible and aligned with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines or WCAG.
Since some aspects of these guidelines are enshrined by law in certain contexts, our knowledgeable designers always aim to design interfaces with accessibility in mind.
UX Design
User experience design is less tangible than user interface design but no less important. In user experience design, we advocate for the end user and consider how they might think and feel about a particular product.
To better understand the user, we embark on a number of activities, such as persona mapping, user interviews and testing, as well as diagram out different ways a user might move through an application.
By putting ourselves in the shoes of a prospective user, we can easily see what aspects of a product would be most useful to them. UX thus becomes the best way for Product Owners to prioritise what gets developed and when. It also helps to validate any assumptions we might have about the target demographic.
Ultimately, the goal for UX design is to create products which are enjoyable to use, that your customers will want to return to.
