🧑🏻‍💻 Thoughts on UI & UX

UI (User Interface) design and UX (User Experience) design are very similar, and their names are often used interchangeably by people. This can make it difficult to discern which discipline is actually being discussed. Here are my thoughts on how they differ and how they complement each other.

UX is the parent of UI. UX encompasses the entire journey, the complete experience. When someone is doing UX design, it doesn't mean they are solely designing a UI. They are designing the entire user journey, which could include the email that invites the user to onboard, the alerts they might receive on their phone, email reminders, the sharing flow, the sign-off process, and even cancellation. Essentially, it includes everything the user experiences. Usability, interactions, and branding need to be carefully considered when designing this journey. When you dive deeper into UI design, that’s where you refine the interactions and create a more aesthetically pleasing interface.

UI is a child discipline of UX, visually expressing the UX decisions made during the process. The wireframes and prototypes created in UX design are brought to life in UI design. It's crucial that the UI feels intuitive and visually appealing because it creates the user’s first impression and drives interactions.

User-centered design is fundamental to both UI and UX disciplines, ensuring that the user's needs are always prioritized throughout the design process. This approach involves more than just an initial round of user research; it requires continuous dialogue with users throughout the design and development phases. Regular feedback loops between users and UI/UX teams allow for iterative improvements, helping refine the product to better align with user expectations. By staying connected to the user's evolving needs, design teams can create experiences that are not only functional and visually appealing but also truly resonate with the end user, driving engagement and satisfaction over time.

Both UI and UX are essential and cannot exist independently.