UX and UI are terms that are now heard with the same ear. Simply said, UX and UI have become interchangeable when we talk about web development and content creation. Any website needs both if it wishes to gain a sizable viewership. But, contrary to popular belief, UX and UI and different in their nature, characteristics and effects.
Let us first get to them well.
UX, or User Experience, refers to the way the webpage or the website is received by the user’s at large and how this pleasant experience can make them come back for more.
UI, or User Interface, is the actual visual elements that are present in the webpage or the website. This includes fonts, white space, pictures and other animations.
UX and UI are inherently interconnected because a clean, sharp and pleasing UI will lead to a positive UX which means more traffic, better sales and conversion rates. They still have their points if differences, which we will explore further.
Key Differences between UX and UI.
- Conceptual Difference
Conceptually, UI is the structural portion whereas, UX refers to the abstract presentation and reward. User Interface deals with typeface, font, design, images, animations, white space, textures, backgrounds, It is the architecture and interior designing of the website that explains the aesthetics of the product, its placement and other physical and intangible aspects of the business.
UX, inversely, is the customer’s perception of the UI. It is dependent on the response of the viewer towards the elements present on the webpage. UX is important as it gives a substantial feedback towards what’s working for the website and what’s not. It is the intangible aspect that deals with the effect of the aesthetics.
- Impact
UI has a limited impact on the viewers in terms of its creation and sustenance. Once you have locked in your design, placed your images, decided your fonts and presented your products on the website, there is only a certain type of response you can get from that particular configuration. If you wish to change the response quality of the viewer, you will have to make changes to the UI.
UX is independent in a way that even though it depends largely on the UI, it still has a more superior hold on web developers than UI. It is, after all, for the enhancement of User Experience that they keep tweaking the User Interface from time to time.
- Future
The future is an open playing field that is presented equally well for the expansion of both UI and UX. With the projections that we have now, we can confidently predict that with the drastic improvement in User Interface, User Experience will also largely improve. However, the differences arise when the UI does not match the UX. For instance, a website that is prominent in fashion circles can only be so interactive. On the other hand, a website dedicated to kids’ learning has a broader spectrum of the kind of interactions, ensuring a high UX.
UX and UI are like the two sides of the same coin. They present differently, are a fusion of overlapping characteristics, but will depend heavily on each other. Kinex Media is a firm dedicated to the integration of both in web development, designing and optimization strategies.
