UX & UI the two most heard terms in web designing but mostly not well understood. The two terms are mostly used together, however they both are individual and separate web/application design. And both are equally important. They are the reason behind people’s favorite apps or websites that are preferred over other websites or apps.

In this blog, we will talk about the difference between UX and UI design and why they are essential to app/web designing.

So, what is the difference?

UX = User Experience

This refers to how your web/app design is used and how accessible it is. The idea is to create the best level of user experience that is convenient and user-friendly.

This covers all processes of using the website or application; how and what the user will do and will he be at ease performing tasks like reviewing products or placing orders. Let’s assume he rather has a tough time locating a product he seeks, that means his user experience is not optimized and this can leave the customer dissatisfied which can eventually cause loss of prospective sales.

UI = User Interface

User interface is what the app/website looks like. What colors will be there in the background, where the submit button will be, where the cart will be and how the menu drop down will look like. This and much more. The concepts should be visualized such that it optimizes the efficiency and usability.

Both UX and UI are for the end user, the customer, consumer that you are trying to serve/sell to. Sometimes your judgement is not enough to analyze what and how the user will like the flow. What works for you doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for all. You have to a thorough research and though process of the whole consumer journey once the consumer opens the web/app. The goal should always be to lead the consumer’s journey in the quickest and easiest way.

So, what comes first in the designing process?

UX comes first. In order to decide the color, design and style you first need to know what you are making. And to know what you’re making and how you’re building it the UX helps you out. It varies from individual to individual whether you want to begin with a pencil paper or design on a computer. Whatever it is you sketch out a whole process flow of where comes what which sometimes overlaps the functions of UI but only scarcely.

It isn’t wise to begin with UI any sooner because the revision in UX can make the whole effort go down the drain.

So, what makes UX and UI so important?

Top reasons why UX & UI are so important in web/app development:

Usability

There is no point of a web/app that works fine but is not easy to use for the audience it is meant for. The purpose of UX and UI is to ensure that your customer finds ease in using the web/app and will come back again for the experience/purchase.

Decreasing Expenses

Your development expenses can be cut down and saved, if your UX is designed with a thorough research and thought. You can identify and address issues in the user experience by simply sketching the path on paper. This way re-development can be avoided and coding will not have to be fixed time and again. This in totality will keep the development expense low.

Saves Time

Not only it saves money spent in development but a thorough UX & UI means there will be less redo and your launch dates will not have to be pushed ahead in order to make revisions. The UX & UI prototypes will save your time in totality and ensure your web/app is ready for launch date.

Increases Revenue

Your app is most likely to be purchased if the audience finds it easy to use and works well for the purpose the audience uses it for. This means your audience will then be willing to download it or even purchase it if needed.

Customer Retention

Majority businesses are now online and so are the customers. If the online shopping, booking experience is not good they are not likely to return for window shopping or actual shopping at all. A user-friendly web/app means your audience will not only return but also suggest your web/app to other prospective customers.

Finally, what can be done to improve the UX & UI?

Usually application designers have their own method to follow and sometimes the type of web/app also determines the flow of the design. However, the experts suggest the following:

DEFINE

• Defining what is the purpose of designing this website or application.
• Defining what do you intend to build.

RESEARCH

• A thorough research of your web/app existing users or prospective users. Face to face talks, video or phone calls, making questionnaires or getting a survey done.
• A test application or website is designed to conduct user testing. The users can then identify the pain points or difficulties they faced using this web/app. You can sit with the user and analyze the comments made during the process, study the flow that the user follows to reach from A to Z.
• This will give you the issues to address in the application or website.

STUDY THE COMPETITION

• Study and observe your competition.
• What features does their website/application offer?
• How is it received by the users?
• You can also analyze what’s missing in their app/web to make yours better

DOCUMENTING SUCCESS

• Set goals for your app/web’s success.
• This can be the number of users, number of downloads, number of sales using the app (anything that can be tracked and measured).
• If you are not achieving your goals you know where to look to make the necessary changes.

WIREFRAMING

• Design mockups of the web/app.
• Review the mockups with the whole team and all the developers.
• The whole team can then give their valuable feedback to resolve any issue that may arise

PROTOTYPING

• Building prototype every step of the way
• For earlier in the process, you can opt for a low-fidelity prototype and for the end product you can have a higher-fidelity prototype to get a feeler of the end product
• The interaction with the prototype can help fine tweak the final product

Finally, to conclude a good UX and UI can only come out of teamwork and not individually. The UX and UI are part of the software development lifecycle and hence cannot be treated separately. We at Sidat, understand the importance of a fool proof UX and UI that will thrive businesses and for that our team goes through a holistic process of research the consumer behavior, studying the competition and we give utmost importance to wireframing, prototyping as it will lead to a fool-proof end product.