You might have heard people put their heads together about the UI/UX of the website or a mobile app. Most of the time these words are used interchangeably, but from the designer’s perspective it is a fatal mistake to consider UI and UX as same. What actually is the difference between between UI and UX?
According to designer Nick Babich:
“The best products do two things well: features and details. Features are what draw people to your product. Details are what keep them there.”
UX designers as the makers of macro-interactions while UI designers, as the architects of micro-interactions, attend to the details.
UX is User Experience which is simply the feeling grabbed by a user. This term encompasses the end-user’s interaction with the services and products of a company. On the other hand UI stands for User Interface refers to the combination of the elements and approaches used for the creation of the desired UX.
The success of a website or an app depends on how the design, functionalities and entities are portrayed to the end user. A design needs to have the right combination of an excellent user experience with eye catching elements.
Difference between UI/UX
Consider a simple example of a park. The benches, bridges, playground, merry-go-round etc form the UI-contributing to the experience whereas relaxation, happiness is the feeling that make up the user experience.
In simple words UI refers to the means the user use to communicate while UX is just the feel the user got.
Features of UI/UX
An excellent user experience means that your digital product is easy to use. When your customers use your product you have to provide an excellent user experience so they continue using it and recommend others to use it.
UI features are crucial for social media and social networking sites. The prime characteristics include:
1. Simplicity
It is the prime feature in social networking and social media sites. The apps or websites should be simple in colors and graphic design. It should have minimum number of clicks.
For example Whatsapp is most popular social networking application. It has simple layouts and visual design.
2. Clarity
Clarity is one of the important characteristic of any digital product. The sole purpose of your product is to facilitate users to interact with your system. To achieve this it must clearly communicate with the user. If the user cannot achieve this clarity he might feel distracted and may abandon your product. To improve clarity labels must be given for buttons and actions.
3. Feedback & Response time
Feedback & Response time is one of the good features of any social networking and social media sites. Feedback is a pointer to interaction design. It enables the user to communicate with the product whether the desired task is completed and what to do next.
The response time in feedback is also a key factor. It must be a real time. It should be within 1 and 10 seconds.
4. User assistance & Help
Another feature that makes your product easy to use is User assistance & Help. It provides information when something happens unexpected suddenly or when people get stuck. Help will guide the user through the necessary steps towards a solution to the issue he is facing.
5. Forgiving
Nobody is perfect and users are bound to make mistakes when using your digital product. How well you can handle such mistakes is an indicator of your product’s quality.
Forgiving interface is the one that can save your users from costly mistakes. Undo is the most commonly used forgiving interface.
Is UI/UX important ?
Researches shown that rejection or selection of a website is 94% design related. This points that UI/UX is the crucial factor determining the success or failure of a website. As online business transactions are gaining popularity now-a-days it seems to be critical to offer a good UI/UX for the website. Since different options are available for the users, they would look for those sites having good appearance and are easy to use.
In recent years UI/UX plays a major role in user acquisition and retention. If you build something that is easy to use and handle,more people will use it. Today a product whether digital or analog gains popularity not only by the way it works but also through the look and feels. Whether that experience is good or bad one, it is going to have a direct impact on the sales. Here comes the importance of UI/UX.
How UI/UX impacts Business ?
In the present era, there is a tremendous growth in the social networking an e-commerce with billions of dollars worth sales taking place every year. Internet has emerged as a one-stop source of entertainment, information, social interaction, and commerce.
For success in any online business, an user friendly website is a must as it will provide enhanced user experience to the online visitors. Any site that is too complex and difficult will definitely push away online traffic. Providing best user experience means you are delivering best services that help to boost your sales. Satisfactory use experience is the most important aspects that impact on the future of your business.
- Through good UI/UX you can win the confidence of your customers. The more they will be happy, the more they come towards you.
- Your website or app represents your brand. It will help to establish your brand name in the market. Innovative features and attractive designs in your product helps you to move forward in the fast paced digital world.
- The aim of UI/UX is to present an optimised design and experience to the users for their satisfaction.
- Your business can get a boost for future growth if you get your UI & UX aspects right through your existing budget.
UX is not an end, but a means to an end.It deals with customer acquisition, satisfaction, retention. You’re dealing with people having different thoughts. This enhances the need to embed UI/UX into your long-term business strategy.
Wrapping Up
User acceptance is crucial for any product, project or service. The businesses that create positive user experiences can have a large number of loyal customers. And these customers can become the advocates for your brand. Businesses and products offering high levels of usability are more likely to be recommended to others.
With the design focused on user experience, a bond is formed between the company and the user. At Steccons, this is exactly what we do; we focus on clients’ needs; Shaping their dreams into realistic user experiences with our own suggestions and ideas. We follow UCD which is User Centered Design. From our perspective UCD is Understand Create Deliver. User-centered design (UCD) is a framework of processes (not restricted to interfaces or technologies) in which the needs, wants, and limitations of end users of a product, service or process are given extensive attention at each stage of the design process. We do this as a passion. Our team is highly efficient in delivering web & mobile applications with good UI/UX.
