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UI and UX have long been confused and used interchangeably by most businesses and even by some developers.
For businesses, understanding this difference can help you identify if you need to hire a UI/UX designer and guide you to hiring a good candidate. For developers and aspiring UI/UX designers, knowing the difference can help identify the specific roles they have to take.
UX refers to ‘User Experience’ and UI refers to ‘User Interface.’ The two elements work hand-in-hand to create the design and features of a product. Despite working together as one, UI and UX have distinct roles in the design process.
Let’s learn more about each design element, the roles and responsibilities of UI and UX designers, and their differences.
Many are actually confused with the definition of UX, and that’s because of its origins.
UX is originally a cognitive science term. Cognitive scientist Don Norman coined the term User Experience and defined it as encompassing “all aspects of the end user's interaction with the company, its services, and its products.” This means, regardless of the medium, it’s applicable to any and to all interaction between potential or active clients and a company.
The term, however, was mostly used within the digital field for two arguable reasons:
Because of this, many people also confuse UX with Market Research, however, the two are only similar, but not the same. UX and Market Research are similar in a way that both use structure, analysis and optimisation of a customer’s experience to achieve an end goal.
This brings us to the core definition of UX design:
UX uses these techniques to enhance customer experience, satisfaction and loyalty by improving the overall interaction between a product and the customer. UX designers research, develop, test, and create prototypes to check for quality results.
As such, the key responsibilities of a UX designer include:
Based on these responsibilities, a UX designer is a complex and challenging role. They are more than just a designer, but also partly a marketer and a project manager. Among all of these responsibilities, ultimately, their role is to connect business goals to user’s needs.
UI or User Interface design is concerned with anything a user may use to interact with a digital product or service. It is a large field combining elements of:
A UI designer’s role is to create attractive and engaging interfaces that will lead a user in their journey through the digital product or service and evoke a response from the user to make the product or service appealing to the users. A UI designer must effectively translate your brand into your product or service.
With this role in mind, here are the key responsibilities of a UI designer:
Just like a UX designer, a UI designer has a multi-faceted role of creating ideas and visuals and communicating and implementing it with his or her team.
We already defined what UI and UX are, but you might still be confused about their difference. Their roles are similar, and sometimes overlapping, that it does become confusing. However, that just shows how UI and UX work closely together. To help you distinguish between the two, here are four key differences to remember:
Related Article: Front End and Back End Developers: A Quick Comparison
For businesses, hiring good UI/UX designers can help your product become more engaging, useful and attractive to your users or customers. When hiring UI/UX designers, look for candidates that are knowledgeable and experienced in UX research, UX writing, wireframing and prototyping, coding, and analytics. Strong communication and collaboration skills are also a must-have for UI/UX designers as they will need to cooperate and coordinate with your team to produce a good output.
Should you hire freelance UI and UX designers?
Many businesses hire freelance UI and UX designers for a short time only thinking that the UI and UX designer’s job is done once they are finished with the product. However, in reality, UI/UX is a continuous process. Your products or services can still change over time, thus the UI and UX must also be updated.
Most freelancers prefer not to be tied down to just one company so they can explore projects. In the long run, hiring freelancers can be costly and risky as your freelancer may not be available in the future.
Aside from freelancers, hiring offshore UI/UX designers is also a good option to consider. With offshoring, finding good UI/UX designers is easier due to the larger tech talent available. It is also more cost-efficient due to the lower salary and cost of living in most offshoring destinations and less at risk due to the liabilities shared between the client and the offshoring provider.
Whatever hiring method you choose, it is important to note that you can’t hire a UX designer without a UI designer, or vice versa. The two work hand-in-hand to complete a product or website’s design thus both positions are necessary.
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