When reading about web design you will often counter the acronyms UX and UI, and there is no denying that each is integral to creating successful sites. However, unless you dig a little deeper you might not be able to work out the differences between the two, nor understand how they can complement one another and enhance the overall impact of each page.
To remedy this, here is a look at the symbiotic relationship between user experience (UX) and the user interface (UI).
Basic distinctions
As the name suggests, UX describes the overall structure of a site and how this is orchestrated to offer the best possible experience to visitors. Meanwhile UI focuses chiefly on the look, feel and layout of a site, covering everything from the placement of menus to the colors chosen.
UX is a holistic process which, according to Parachute, a Toronto-based web design company, can be factored in alongside other core aspects of web development. It can make use of in-depth analytics to determine the needs of the user and make sure that the site is sufficiently optimized to make sure they get where they want to go when they visit.
UI is a chiefly visual concern, dealing with things like the typography chosen to make sure that content is legible, the presence of branding on pages and the overall aesthetic cohesion of a site.
United front
Now that you have a better idea of what UX and UI represent, it is worth considering that in many ways they are inextricably intertwined, with the former encompassing the latter.
For example, for a site to have an effective UX strategy it must be able to present content to visitors in a clear, coherent, appealing way. Meanwhile if the interface is muddled, the text tricky to read or the menu system overwhelming, user experience will suffer and bounce rates will skyrocket.
Ease of navigation is an area in which UX and UI are very closely linked. The customer journey is something all retail sites need to take seriously, and so even if individual landing pages are well designed, this will count for very little if customers cannot click through to checkout or find other relevant items in a jiffy.
Impactful optimization
Another reason that you should take UX and UI seriously as a power-couple is that they will not only let you win over visitors once they have arrived on your site, but will also make sure that your site is discoverable in the first place.
Plenty of aspects which are targeted by these areas will necessarily be the focus of your search engine optimization efforts, so you can kill two birds with one stone by giving due care to the quality of the user experience and the site’s interface.
What is good for users is good for showing search algorithms that your site is well designed, so take the time to optimize UX and UI in unison and the benefits will come flooding in.
