What is UI/UX?

UI and UX are the aspects of product development that caters to the needs of a user. The actual names of UI and UX are user-interface and user-experience. Most companies, whether modern or old, incorporate some type of UI/UX design. This practice has been used in business for years as a way to offer a pleasurable experience to customers. In order to keep a business afloat, the user always has to come first in mind. Today I'll be breaking down UI and UX into detail to explain how they actually perform.

UI

The user interface, most commonly known as UI, is where the user actually interacts with a technology. UI user interactions are usually carried out through the use of things like displays, keyboards, mice, etc... There are a few different categories of UI that I'll discuss with you today. The first one is called the command line interface, where the user interacts with the program using commands. It works by the user inputting a command into a terminal or dashboard and receiving the information they need. The command line interface, also known as CLI, can also be used with a visual prompt that a user can respond to in a command. The second category of UI we'll be talking about is the graphical user interface. The graphical user interface, also known as GUI, is used using menus, scrollbars, buttons, and wizards. Unlike with the command-line interface, GUIs usually have click functions on touchscreens that cause actions to happen instead of using commands.

UX

The user experience, often referred to as UX, is another major point of web-development. UX is how a person will engage with a product while using it. UX takes the study of human interactions with a product to another level. UX designers main goal is to cater to a user's ambitions, interests, and motivations for interacting with a product. The reason for this goal is so that consumer satisfaction can stay as high as possible. Another aspect of consumers staying satisfied is consistency. If a product is not consistent at all times, customers may look for competitors or simply give up on the product all together. To gauge the satisfactory, UX designers usually come up with ways to receive feedback from customers as well.

Differences Between UI & UX

Many people, when they hear UI or UX, believe them to be the same thing. This isn't a far-fetched assumption seeing that they both cater to users of a product and deal with design. I'll go over a couple of the things that set them apart from one another. The first thing that sets them apart from one another is that user experience is more focused on the overall engagement of the user with the product. For instance, UX designers will study how an athlete will interact with a sports gear website rather than figuring what device would be best to use to shop on it. Another difference between UI and UX is that UI designers place more of their focus on a products actual functions and visuals rather than mapping how it should function or be visualized.

Conclusion

Both UI and UX play major roles in web development in 2023. If you are an aspiring developer or current developer, UI and UX seems to be a great avenue to take. People who are really creative and enjoy visuals may like it even more. Hopefully, this blog gave you some insight on UI/UX development and will encourage you to give it a try.