Special contribution from Guest Author – Felix Jean:
When not writing blog posts, Felix Jean plays the guitar and go bungee jumping with friends.
His writing is focused on technology, design and online ecommerce. He’s a graphic designer
too; likes to dabble with Adobe Illustrator to create designs for friends and colleagues.
Web design can be complicated or simple, but there’s nothing more important than how effective it is for the visitor. To a great degree, how your site appeals to your visitor will impact the success of your business.
But there are multiple factors that play into that appeal. One such consideration is the question of user experience versus user interface, and which of the two require more attention. For many, it can be difficult to define the two and know what the difference is.
So what is the difference, and which one should you be focusing on? Let’s take a look at UX and UI and how they impact the design of your site.
User experience, or UX, is generally more talked about in web design for the simple fact that there are more facets that play into a good UX.
Simply defined, user experience is the interaction that a user has with the site: the user’s experience of visiting and browsing the site. UX encompasses all aspects of that visit, from the user’s ability to locate the site to the whole of the time they spend on it.
Because of that, UX in website design is actually about more than just the design of the site itself. It also encompasses factors like clarity of messaging, marketing, and SEO. After all, if a visitor can’t find the site they’re looking for, there’s no chance to give them a good UX, which means a negative one by default.
UX really speaks to the dedication of the company behind the site, and how important it is for them to make their customers happy. UX covers the entire journey of the site visitor, from beginning to end.
The user interface, meanwhile, is more specific and tailored to a certain aspect of the journey of the visitor, centered on the form and function of individual features of the site.
The UI covers details such as how easy forms are to fill in and whether the site loads them correctly, how well-identified the site is with branded visuals such as a logo design on each page, ease of navigation, legibility and readability of content, and other visual aspects, as well as any function that the site performs.
Taking an even narrower view, UI deals with the functions of features that users are directly involved in. Site navigation is an excellent example; if a user can’t find the navigation bar, if the links don’t work appropriately, or if the site is slow to respond, it’s a poorly-designed UI.
UI is a combination of interactivity, visual design, and information architecture.
With the two terms clearly defined, we get down to the nitty-gritty of the question: which one deserves a higher level of focus in your web design?
The truth is that both of them require time and attention, but for different reasons. UI is really an aspect of UX — creating an excellent user interface will boost the overall user experience. Conversely, a poor UI will cause the UX to suffer drastically, as nobody likes a site that won’t function as they expect it to.
On the other hand, each of these play a part in how well a site does. For example, statistics indicate that a well-designed UI can increase site conversion by up to 200%, while an excellent UX overall can increase site conversion up to 400%. But you really can’t have one without the other.
Ultimately, putting your focus on UX will also mean focusing on UI, and vice versa.
Just like various aspects of website design — navigation, formatting, load times, etc. — and various aspects of visual design — color choice, font choice, negative space, etc. — all rely on each other for a harmonious and effective result overall, your UX and UI will feed into each other.
However, as you design the functions of your site, each one will require a temporary chief focus on UI to ensure that they work correctly. It just so happens that this excellent UI will in turn contribute to excellent UX.
User experience, though, requires ongoing attention above and beyond UI.
In terms of web design that results in both a great UX and fantastic UI, it’s important to design individual elements with an eye on how well they will function together.
Web design, like any other type of design, requires choosing elements that fit a theme: in this case, the theme of “good UX.”
As you structure your site and make design choices, consciously choose in a way that contributes to the desired end product or you can connect with GTECH, the Website design company in Dubai to make a website that is appealingly designed, functional, and which gives each individual user a great experience, every single time.
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