The Bare Bones and Beauty of Online Design
Most of us accept digital products as they are on our screens. Rarely do we reflect objectively on our experiences with them. Why do we use Twitter toTweet instead of to message? We trace our fingers through familiar bouncing icons and colourful graphics, generally unaware how they shape our experiences with the digital products that they illustrate.
There are two designers that interact in the creation of a digital product: User Experience Designers and User Interface Designers.
One position is analytical and the other design driven. In other words, if compared to the parts of a human body, UX design functions as the organ portion of the body; its purpose to measure and optimize, while UI design functions as the cosmetics of the body; its purpose being presentation as well as senses and reactions.
WHAT ARE THEIR ROLES?
UX – User Experience Design:
A process of enhancing the interaction between customer and product through usability.
User Experience Design is the results of tailored market research used by digital industries.
This includes the level of pleasure experienced by the customer involved in an interaction. Essentially, UX Design aims to align a product’s goals with that of the user’s through processes of testing and tweaking the customer’s experience.
An enhanced interaction between customer and product is achieved through an analysis of a customer’s experience with a company and its products. This data comprises User Experience Design.
UI – User interface Design:
How the results of User Experience Design are computed into a digital product in its aesthetics.
UI Design is responsible for the raw interactivity between customer and product using aesthetics such as animation. A UI Designer translates a product to its customer using a appropriately designed interface.
In UI Design, the essence of a brand is pulled into its digital visual representation in order to guide customers through a fitting digital experience with the brand.
Often times confused or simply misunderstood, User Experience Design and User Interface Design are equally crucial concepts to understand and utilize in the fabrication of digital products today. These two design concepts intertwine and support one another in successfully designed online platforms.
