The Difference Between UX and UI Design: A Beginner’s Guide

Discover the key differences between UX and UI design—and figure out which is the better career path for you.

If you’re wondering about the difference between UX and UI design, you’re not alone. They’re often used interchangeably, but they actually describe very different things.

UX vs. UI in a nutshell:

• UX design (or user experience design) focuses on how intuitive, easy, and enjoyable it is to use a product (like a website or an app). It involves conducting research to understand user needs, and mapping out a logical structure and flow for the product.
• UI design (or user interface design) focuses on the visual, interactive elements of the product. It designs all the screens and components that the user interacts with. It’s about creating digital products that are both aesthetically pleasing and flawlessly functional.

Keep reading to learn more about the differences between UX and UI, how they work together, and their respective tasks, responsibilities, salaries, and more.

1. UX vs. UI design
   • What is user experience (UX) design?
   • What does a UX designer do? Tasks and responsibilities 
   • What is user interface (UI) design?
   • What does a UI designer do? Tasks and responsibilities
2. Understanding the key differences between UX and UI design 
3. How do UX and UI design work together?
4. Should you become a UX designer or a UI designer?
   • UX vs. UI: the main skills required for each
   • UX vs. UI salary
   • Choosing between UX and UI
   • Becoming a UI/UX designer
5. Key takeaways
6. UX vs. UI FAQs

1. UX vs. UI design

UX design stands for “user experience design,” while UI stands for “user interface design.”

They both relate to how products are created (think: websites, apps, and software). However, they focus on different aspects of the product.

UX design maps out the end user’s overall experience, or journey, throughout the product. It considers things like:

• What end-user problem should this product solve?
• What features and functions does the user need within the product?
• How should the product be structured and mapped out? How can we make it as logical and intuitive as possible?
• How will different content and information be organized throughout the product?
• How does the user feel while interacting with the product? What’s the overall quality of their experience?

If UX builds the product’s foundation, UI design focuses on the ‘top layer.’ UI design considers all the screens, pages, and touchpoints that people interact with while using the product. It considers things like:

• What elements does the user need on each screen or page? (Elements include things like buttons, scrollbars, images, toggles, and navigation menus).
• Where should these elements be positioned? What’s the optimal layout and visual hierarchy for each screen?
• What should happen when the user clicks on each individual element?
• How do individual screens connect and relate to each other?
• How can we make the interface visually appealing? What color schemes, imagery, and typography should we use?

 

We’ll dive deeper into how UX and UI differ throughout this guide. First, let’s take a closer look at what they each mean individually.

What is user experience (UX) design?

User experience design is a human-first way of designing products. Don Norman, a cognitive scientist and co-founder of the Nielsen Norman Group Design Consultancy, is credited with coining the term “user experience” in the late 1990s.

Here’s how he describes it: “User experience encompasses all aspects of the end-user’s interaction with the company, its services, and its products.”

Don Norman’s definition tells us that, regardless of its medium, UX Design encompasses any and all interactions between a potential or active customer and a company.

Note that there’s plenty of non-digital UX out there. As a scientific process, it can be applied to anything; street lamps, cars, Ikea shelving, and so on. However, despite being a scientific term, its use since its inception has been almost entirely within digital fields. One reason for this is that the tech industry started blowing up around the time of the term’s invention.

You can learn all about the fascinating history of UX design in this article.

Essentially, UX applies to anything that can be experienced—be it a website, a coffee machine, or a visit to the supermarket. The “user experience” part refers to the interaction between the user and a product or service. User experience design, then, considers all the different elements that shape this experience.

Read more about the term in our complete guide to UX design.

What does UX design involve?

A UX designer thinks about how the experience makes the user feel and how easy it is for the user to accomplish their desired tasks. They also observe and conduct task analyses to see how users actually complete tasks in a user flow.

For example: How easy is the checkout process when shopping online? How easy is it for you to grip that vegetable peeler? Does your online banking app make it easy for you to manage your money?

The ultimate purpose of UX design is to create easy, efficient, relevant, and all-around pleasant experiences for the user.

Here’s what you need to know about UX design in a nutshell:

• User experience design is the process of developing and improving the quality of interaction between a user and all facets of a company.
• User experience design is, in theory, a non-digital (cognitive science) practice but used and defined predominantly by digital industries.
• UX design is NOT about visuals; it focuses on the overall feel of the experience.