Identifying UI and content issues

If you ask developers about the importance of the visual aspects of a project in defining user experience, you might commonly hear that they are important for the satisfaction and pleasure of the users. The truth is that a bad use of UI elements and content can result in different UX issues.

First of all, it is important that we know the difference between UI and UX (you will be asked about this a lot!): While user experience design corresponds to the continuous improvement of the usability of its system, it is concerned with producing a simple and intuitive interaction between users and machines, which translates into user satisfaction when when task are performing in an uncomplicated way. The goal of user interface design is to incorporate the company's identity into the application's DNA. UI designers are responsible for how the customer sees their product, which goes beyond the color scheme, fonts, and buttons. Instead the customers sees their product as a graphic development that incorporates a certain perception about the company itself (is its brand is sober, solid, reliable or is it more accessible, close to the customer?), through animations, responsiveness, tips, and visual cues that guide interaction and even market analysis.

When we talk about UX, or user experience, we're talking about something subjective. That is, no matter how much a designer or web designer strives, they cannot have 100% control over what people will feel when they try out a product they have designed. A part of people's opinions will always be emotional, temporary, and even impulsive in some cases. This means that there is a certain degree of unpredictability in the acceptance of this product.

The acronym UI stands for user interface. In this case, we are talking about something much more objective and controllable. The UI designer takes care of the part where the user interacts with a website (in the case of web design), layout, or product. Are the on and off buttons on a cell phone visible? Does the layout and colors of a graphic work show all the information the audience should see? Is the software intuitive? Does the order of the commands remain in the user's memory between one use and another? All of these questions are part of UI design.

The UX and UI are used together to enhance the design's effects on those who have contact with it. So a didactic way of looking at your differences would be to think that you can improve the user interface (UI) in order to create a better user experience (UX).

The model proposed by interaction designer Dan Saffer, one of the pioneers in this area, puts UI design at an intersection of interaction design and visual design. These two areas, in turn, are part of the large group of experience design, which also encompasses information architecture and industrial design, among other fields.

We can say that, in general terms, UX design is concerned with macro issues—that is, the whole and not just the interface—while UI design focuses on the micro. UI design transforms the results of UX design into something palpable, visual, that is, it is the bridge that will turn into reality everything that was designed for the user experience. Hence, the ideal would be for the UX design to come before the UI design.

If we were dealing with a web application, for example, the UI would be the design part of the site and the way it would be presented to users, including aspects such as the color palettes to be used, fonts, and everything else. The UI is responsible for trying to seduce the user with its appearance. Aspects related to how the user will interact with the application are also embedded within the UI field.

Note that the UI is an important aspect, since it is usually characterizes the first contact that the user will have with the website or web application. Humans are very much guided by visual aspects and sensations, so a well-designed and thoughtful user interface can be the first step in keeping a user within a website. If the website were of a cake, this is the first step in persuading someone to eat it.

We can say that UI design is the means by which a person interacts and controls a device, software, or application. This control can be done through buttons, menus, and any element that provides an interaction between the device and the user. Also, as part of the user interface, you can consider typography, iconography, color scheme, and so on, besides content such images, graphs, copy, and text. These elements will have a huge influence on the communication with the user, and will result in a good or bad experience. Using these elements incorrectly might can cause misunderstanding and consequently drive the users to make mistakes; the users in completing their tasks correctly.