What's the difference between UX & UI? - 100 Days of Design, Writing & Emotions

Design:

Ah, the classic question. UX vs UI. Let's use an equally classic analogy (forgive me). Picture two paths.



Wait, actually scratch that. Here's a picture:





On the left is UX. It's the shortest, most efficient path to where you want to go. It's functional and it solves the problem of getting people to where they need to go as quickly as possible.



On the right is UI. It's the aesthetically appealing path, beautifully designed and crafted.



In this instance, unfortunately. the UI path isn't as well used as the UX path because while it's wonderful to look at, it hasn't considered the users' desire. What you see above is what happens when UI and UX don't speak to each other.



UX is all about the feel of an experience and how a product works. UI is about the look, layout and interactivity of a product, object or item.



One more analogy for you:

“UI is the saddle, the stirrups, and the reins. UX is the feeling you get being able to ride the horse.” — Dain Miller



'Alright, Nibras. All the analogies are great but what does that actually mean when it comes to digital products?'



Practical Application



UX

UX is the first stage of the design process. It's where the designers frame the problem, speak to target users and stakeholders and understand the landscape/industry they're going to design for.



"UX searches for solutions and UI determines the look"

So, as UX is about finding and solving problems, the processes and methods involve are centred around research, synthesising research, communicating with stakeholders and demonstrating findings through wireframes and prototypes.



UX also deals with the usability of the product, from information architecture (the organisation of information on a wesbite or app) to user journeys.

UI

UI was my first love in design. UI is what most people think of when they hear the terms UX or UI design. It's concerned with the visual side of a product: the typography, colours and layout.



One last image to bring this home:







UX <3 UI

Don't forget, UX & UI are like the left and right hemispheres of your brain. Sure, you can separate them and they have different characteristics but really they were designed to work together. And they work a helluva lot better when they are together.



Emotions:

Today's been a day filled with avoidance. I have a case study to work on and complete under a tight deadline and the fear of the enormity of the task has me frozen.



On the bright side, I'm learning to not shoot the second arrow. Instead, I'm noticing the avoidance and seeing it as a sign that there's a problem with my approach. Avoidance = a practical problem to be solved.



My solution is to ask myself, “what's the smallest, biggest thing I can do without failing?" (h/t Robert)

Today, that is opening skillshare and following along with creating a system for the prototype I'm working on. Even for 5 minutes. So, that's what I'm going to go do.



Overall, I feel better than I have in a few weeks. Ciao, friends.