Website Design: What is the UI and UX?

The user interface (UI) and the user experience (UX) are two essential components to think about when it comes to website design. If you are considering a new website for your business, both UI and UX are equally important and it’s definitely useful to understand the difference between them and how they work together.

What is UI?

When it comes to website design, UI design considers the layout and “look and feel” of your website. It considers images, text, buttons, menus, etc. and how users interact with these visual elements (or the interface).

What is UX?

UX, on the other hand, focuses on the overall experience that users have when navigating your website. For example, can things be found intuitively or is it rather confusing for users to find what they are looking for? UX design considers how users feel.

Both UI and UX are equally important. For example, what good is a beautiful looking website if finding the information you need is rather confusing and time consuming? That’s good UI, bad UX. On the contrary, consider an app that lets you shop an online store easily by efficiently categorizing items, but then all the buttons at checkout are small and hard to read. This is good UX, bad UI. They complement each other and it really is imperative to consider both for great website design (or great product design, in general).

There is a restaurant analogy that often gets used: The tables and chairs, plates, plates, utensils, glassware, etc. – that is the UI. Whether the food tastes great, how good the service was, what the ambiance was like such as the lighting and background music – that is the UX.

Need a website that looks great and gives your customers a winning user experience? Get in touch! Our experts in website design want to create something both you and your customers can get excited about.