What does UX/UI stand for?
UX stands for “User Experience” and UI stands for “User Interface”. It is quite difficult to define exactly what UX/UI design is, as it is essentially half science and half art. We will explain why below.
As you browse through different websites or mobile apps, you’ve probably noticed that some are instantly understandable and easy to use, while others leave you lost and unsure of where to find things. Many developers don’t pay much attention to usability and functionality when designing websites. That’s where a UX/UI designer comes in. A good UX designer will make the environment much more user-friendly and enjoyable to use. A good UI designer will ensure that the user intuitively finds their way around the environment and doesn’t wander around blindly trying to find the information they need.
What Does a UI/UX Designer Do?
Although a UX/UI designer can be involved at any stage of the project (e.g. telling the developer that the page layout is not user-friendly, etc.), their input is most needed during the design phase, before the developers start the whole programming process. The UX/UI designer provides sketches and wireframes of what a user-friendly and easy-to-understand website or app should look like, and then passes the work on to a graphic designer and programmers who implement these ideas.
However, UX/UI design is not all art and imagination. These designers also do the work of a researcher. Once the initial “working” design of the future website has been created, the UX/UI designer starts testing it with real users – in other words, researching to make sure everything is clear, understandable, and user-friendly. UX/UI designers are essentially the most customer-focused members of the web development team, as they are the ones who have the job of understanding whether a website will be a real success and if not, then they make suggestions on how to improve the design and functionality of the website.
In this post, we’ve covered just the main features of a UX/UI designer’s job. It’s a very broad and interesting specialty, encompassing both creative, analytical and people work. If you feel that this is the kind of thing that appeals to you, go ahead and learn UX/UI design!
Register for our UX/UI Design course HERE.
