UI and UX are terms that are often used together. Setting UI aside, nowadays it seems that there are many things that have UX attached to their names. Moreover, the meaning of UX varies depending on the person and environment. UX is what we experience on the surface, i.e usability. For example, the content of the video advertisement is UX, and the telephone answer of the customer support is also UX.
Despite their differences, I dare to state that UI and UX have one thing in common and this thing is "people related design", represented by the letter "U" or "User". However, the way UX and UI are related to user is quite different. UI is a field of clarity and ease of use, and UX is a field of subjectivity and emotion-based experiences. UI and UX are often used together, but we still need to clarify the difference between them.
The point of contact between the UI and the user and the target
"UI" is an abbreviation for User interface, which is a point of contact for users to interact with the object or service. For example, the mouse, keyboard, touch panel that we touch directly are interfaces, and the buttons and links on the screen that are indirectly operated by the mouse or touch panel are also interfaces.
The UI is all points of contact when users is interacting with services and products.
Interfaces are not limited to software such as websites or apps, but also can exist in other things we use in our daily lives. For example, if you look carefully at the machines for public use such as ATMs or vending machines, you will find a variety of levers, buttons and touchless terminals. Other interface examples in our home are the ignition switch and heat adjustment slider of a gas stove. Accelerator, brake and handle are also the interfaces to operate a car.
Because basic principles of interface usability are related to human habits and culture, in other words, how one understands and manipulates an object, these principles haven't changed much. In decades at most, humans do not seem to change that much with time. The basic interface for operating a gas stove or a car have been with us for quite a long time.
Among such interfaces, UI is important from the viewpoint of indirectly operating things that cannot be interacted with levers or switches, such as websites and apps. The UI is the only way where humans can interact with the software, therefore, the quality of the UI greatly affects the price and value of the software.
The overall experience between getting to know UX and forgetting it
"UX" is an abbreviation for User Experience, which means an experience that a user can gain by interacting with a product or a service. UX is also a word which interpretation can vary depending on the person or organization, or in other words - UX is always being understood differently.
UX is all the experience users gains when interacting with services and products.
Donald Norman, the first person to propose the definition of UX, said: "UX encompasses all aspects of the end-user's interaction with the company, its services, and its products." From there, the author interprets UX as "The overall experience of the process of getting to know UX and forgetting it."
UX does not only include usability of service and products, but also advertisement and promotions, as well as customer support systems, shops, target user image creation, packaging materials, etc.
Therefore, UX is inseparable from the aspects of business models, promotions, and marketing (sales promotion or market opening). If you think of UX more broadly, the essential meaning of UX is to think about how the lives of people who use the product or service will change.
When using an actual product or service, the idea of ​​UX begins even before you start using it. For example, Instagram is a service that only shares uploaded photos, but the actions and experiences that users are getting from that are not documented by the app, for example: going to the sightseeing spots, taking a photo when you find a scene you like, only then you start using the APP itself. After that user also feels happy receiving a like of a photo just posted. This is so called user journey and a simple photo sharing APP can create. This series of experiences sets the high value of Instagrams UX.
In addition, for example, if the website is accessed but does not exist, the "404 not found" page will be displayed. This is not a UI, but rather a UX aspect. That's because depending on what you do with follow-up in case of failure, you're trying to improve the mindset of the user and improve the overall experience.
Relationship between UX and UX
The scope of UX covers everything from knowing the product or service to forgetting it. Although the range of UI is narrower than that of UX, it is responsible for the most important area the UX scope:
Users are interacting with a product or a service mostly through the UI. Since the reaction that occurs inside the user when using the UI is the UX, the UX that you receive when using a good UI and a bad UI is naturally different. At this point, the UI has a direct impact on the UX.
Difference between UX and UX
UX is a concept about the emotions of the user, whereas the UI encounters the concept of "interaction" that is being a connection between the service and the user. Also, while at least the UI is visible "objective", UX is the "subjective" that the user receives and cannot see or touch. UX does exist, but its design and evaluation are very difficult to judge because it is subjective. This makes UX and UI different.
Subjective experiences is the area of UX, however the ease of understanding and usability of the interface is the area of UI. Let's see exactly how both UI and UX are working in the example of using a real product. The following example is an idea and action when trying to find a good cafe nearby using Google Maps:
Area of experience based on subjectivity and emotion is UX
Area of ease of understanding and usability is UI
As you can see, UI and UX are related to each other. Basically, a good UI can provide a good UX, however the bad UX cannot be fixed by the good UI. Also, no matter how good the UI is, if the service or a product do not have a good UX, user won't even bother to use such a service or a product. It is important to understand the relationship between the two and the fact that they are different.
Comments