The synergy of User Interface and User Experience

User Interface Design (UI) and User Experience Design (UX) have been around for a long time, but understanding the difference between them is critical with emerging technologies in digital and mobile devices being developed and introduced practically every day!

UI is the infrastructure, the framework for the interface design in which a person sees and interacts. When we engage designers in a project, we describe in detail how the user functionality should work. As they develop a plan, they work through a number of scenarios from beginning to end to understand the flow while considering the potential challenges that may arise during the process. Ultimately, the goal is to guide users through the system while ensuring they interact with it as planned.

UX is the warm and fuzzy feeling you get through meaningful engagements with the design. Various refinements based on learnings are made along the way. According to Jeff Gothelf, author of Lean UX, conversion optimization is about “finding the right mix of value proposition, call to action and price point to convince a customer to take a deeper level of engagement with your product or service.”

Ultimately, UX designers inform the UI in partnership with the developers and analytics teams to ensure success of achieving the same goals. A clean, solid yet subjective UI with learnings and optimization from UX together achieve project success!