UI (USER INTERFACE)

UI or User Interface is the interface that is the access point where users interact with computers. It is also a way through which users can interact with a website or an application. UI design typically refers to graphical user interfaces but also includes others, such as voice-controlled ones, a keyboard, a mouse, and the appearance of a desktop.

UI design considers the look, feel, and interactivity of the product. Users judge the design on the basis of usability and likeability very swiftly, so a designer will focus on making each visual element look pleasurable and meaningful. The designer has to consider the color scheme, font imagery, spacing, responsiveness. Also, understanding the user’s context and mindset is crucial while making design decisions.

Types of user interfaces

The various types of user interfaces include:

• graphical user interface (GUI
• command line interface (CLI)
• menu-driven user interface
• touch user interface
• voice user interface (VUI)
• form-based user interface
• natural language user interface

UI vs UX

Often confused a lot and understood one and the same thing terms UI and UX are related but not the same.

UX or User Experience describes the overall experience of the product and the UI only considers the appearance of the product. A UX designer’s work is to make the product usable and useful. UX means focusing on the whole user journey and the steps a user will take to attain a goal. UX designers will make wireframes without making any detailed design decisions for each wireframe. Once the wireframes are final they are handed over to UI designers to start adding emotions to it through design and animations.

UI is a part of UX which helps in making the user experience more pleasurable and user-centric. UI designer’s job is to make the product visually appealing and desirable. Where a UX designer will try to make a critical judgment on what feature to add and how to user will interact, a UI designer will make critical design decisions regarding those features. Like what should be the font, color scheme, and animations for the features and pages decided by the UX team.

Let’s take a scenario to see how UI designers and UX designers influence the same feature differently.

• A UX designer will decide whether a page will have a top navigation bar, side navigation bar, or bottom. What links should be added to the bar and whether there will be a search bar in it or not.

• A UI designer will decide what will be the color scheme of the navigation bar, whether to use icons or text in link buttons, what should be the font style, what animation to use when the user toggles navigation bar or switch between pages.

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