UI vs. UX Design: What’s the Difference?

A user interface (UI) is the part of a website, application, or device you interact with. It includes screens, buttons, toggles, icons, navigation menus, and other visual elements. User experience (UX) refers to your entire interaction with a product, including how you feel about the interaction. While UI can certainly impact UX, the two are distinct, as are the roles that user experience designers and user interface designers play. In the following article, you'll learn about key differences between the two fields, and how each one contributes to a positive user experience.

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UI vs. UX

Developing a product that people love requires good user interface design and good user experience design. For example, you may have an aesthetically pleasing banking app with intuitive navigation (UI), but if the pages load slowly or force you to click through numerous screens to transfer money, it won't be pleasant to use (UX). 

In contrast, a website may be loaded with unique, helpful content organized logically and intuitively (UI). But if it looks dated or you can’t easily figure out how to move between screens or scroll through options, you’ll likely click away from the site (UX).

Read more: What Skills Should a Front-End Developer Have?

Tasks and responsibilities: What do they do?

Both UI and UX designers play key roles in the design team and product development lifecycle. Let’s take a closer look at each.

UX designers focus their work on the experience a user has with a product. The goal is to make products that are functional, accessible, and enjoyable to use. While the term UX often applies to digital products, it can also be applied to non-digital products and services (like a coffee pot or a transportation system). Common tasks for a UX designer might include:

• Conducting user research to identify any goals, needs, behaviors, and pain points involved with a product interaction

• Developing user personas based on target customers

• Creating user journey maps to analyze user flow and how a customer interacts with a product

• Building wireframes and prototypes to hone in on what the final product will look like

• Performing user testing to validate design decisions and identify problems

• Collaborating with stakeholders, UI designers, and developers

Learn more: What Does a UX Designer Do?

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Learn to apply AI in your field productively and responsibly by enrolling in Google’s UX Design Professional Certificate, recently updated to include practical AI training.

UI designers create the graphical portions of mobile apps, websites, and devices—the elements that a user directly interacts with. Unlike UX, which can apply to just about any product or service, the term UI design applies exclusively to digital products. A UI designer seeks to make apps and websites both visually appealing and easy to navigate. Common tasks of a UI designer include:

• Organizing page layouts

• Choosing visual design elements such as color palettes and fonts

• Designing interactive elements, such as scrollers, buttons, toggles, drop-down menus, and text fields

• Making high-fidelity wireframes and layouts to show what the final design will look like

• Working closely with developers to convert designs into a working product

Learn more: What Is a User Interface (UI) Designer?

Is there such a thing as a UI/UX designer?

Search for UX on job listing sites in the tech industry and beyond, and you’re likely to find companies looking for UI/UX designers. Some companies do sometimes look for candidates with both sets of skills. But often when you start looking more closely at these listings, you’ll find the role leans more towards one than the other. 

When it comes time to begin your job search, pay more attention to the list of tasks or qualifications than the specific job title.

Skills

UI and UX designers have some skills in common, but each role also requires its own unique skill set.

Education

While a degree isn’t always necessary to get a job as a UX or UI designer, having one can often open up new opportunities. Only a few universities offer programs specific to UI/UX. UX designers might get a degree in computer science, psychology, human-computer interaction, or design. UI designers, on the other hand, might graduate with a degree in digital design, graphic design, or interaction design.

Interested in earning your bachelor’s degree in UX? The Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of London lets you specialize in user experience.

Salary

According to Glassdoor, the average salary for UX designers in the US, including base pay and additional compensation such as commission and bonuses, is $123,000 [1]. That figure was $130,000 for UI designers [2]. Your salary could depend on many factors, including your location, industry, amount of experience, and educational background.

How do I know if UI or UX is a better fit for me?

Both UI and UX design are well-paying careers that are in demand. Which you choose to pursue will depend on your goals and interests. If you’re interested in technology, thrive on variety, and love to solve problems, user experience design might be a good fit. If you’re a creative thinker with a strong aesthetic sense, consider pursuing user interface design. 

If you’re still not sure whether UI or UX is a better fit for you, you can:

• Take a class in each to experience them for yourself

• Read or listen to popular UI/UX blogs and podcasts to hear from experts in each field

• Reach out to industry professionals on LinkedIn for an informational interview

• Join some online design communities to ask questions

Read more: How to Choose a New Career (Coursera Career Research Guide)

Consider a career path in front-end development, where you'll combine programming, UX and UI skills:

Other user experience roles

The field of UX extends beyond the two roles of UI and UX designers. If you’re interested in a career in UI/UX, consider these other related roles as well.

• UX researchers study the goals, needs, wants, and pain points of a product’s existing and target users.

• UX writers write the text that appears on websites, apps, and other digital products.

• Interaction designers focus on the ways users interact with digital products in a holistic context.

• Software developers take the designs from UI and UX designers and code them into usable software, websites, or applications.

• Product designers lead the entire process of taking a product or service from idea to reality.

• Content strategists oversee the planning and production of marketing content through the lifecycle of a project. 

Have you ever heard of a UX unicorn?

This isn’t a magical, mythical creature. Rather, the term refers to a UX generalist who not only has a full set of UX skills, but also excels at graphic design and coding. Mastering all these skills can take time, so start by working toward one role before leveling up to unicorn status.

Build your UI/UX design skills with Coursera

The good news is that you don't have to choose between UI and UX, because strengthening each skill set makes you a well-rounded designer.

Learn effective UX design plus in-demand AI skills with Google's UX Design Professional Certificate program. In as little as six months, you'll learn UX research and planning while you start building your portfolio.

If you're interested in exploring UI and visual design, the California Institute of the Arts offers a self-paced online course, Visual Elements of User Interface Design. You'll focus on conveying meaning through the use of color, type, and imagery while earning a shareable certificate for your study.

Delve into UI and UX design with Meta's Front-End Developer Professional Certificate program, in which you'll create a responsive website, learn to problem-solve in programming, and prepare for a coding interview.

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