3 Differences in How UI and UX are Used in App Development

There are many different aspects that go into the design and development of a new app. One of these parts of app development is the use of UI and UX. Although UI and UX contribute to different aspects of app development, they are equally important and vital to production. Three main differences between UI and UX are their primary uses, focus on visuals, and the research involved. UI is more formally known as user interface while UX is user experience, and both play a part in the app development process.

1. Primary Usage

The first main difference between these two is that UI focuses on the visual and interactive properties of the app being developed, whereas UX focuses on fitting users’ goals and expectations. UX development has more to do with marketing the product or app and UI is how the app actually works once it has been adequately marketed to the consumer. UI design involves the elements that users will see in an app such as color, animations, buttons, icons, and the efficacy of the design. UX design involves usability and making sure that consumers want to use the app and find value in it.

2. Visuals

Along with that, the second main difference between UI and UX is the focus each puts on visuals. UX primarily focuses on the feel of the app rather than making it visually stimulating. It takes user emotion into consideration and makes sure that consumers will feel a sense of satisfaction from using the app. On the other hand, UI design focuses on the visual appeal of the app rather than the use of it. It concentrates on aesthetics, color, and how all the visual elements work together to make the product visually stimulating and appealing.

3. Research

The third difference between UI and UX design is their focus on research and implementation processes. When discussing research, UX design primarily concentrates on it. Since UX focuses on user experience, UX designers have to research to figure out what their target audience wants to use and what ways they can achieve that final product by testing and surveying. They also have to take into consideration and research user needs and behaviors while using the app to make it most impactful for them and make their app the most marketable it could be. 

After the research phase, UI takes what researchers learned and actually implements it into the app. It uses the data to implement different features such as fonts, colors, and layouts into the app that will make it more marketable to its target audience. It also focuses on making sure that the designs suggested and made by UX designers are user-friendly while also being visually appealing since that is a very important aspect of app design.

Although different, UI and UX design are equally important and smartphone apps would not be the same without one of those aspects of design. They work together to make functional, marketable, and visually appealing apps that can entertain and be useful to smartphone users, making UI and UX design vital to one of the most promising industries in the world.