According to the Interaction Design Foundation, “User Interface (UI) design is the design of user interfaces for software or machines…[it] usually refers to the design of graphical user interfaces..” In a nutshell, UI design focuses on the user’s visual experience in relation to how the human mind works. It’s considered a subset of User Experience (UX) design.
What does a UI Designer do, typically?
Collaborate
UI Designers spend a lot of time working with other designers and developers throughout the entire product design process. For a project to succeed, a UI Designer needs to be able to give clear insight and also incorporate feedback from team members and clients.
Design
A UI Designer will create a style guide (colors, typeface etc.) for each project, decide what touchpoints the user will interact with and where the touchpoints lead, design the touchpoints (buttons, icons, etc.), and even think about how the product will display on different screen sizes.
Prototype & test
Testing is a very important part of a UI Designer’s job. Prototyping showcases the design interactions in real-time and also allows for testing. Prototyping and testing help find weaknesses in the design and ensures that the final product meets projected expectations.
UI Design is not UX Design
The intersection of UX and UI Design can be very tricky because these roles are dependent upon the organization, resources/team size, and specified processes. However, it is important to note that UX and UI are two very different roles:
- UX focuses on structuring the user journey (blueprints)
- UI finds clever ways of presenting the information (creativity and voice)
This handy map can help explain where some of the terminologies might fall under each role:
