UI vs UX vs Graphic Designer
If you’re new to the design world, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the different terms. What’s the difference between UX and UI? Are UX and UI the same thing as graphic design? Which one is the right career for me? Although they all sound similar, UX design completes a much different job than a graphic designer. Here’s what exactly these terms mean and how they’re different from each other.
What is UX design?
In the design process, user experience, or UX design, comes first. UX designers create the architecture of a website. Their job is to make sure it’s easy for the user to get to what they’re looking for without any confusion by doing the groundwork for UI designers to build off of. Product research and creating user personas are big parts of a UX designer’s every day tasks. They create wireframes and prototypes that go through testing to fully understand their customers. UX designers are typically analytical people who are empathetic and have excellent problem solving skills.
What is UI design?
The user interface, or UI, designer works off of the groundwork completed by the UX designer. They design the layout of the page and the elements that the user interacts with while visiting the site or app. A UI designer decides how information should be arranged based off of research done on visual patterns and hierarchies. They take care of the more traditional topics that most people associate with design like colors choice and font. Designing buttons, icons, and other interactive parts of a page is also part of their day-to-day. Most companies have style guides created by UI designers that they can use as a reference to make sure every page follows a consistent style and color theme. UI designers ensure that everything they work on fits into the company’s brand image.
What is graphic design
You’re most likely more familiar with graphic design than UX or UI design. Graphic designers use color, images, text, and typography to assist in developing a company’s branding and marketing. Graphic design is also a very broad term. UX and UI designers only design digital interfaces like websites and apps, while graphic designers can also design more physical things like advertisements, packaging, and books. As a result of this, graphic designers don’t need to know how to code.
Although graphic design is more focused on communicating a message and branding, while UX and UI are more concerned with a user’s experience on a website, app, or software, the three are all intertwined. However, the demand for UX and UI designers is growing as technology becomes more present in our every day lives.
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