Exposing the Thin Line Between UI Design and UX Design: Introducing UX DESIGN
Tags: beginners, ux, career, github
Published: 2022-05-10 01:18:54


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/mbgf35zzlqmxma2sgcqj.jpg)
If you still think these two are the same, this is for you! If you’re not sure what their difference is, keep reading! Regardless of what you hope to get from this post, I’m confident you will get your answers down to the simplest details.
Southpaw is here again! I have already introduced you to the concept of UI Design. If you are yet to read it, you should probably do that as this is a concise and "directioned" journey and every juncture we make a stop at is necessary!
Now, it is time to let you into the world of UX Design. I hope to shed enough light on this process that you understand that very thin line that sets it apart from UI Design. Dive in!
## Introducing User Experience (UX) Design
![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/tr1r7r0mnimy7rw8d7r0.png) 
Remember, UI Design is the same as User Interface Design. Similarly, UX Design is the same as User Experience (UX) design. I guess the tech bros preferred the name that looked simpler on paper and sounded better. 
*However, to get you familiar, I will use User Experience Design more times than the other name.*
User Experience Design is the technique design teams employ to create tech products that provide essential and appropriate experiences and solutions to users. User Experience design pertains to the setting up of the entire process of obtaining and integrating the tech solution or product for practical use. This includes aspects like the product design, branding, ease of use, and benefits.
So, the UX Designer wants to make sure every tech product gives its user (you and I) the best experience, easy usage, and eventually, desired solution. Even beyond that, UX design begins before you, as the user gets the product. From the research to ensure it meets a need, the step-by-step vetting to make sure it runs smoothly, to the process of acquiring and integrating the product, the User Experience Design keeps working.
## What Makes UX Designers Different from UI Designers?
![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/pa0kt91ueq7dhlm1q8qu.png) 
### •	User Experience Design goes Beyond UI Design
Don’t sweat this! User interface (UI) design is an essential aspect of UX design. It is a subset of the User Experience design process. A UX designer is interested in the entire process of getting and using the product. This designer wants to make sure the branding, design, usability, and function are faultless.
The User Experience Design journey begins before the device reaches the user.
> “No product is an island. A product is more than the product. It is a cohesive, integrated set of experiences. Think through all of the stages of a product or service – from initial intentions through final reflections, from first usage to help, service, and maintenance. Make them all work together seamlessly.”
— Don Norman, inventor of the term “User Experience”

So, User Experience designers don’t just concentrate on creating products that meet a need alone. They also focus on other facets of the user experience, such as satisfaction, efficiency, and pleasure. Overall, there is no single definition of a good user experience. All I can say is that a good user experience satisfies a particular user’s needs in the precise context where they use the product.
### •	UX Designers check out the Why, What, and How of Product Use
![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/xz4cn8zs7p43ulh9na2t.png) 
Every UX designer assesses the Why, What, and How of product use:
For the Why, the User Experience designer wants to know the users’ motivations for using a product. Is this due to a task they wish to perform with the product or is it because of certain values and opinions the users associate with the ownership and use of the product? As for the latter part, iPhone and Apple users generally are perfect examples! 
![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/o7p2ezlie2azi0m2x1xd.jpeg)
The What deals with the benefits users can derive from a product. In other words, it’s the product's functionality. Then, the How concerns the design of the product and its functions in an accessible, enabling, and aesthetically appealing style. 
Starting from the Why to the What and then the How, the UX designer carefully creates products that users can derive meaningful and fluid experiences. 
### •	User Experience (UX) Design is about the Users Only
![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/4x8yl026h64gt14dur03.png) 
I mentioned that UX design entails the entire user journey. User Experience Design is a multidisciplinary field. So, UX designers come from a mixture of career settings. This diversity includes researchers, visual designers, interaction designers, programmers, and psychologists. 
The duties a UX designer is saddled with often include user research, creating personas, designing wireframes and interactive prototypes as well as testing designs. Depending on the organization, these duties can vary. Regardless, one thing is for sure, UX designers are the users’ advocates. They have to keep the users’ needs at the center of all design and development processes. 
User Experience Designers are endlessly channeling their best-informed actions and knowledge until they deal with relevant issues and user needs effectively. 
## Conclusion 
![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/ia680b4rnperwzl0tj7e.png) 
When it comes to providing tech solutions to solve human problems and satisfy needs, UX DESIGN is the MOTHER, and UI DESIGN is only ONE OF THE CHILDREN! While the latter (one of the children) is concerned with the appearance and usability of the solutions, the MOTHER deals with that and much more. 
Having taken you through the basics of both UI Design and UX Design, guess what’s next? A commercial break! 
Southpaw will be making a digression into Blockchain user documentation and the basics you should know. You don’t want to miss this!