Difference Between UX, UI and Graphic Design

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To ensure the success of any product, website, or application, it is necessary to combine elements of UX design, UI design, and graphic design.

Although these three types of design must work closely together in order to make a product stand out in its desired industry, they deal with equally important, but very different facets of the overall design.

What is UX design?

UX design stands for the term "user experience design", and it is a key element to product development, used by mostly everybody involved in the tech industry or digital fields. It encompasses all the possible interactions between a potential or active customer and the product or service they are using.

For this purpose, the role of UX design is to consider all the different aspects that help shape these interactions in order to make the user experience better.

For example, a UX designer might be asked to consider how easily accessible the features of a website or an app are, or if a product's design is convenient and easy to use. There are many things involved in the user experience, but they can all be summed up in one ultimate purpose: creating an efficient, easy and overall pleasant experience for the user.

Damien Riggs, web developer at Britstudent and Next Coursework, states that "UX design is less about actual digital work, and more about the cognitive aspects involved in any product", as it can sometimes require considering psychological factors in the overall design.

Another important detail that many people get wrong is that UX design is not at all about visuals but rather focuses on the experience of the user.

What is UI design?

The term "UI design" stands for "user interface design", and unlike UX, it is strictly a digital term. The main aspects of UI design deal with are the points of interaction between a customer and the digital product they are using.

These points of interaction can be anything, like touchscreen options or buttons on a machine. Because of that, it can also be said that, when it comes to digital products like apps and websites, UI designers deal with how the product itself looks, feels, and how easy and efficient it is to interact with it.

In order to do that, it is important to carefully consider the details of every visual or interactive element involved in the product, such as icons and buttons, the color schemes and images used for the overall design, and making sure the text is as intuitive as possible.

Just like UX design, UI design deals with a lot of challenges in order to achieve an attractive and responsive experience for the users of the product.

What is graphic design?

Both UX and UI design are very complex features of a product, where UX design deals with the overall experience and UI design deals with the product's interfaces and how they look and function. It can also be said that these two types of design both deal with making the user experience as efficient and pleasant as possible.

Meanwhile, graphic designers deal mostly with the visual aspect of the experience, trying to make their product stand out as much as possible.

Unlike UI design, which mostly works in the online medium, graphic designers can work in print as well as online. The most important tools for a graphic designer are computer software for photo manipulation, which they use to create layouts and combine different elements into a design. It is the graphic designers that meet with clients, in order to discuss their concept for a layout for a specific product.

Overall, a graphic designer's job includes a lot of responsibilities, which include thinking about the all-round design of the product, presenting this design in a captivating way to their employees and considering any changes and feedback given by them in order to finish the design.

"It is essential for a graphic designer to stay current with the newest trends in the industry, in order to maintain their reputation in the field", states Claire Schafer, a graphic designer writer at 1 Day 2 Write and Write My X.