UX vs UI vs. Graphic Design: Three Different Kinds of Design

From the familiar golden arches of the McDonald’s brand to the typography and colors of movie posters, graphic designers create some of the most iconic and ubiquitous designs around us. So why would a graphic designer like you want to change your career to UX design? Well, for one, much can be said about the sense of satisfaction and fulfillment derived from getting “under the hood” of the products you work on rather than working on the exterior. But how do you go about switching from graphic design to UX design?

Essentially, UX design is a human-first way of designing products — it’s all about creating experiences that people can use with ease and delight. A key UX design skill is learning how to make that experience the best it can be. UX designers tend to be concerned with three primary factors — usability, look, and feel. Both UI and UX design are well-paying careers that are in demand. Which you choose to pursue will depend on your goals and interests.

What is UI Design?

Another great way to develop your career is to work with a mentor in the UX field. A mentor is a friend — an expert in UX design and your friend at the same time— to whom you can ask advice. These people can guide you toward the appropriate UX speciality and introduce you to valuable contacts. Information architecture (IA) involves effectively organizing and structuring content.

To develop your UI skills, try Google’s course Build Dynamic User Interfaces (UI) for Websites that is part of the popular UX Design Professional Certificate. Using Adobe XD, you’ll apply design thinking, along with information architecture and sitemap planning, to create a dynamic website. And bootcamp programs like Flatiron School offer a fast, efficient way to learn or improve skills and break into an exciting and growing field for a rewarding career and future. Graphic design is an artistic design discipline where visual content is used to communicate a certain message. It encompasses both print media (such as magazine covers, posters, and business cards) and digital media (such as logos, websites, and apps).

The 7 Factors that Influence User Experience

It begins with the identification of a problem; this is often found through user research, and if it’s not, it will then be confirmed through user research. There is no point in solving problems that users don’t care about; they won’t pay to solve those problems, and that means your company won’t make money. If a product isn’t usable, the experience of using it can never be good. UX designers want to create products which can, ideally, be tailored to meet a user’s specific needs, but which provides functionality that is predictable. UX designers start with the Why before determining the What and then, finally, How to create products with which users can form meaningful experiences.

• Graphic designers tend to pursue pixel perfection in their designs.
• On top of focusing on the right typography and colors, UX designers are also concerned with motion design, the tone of the content, and information architecture, among others.
• The simplest way to think about user experience design is as a verb and a noun.
• Future improvements to the design will be made based on this feedback.
• If you don’t know which kind of learning to invest in, that’s OK.

UX designers create mockups and prototypes too, but these tend to be less focused on the “look” of the product and more on the “feel” of it. Graphic designers are hence very often emotional designers who elicit specific reactions in a user. UX design is also concerned with shaping the emotions of the user, although it tends to take a broader, big picture view of the entire user’s experience with the product. On top of focusing on the right typography and colors, UX designers are also concerned with motion design, the tone of the content, and information architecture, among others. Most UX designers don’t have a degree in UX or a related field. While some employers may prefer candidates with at least a bachelor’s degree, they may not insist on one related to design, particularly if you have a strong portfolio.

What are the most important skills in a UX designer?‎

User experience (UX) design is the process design teams use to create products that provide meaningful and relevant experiences to users. UX design involves the design of the entire process of acquiring and integrating the product, including aspects of branding, design, usability and function. User experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design often go hand in hand, but the two fields have some important differences. While UX encompasses the overall experience a user has with a product or service, UI focuses on the graphic design and interface.

When it comes time to begin your job search, pay more attention to the list of tasks or qualifications than the specific job title. Developing a product that people love often requires both good UI and good UX. For example, you could have a banking app that looks great and has intuitive navigation (UI). But if the app loads slowly or makes you click through numerous screens to transfer money (UX), it doesn’t matter how good it looks. The designer looks at the landscape surrounding the problem by understanding it from as many perspectives as possible.

Essential skills for a UX designer

If you have deeper pockets and would prefer to learn in a classroom than learn online, then you might want to check out the classroom courses offered by the Nielsen Norman Group. The group has an excellent reputation and is one of the world’s most respected UX consultancies. They offer their courses in a range of locations, but we can’t guarantee that you’ll find one on your doorstep and you may have to travel some distance to take part in them.

In doing so, it establishes a bond of trust and credibility between the product and the user. You can only get that understanding by interacting with users. UI design is the process of designing the look and feel of a product, whereas UX design is the process of designing how users interact with a product. UX designer salaries are typically higher than those of UI designers. According to the 2022 Salary Guide by digital creative staffing agency Onward Search, more than half of UX designers in the US reported making at least $104,200. Tools for user research might include surveys, one-on-one interviews, focus groups, or A/B testing.

What is User Experience and User Experience Design?

These tasks can vary significantly from one organization to the next. Still, they always demand designers to be the users’ advocates and keep their needs at the center of all design and development efforts. Similarly, UX designers don’t just focus on creating usable products but on other aspects of the user experience, such as pleasure, efficiency and fun. Consequently, there is no single definition of a good user experience. Instead, a good user experience meets a particular user’s needs in the specific context where they use the product.

UX design was listed as one of Glassdoor’s 50 Best Jobs in America for 2022 based on earning potential, job satisfaction, and overall number of job openings [2]. Keep in mind that how much you earn will depend on a number of factors, including location, industry, company, and years of experience. Don Norman, a cognitive psychologist and designer, coined the term “user experience” in his 1988 book The Design of Everyday Things.

IA flowcharts help teams understand at a glance how the product is intended to work—and where there’s a gap that may require additional features or updates. There’s more to UX design than meets the eye on a user interface. The UX design process involves market research, wireframe development, prototype testing, and cross-functional collaboration. course ux ui design Luckily, many of the visual design skills you’ve developed in graphic design will transfer into UX. An Open University study in 2005 found that we perceive visually pleasing things as more usable, even when there is no correlation between attractiveness and performance [5]. A UX designer might use a variety of tools for different tasks.