What is UI And UX Anyway?

UX design, or “user experience design”, is often paired with another abbreviation, UI for “user interface design.” These terms have become increasingly relevant when it comes to graphic design and will continue to be even more so in the future. Yet, the average business person is unfamiliar with both, or at the very least is not unable to differentiate between the two. They might think that user experience means nothing more than how pretty the purchase button at the bottom of the shopping cart is and how easy it is to get there. We know that a lot more goes into creating fantastic websites, so Sun Graphics Media creates designs that provide unique user experiences paired with beautiful graphics that engage visitors and keep them coming back. We do this by requiring our designers to be skilled in both UI and UX, and this is why…

It's More Than Just Bells and Whistles

UX is more than just a focus on pretty colors and fancy graphics, and it’s a lot more than organizing where graphics, photos, and links go on a webpage. UX takes those ideas and puts them into something that becomes interactive and engaging. Take a look at Sun Graphics Media’s Process page. Not to toot our own horn, but how cool is our traveling chameleon companion? As you navigate through the rest of our site you’ll probably notice more moving parts that interact with the user. You might also notice that our site doesn’t just hop you over from one page to the next blankly. The Sun Graphics Media page is a functional design trip that captures the attention and imagination of our visitors. It gives them a unique, lasting impression that they’ll express to their friends and colleagues. All of these features were designed by our top-notch design team that is especially skilled in combining functional UI with captivating UX.

UX Requires Personal Interaction With Clients and Users
UX is unique in the way that it requires personal interaction between designer and clients. It is also very user-centralized. Designers meet with clients face-to-face, learn about who they are, their customer base, and what they both need from their websites and apps. UX designers need to learn about the history, the culture, and the essence of each of their clients. Then they take that information and transform it into design concepts and functions that are built to meet the consumer’s needs. UX design is a very human, personally interactive process. It inflicts a great deal of humanity into a digital process.

UX Is Project Dependent
A good UX designer will never approach a project with a bland, cookie-cutter process. There is no fast-track or cut-and-paste philosophy that will make a client’s website both functional and distinguishable. Your website will be required to take on specific characteristics that apply to your company and your customer base. This relates back to our previous point of becoming personally involved with clients. A website is more than just some paid real estate along the vast reaches of the internet. It is a reflection of who your company is, and a good UX strategy will figure out how to convey that in a unique experience for your website’s visitors that will keep them coming back.

UX Utilizes Different Facets of Graphic Design
You’ll seldom find UI and UX in articles not alongside each other, and for good reason. UI and UX are essentially two sides of the same coin; one cannot exist without the other. You can create a UI with visual appeal that has poor user experience and, vice versa, you can have a UX that will have limited or shoddy functionality. The art and science of finding the perfect concoction of the two is where UX designers come into play. Finding the perfect handshake between a functional interface and an emotionally evoking experience is what we strive for every day. Creative ideas bouncing back and forth between our team members and immersion into our clients’ business culture is what sets our designs apart from run-of-the-mill websites.

UX Is Multi-Disciplinary
Great UX application doesn’t come packaged in a few simple graphics design courses. UX requires a skill set encompassing multiple fields and schools of knowledge. Visual design, information architecture, interaction design, usability, user research and content strategy mixed in with psychology, color theory, and user research form the basis of what a UX specialist needs to incorporate into their designs to create an experience that is uniquely riveting. Utilizing these elements creates a true experience for the user that they will associate specifically with your brand. It plants the idea that the interaction they’ve just taken part in through your website or app can only be relived through a return visit, or by further involvement with your brand.

If We Build It, They Will Come
Any business owner worth their salt will tell you that positive word of mouth is a business’ best friend. This is why utilization of both UI and UX is so important. Our designers have the creativity and the skills to make your website more than just a pitstop on the superhighway; it’s the amusement park destination! Great UX will leave clients and their website users awestruck in a way that will make it impossible for them to not password on to their friends, family, and colleagues. Our clients’ clients will tell their clients (follow that?) all about the unique experience offered by our websites, which will snowball into increased visits and profits for everyone. After all, isn’t that the end goal?

So, to summarize, UI and UX are two uniquely different entities that come together to make your website's visitors coming back for more. On top of that, the perfect combination of the two gets them sharing with their friends, family, and colleagues. This all comes from receiving a memorable experience from visiting your webpage and receiving something that sticks in their minds long after they’ve closed out the browser window. The Sun Graphics Media team knows this and puts it into function behind every project we develop. This is what sets Sun Graphics Media apart, and it is what will set your business apart.