Wait, they’re different? Yes, UX, UI and CX are different i terms of their functionalities and features.
Often designers get confused about these terminologies since they are very closely related. While the root of UX, UI, and CX lies together, they’re essentially branched into different arenas. UX, UI, and CX are the three pillars of a prime quality technological software, business, or endeavor.
Table of Contents
What is UI?
The visual appearance of an application makes for the user interface. The look of a product decides if the user will stay on your application or not. Before even starting to explore the features and functionalities of a website, the user relies on what his eyes show him and decides the quality of the product.
‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’ goes out of existence in this scenario. Even a little misalignment or a difference in the size is considered to be a bad UI design and would cause your user to get off the website before they even start looking at what you have to offer.
UI Designers are responsible for sketching what the application will look like. The job ranges from selecting a color palette, typography to how the buttons, grid will look, what illustrations will be used, and what visual interactions will be performed between the application and the user.
It is the job of UI designers to make the application aesthetically pleasing so as to offer the users a warm fuzzy feeling when they are using the application and increase the retention rate of the users against the application.
What is UX?
User Experience or popularly known as UX designing is the process by which designers take users into consideration and curate the product designs so as to provide the users with a wholesome experience. User experience takes care of the functionalities and the features which the users will experience while using a particular product.
User Experience is the superset of the entire designing strategy.
Don Norman, who coined the term user experience has aptly said – “No product is an island. A product is more than a product. It is a cohesive, integrated set of experiences.
Think through all the stages of a product or service – from initial intentions through final reflections, from the first usage to help, service, and maintenance. Make them all work together seamlessly.”
In simpler words, what Norman meant was that user experience intertwines the features and functionalities in such a way that the user is delivered services in accordance with the intentions of the company or the brand. He urges design teams to ensure whatever they are delivering works properly without requiring the users to put in much effort.
The process of UX designing is what makes your product stand out. iPhones are widely appreciated for their seamless user experience and people prefer to buy them even when they are priced higher than other smartphones.
A little investment and keeping your user in consideration will obviously result in higher profits and returns for your brand or company.
What is UX?
The way by which a product influences the mindset of the user and what it makes the user feel is clubbed under the umbrella of customer experience. For a CX to be considered to be good enough, your user should feel on top of the world (literally).
What expectations you make your users set for your product, if those are fulfilled, then it is said that your product offers a good customer experience. Customer experience stands tall on three pillars – it is usable, it is useful and it is enjoyable.
Smooth usability comes when the user does not have to bang his head against the wall to find what he needs from your product. Your product becomes useful when you are delivering not what you want to offer but what the user needs. Your product becomes enjoyable when the user feels not isolated and the product offers a certain level of interactivity with the user.
It is a general conception that the products are built to satisfy the needs of the creators and do not take the users into consideration. But in a world where people spend most of their time online, there exist multiple products for a particular need and if one of them is offering the consumers a feeling at home, they win.
In order to attain a monopoly for your product, apart from the idea you have, you also need to keep your user in consideration while preparing your product. Keep in mind that previous data won’t be enough to decide what your users need. You need to conduct surveys and carefully analyse the ongoing trends to prepare proper customer experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
UI designing or user interface designing deals with the aesthetics and layout of the application.
UX designing or user experience designing deals with the interactions between the user and the application.
CX designing or customer experience designing deals with the holistic experience of the user on the website and what he feels while using the website.
User interface designing is concerned about how the elements are laid out, user experience designing is concerned about how the application interacts with the user and customer experience designing is concerned with how the user feels after using the application.
When developing an application or a product, there is no option to leave either of these three out. These three forms of design intertwine to create a product which is usable, accessible, reliable in true sense.
Conclusion
When you are a designer, a lot of responsibilities rest on your shoulders regarding how the application will look, how the application will feel, and what message will your application give off when the user is using it.
While being separate from each other, UI designing, UX designing, and CX designing are interconnected with each other, and to attain perfection for an application, it is imperative all aspects are taken into proper consideration before launching the application to the general public.
To ensure you provide a good customer experience (CX), you need your application to be prepared with a good user experience (UX), and in order to ensure your application has a good user experience, you need to have a properly sorted user interface (UI). In short, a good UI is an ingredient for a good UX and a good UX is an ingredient for a good CX.
In India, a UI designer earns INR 5 Lakh per year on average (according to Indeed), a UX designer earns INR 7 Lakh per year on an average (according to uxplanet) and a CX designer earns INR 3 Lakh per year on an average (according to Glassdoor). The job opportunities vary from working in a corporate enterprise to you making your own rules and becoming a freelancer.
The world of UI, UX, and CX is satisfying. It gives you immense pleasure when your application starts to rank among the top ones and users appreciate your craft. If you are the founder, make sure you realize the fact that as much time you need to put in marketing and branding of the product, you also need to put time into customizing the experience of your consumer with your application or product.
Happy learning!
By Pooja Gera
