Blog 14 - UI, UX What's the difference?

I think this graphic is a great way to represent UI vs UX.  I saw it and thought - YES that's a perfect way to put it in simple terms.  For the most part we have all eaten ketchup and though the product on the right is the very same as that on the left, we all know the difficulty of the glass bottle.  As you pound away on the bottom of the ketchup trying to get just a little sauce onto your plate or food.  Until we resort to the good old knife in the bottle which is not very hygienic and doesn't provide that much ketchup anyway.

So then you get the squeeze bottle - same product with an entirely different experience. It's simple, easy and fast!  You get what you want, when you want it without a big fuss or mess.

So UX is the user experience while UI is the user interface.  While both of these refer to different things they do work together to provide a user with a "whole" experience.

You have to make sure the product works and provides the service/functionality that it should, but you also have to take into account how the user will feel as they're using the service.  If you don't design both well, then you're going to lose to a competing product.


Still confused? Well check out some of these resources to help put it into perspective.

http://blog.careerfoundry.com/ui-design/the-difference-between-ux-and-ui-design-a-laymans-guide/ 
http://eyeondesign.aiga.org/whats-the-difference-between-ux-ui-design/
http://usabilitygeek.com/the-difference-between-ux-and-ui-design/