You must have probably heard these terms “UI/UX design” and “Web Development”, but you don’t know jack about their differences. Don’t worry, in this article I will explain the differences between these terms, and how they work together to build amazing products users enjoy today.
Who is A UI/UX Designer?
UI is an acronym that stands for user interface and UX stands for user experience. Think of UI as the visuals and layout you are seeing. For instance, when you open your Facebook app, the first thing that pops up is your news feed. The layout and visuals of the news feed are the UI.
UX is the navigation experience of the newsfeed i.e. how the news feed works. For instance, what happens when I click on the messenger icon, what happens when I click settings. It is simply how you interact with the app or website.
A good UI/UX designer first and foremost identify what problems people have in their lives whether at home, school, work, gym, anywhere. Then, the designer works out how a website or app could solve those problems. Note, a UI/UX designer does not just create art instead he/she solves problems using his design thinking ability. So a UI/UX designer is a person whose job is to ensure that a product makes sense to the user by creating a path that logically flows from one step to the next. More so, they ensure each page visually communicates that path.
Who is a Web Developer?
A developer writes the code to bring those UI/UX designs to life. They use languages like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, C++, and many more to build these designs. A web developer is hence dependent on what the UI/UX designer builds. Web Developers just make websites work in life and hence functional.
How do Designers and Developers work together in building a project?
The best software teams are those who integrate designers and developers to work together. They may probably be both responsible for writing or evolving projects requirements. If methodologies like Agile, Lean or Balanced teams are implemented well, they help encourage this kind of collaboration.
Most times, it is not about having meetings once a week together but it is about working together in the same space. The developer codes the software and the screen looks the way the designer wants it to look.
Does a Web Developer need design skills to be successful?
You should understand that Web development is divided into two categories; Frontend Development and Backend Development. If you specialize in the two categories, then that is Full Stack Web Development. Read more about this here. Learning design skills to an extent is crucial in your career if you want to be a Frontend Web Developer. But a Backend Developer may not need design skills. Also, read Frontend Developer Roadmap.
Final Insights
You made it to the end. That’s great! I am pretty sure you now know the differences between a UI/UX designer and a web developer. I want you to know that these are two in-demand skills you can invest in. You can pick one and learn ruthlessly. So which do you want to learn? Let me know in the comment section. Read 6 platforms to learn Web development for free
However, I want you to pin this blog to your list of contents to read every week as I will be updating content related to Web development, UI/UX design, and also as it relates to business owners like this content; Why your website conversion is consistently slow. Catch you soon.
