Websites are designed and developed to be a resource for the people who visit them. What goes into making the websites enjoyable? UX and UI are always at the forefront of the minds of the people who create and design websites. Even those who don’t know what UX and UI are, utilize fundamentals of each to create a website that people will want to return to. When looking at UX and UI, it is important to realize that one actually begets the other. Without UI, UX would not exist. Without websites caring about UX, UI would not exist. So, here is a breakdown of each and why they compliment each other and are necessary considerations in your new website.

What is UI?

UI stands for user interface, and UI facilitates how you interact with a website. It represents all the tools you use to navigate the site, how you learn more about products/services available and eventually checkout, email opt-in or complete the conversion goal. While your website users might concentrate on getting faster Internet speeds through companies like InternetChoice.org, website designers are worried about what happens when you arrive on their website. They concentrate on using tools to alter the way buttons are organized on the site, and so much more. There is an entire industry built around creating better interfaces for websites, including professionals trained in psychology and marketing.

What is UX?

While user experience (UX), is closely tied to UI, it is different. UX is all about how the website visitor feels during and after using the site. It is all about their experience and their willingness to utilize the site again. The better the UX, the more likely a visitor will remain on the site, return to a site and refer their friends. The ultimate goal is to increase the retention of users, and likelihood of repeat visitors.

How to utilize UI to increase UX

Since a better UX is the overall goal, it’s important to know how you can utilize UI. The first thing you should do is to take a second to look over your site and consider the following:

  • if a user gets an immediate feeling that he needs to scroll down a page
  • if users actually scroll or not, to determine the optimum content length and it’s placement
  • if the images on the website are intuitive and reflect what the user is searching since most users just skim a website and get an overall idea
  • if it’s better to have rounded blue buttons or square yellow buttons.

You’re trying to gauge the user’s needs and how they will interact with your website to make life easier on them. How does it make you feel? You can go the expensive route and hire a professional, or you can simply utilize tools like these ones on Designmodo.

As you will see with a little bit of knowledge about UX and UI and how they work together, you will have a better website. Your traffic will increase and the people who visit your site will enjoy themselves even more. By realizing that User Experience (UX) is driven by User Interface (UI), you will be on the road to better results on your site.