UI/UX Design: primary goals and approaches

UI and UX mean in digital age

UI/UX design has always been integral to developing any application or website. Although UI and UX imply different design directions, it’s hard to imagine them separated. User Experience design refers to the cumulative experience of software, while User Interface design boils down to the creation of visually appealing interfaces.

UI/UX designer focused on the extensive understanding of user values, needs, and limitations. The design of your digital product should be clear, intuitive, and offer impressive usability to influences end-users to enjoy it.

What is the work of a UX and UI designer?

It wouldn’t be fair to state that a UX designer works in a style and manner different from a UI designer. In reality, the responsibilities of UX and UI designers are usually mixed and sometimes performed by a single person. 

A UI/UX design requires a logical and curious approach. It’s all about searching for the “right” solution that would work in favor of the user. 

Primary requirements for UI/UX designers are: 

• strong knowledge of such vector graphics editors, as Figma or Sketch;
• confidence in building end-to-end design processes, from collecting product requirements internally and from end-users, to prototyping;
• being proficient in creating wireframes, user flows, and presentations to effectively show idea, feature, or product;
• experience of generation look-and-feel visual concepts generation.

UI/UX designers are responsible for the following activities: 

• designing, building, and iterating on complex user workflows;
• collaborating with a cross-functional team of software engineers, product managers, and other designers for building and scaling design systems;
• delivering a great, end-to-end user experience for all customers, from tech-savvy power users to less advanced, small-scale operators.

More about UI/UX Design possibilities

UI/UX design for different platforms: what’s the difference?

Web

Did you know that it takes users around 50 milliseconds to form a first impression of your website? It’s the same perception that determines whether or not your website determines. If you run a small business, your website serves as a digital portfolio that showcases your products or services, organizational culture, values, and much more.

UX design for a website is crucial because it improves the credibility of a business by more than 70%. A fundamental understanding of UI/UX design may help you make sure your software solution achieves short and long-term business goals. All web design subcategories revolve around UI and UX.

Whether it’s navigation, site mapping, architecture information, conversion rate optimization, site tuning, or other specification, the “right” UI/UX design can leave a positive impact on these elements. For the most part, UI/UX design comes down to the functionality and visual parameters of a website.

Mobile

Mobile users are at an all-time high and cover a larger market share than desktop users. UI/UX designers primarily focus on mobile-optimized designs that make the user experience on smartphones for business or personal use more entertaining.

Of course, mobile-based user interactions are different from desktop ones. In terms of design, mobile requires an approach that is significantly different. In fact, more users now want to switch to mobile devices, which means UI/UX designers have to adapt to small compact screen sizes. Mobile has become the center of attention because of its high degree of connection and interaction with users.

A smaller screen size means less space for graphics, text, and content. And mobile UI/UX design allows you to prioritize specific content. You can optimize it by cutting down the total word count, eliminating secondary information, and getting rid of certain graphics. Ultimately, it’s the mobility of the mobile that users love the most. 

The major difference between the web and mobile approach revolves around:

• Navigational control
• Clickable and tappable interactions
• Content segmentation
• Dropdown menus‍

‍Cross-platform applications

UI/UX design for cross-platform applications can be time and resources consuming. However, this type of UI/UX design follows platform-based standards. For example, Apple and Google follow these UI/UX standards and have taken similar aesthetic approaches in all their products or services.

When it comes to cross-platform apps, UI/UX designers become familiar with the guidelines and concepts to lay the foundation of the design. But it doesn’t require UI/UX designers to come up with a new design for each product or service from scratch. Instead, designers make sure the design is able to convey the message and covers user scenarios on different platforms.

UX app design for multi-platform apps comes with additional long-term benefits and feels more natural. It means you don’t have to juggle back-and-forth between interface structure, spacing standards, or fonts. You can set and implement a uniform standard to make the information clearer and garner the interest of more users at the same time.

‍Trendy design approaches and their benefits

The most popular UI/UX design approaches include iterative, minimalist, technical, and aesthetic approaches. Interestingly, each approach can have a collaborative, user-centric, and data-driven design.

Collaborative design

In a collaborative design, UI/UX designers have to collaborate with different specialists to ensure the product stands out from the competition. The collaborative design may involve working with business analysts, designers, SEO specialists, and software engineers.

On the surface, it may sound complicated, but collaborative design can lead to exemplary results. It all boils down to the “how” collaboration of specialists identifies and solves a series of UI/UX design challenges. In most cases, content strategists work side-by-side with designers to solve specific UI/UX issues.

The collaborative design process also improves overall communication. In fact, without the cultivation of soft skills like communication, UX design may have a negative impact. The collaborative design allows teams to work together and acknowledge the value of each individual’s capabilities. In comparison, isolated UI/UX designers might be unaware of the big picture and lack skills that would improve the final design.

But collaborative design requires maintaining continuous open communication between specialists. Once a group of experts comes together, there is a shared understanding of an issue that makes it easier to find the solution.

User-centered design

As the title suggests, the design philosophy caters to the needs of users. The idea is to roll out design elements that would be more convenient for users, ensure clear CTAs, and reduce the hierarchical steps. USD or user-centered design is ultimately an iterative design strategy. In this process, designers implement design changes that serve the interest of users.

When it comes to user-centered design, design teams also make users part of the design process through research and design strategies. The objective is to use various design techniques thereby creating highly accessible and usable products for users. In UCD, the spotlight is on the entire user experience that requires long-term user evaluation and monitoring.

Data-driven design

In the data-driven design process, UI/UX designers focus on data collection and data analysis. But different users also mean different types of data.  Designers are aware of the fact that when they design complicated systems, it would involve users with diverse personas. Whether it’s managers, analysts, or executives, each persona has its own data needs and workflow requirements.

In the data-driven process, designers perform design on the basis of data research, observations, and findings. The good news is that UI/UX designers now understand that numbers tell an important story. The foundation of this design process revolves around the findings of collected data. In this process, designers reflect on the user behavior and data to make the right UI/UX design decisions.

Conclusion

Whether it’s a web or mobile application, digital presence has become quintessential for organizations. It is no wonder why brands now opt for attractive interfaces, well-thought-out marketing strategies, and appealing content in order to promote their mobile and web apps.

In 2021 and the foreseeable future, you can expect a more personalized approach to UI and UX designs. In fact, most systems will cater to specific users and that means less user frustration. From the color palette to system preference, there will also be more emphasis placed on the sensory movement of design.

Even today, companies often forget that catchy ads, unique content, attractive animations should render impeccable UX design. In retrospect, UI/UX design makes it easier for users to consume information and boosts customer satisfaction to new heights.