We received a surprising number of questions following the last blog, especially about my wife’s role. You asked: what is a UI/UX designer?
Great question. So here’s a short blog post about it. UI = User Interface (what it looks like). UX = User Experience (how it feels).
Why it’s a profession
Creating software, even custom software, doesn’t mean you can just do whatever you want. Strangely enough, there are unwritten rules. Or rather: expectations. Because “most people” do things a certain way, others often expect the same. How it looks (UI) and what it does when you use it (UX) is therefore a profession in itself. You need to stay up to date with trends, but also often rely on “golden standards.” At Exclusive-IT, we don’t stop there. That’s just the beginning. An important concept here is QoL, which stands for “Quality of Life.” It may sound strange, but it means: things software does to make your day smoother or more pleasant. Often, it’s small details that no one really notices.
Who has heard of tab-order? That’s using the TAB key to navigate through elements on the screen. Some of you might already know this. But did you know that with SHIFT+TAB, you can navigate the same elements in reverse order? Yes, that too. Anyway, these kinds of small details are UX. Just like selecting, copying, pasting, and many other small actions. UX ensures that by the end of the day, you can get your work done without wanting to throw your computer out the window. It works as expected, and it works pleasantly.
UI is about how it looks. That’s important too. Together with UX, UI ensures that software is accessible and user-friendly. People with certain challenges, like color blindness or partial/complete blindness, really depend on good UI and UX. Many websites, programs, and apps fall short here. But even for everyone else, UI and UX are crucial. You often don’t notice them — but when they’re missing, you notice immediately.
Code is half the work
As a programmer, I often work on things you don’t see. But even there, UX is hugely important. For example: you create a program that should add two numbers, but it receives “10” and “rabbit.” Without UX, your program might crash or simply fail to function. Smart software would instead show a clear message: “Unexpected input: I expected two numbers. Please try again.”
As a deep-level architect, I program this logic in. But before it reaches the user, it’s handled by a UX designer and presented nicely through UI. For example, in a clean dialog box with an “OK” button, in light or dark theme depending on your preference.
This is what a UI/UX designer does, and why it’s so important for the digital systems you use every day.