Is UI Designer same as UX Designer?

A lot of companies now have a UI Designer, who works as a UX Designer, who would also do wireframes and if time permits- visual design. Usually they are called “UI guy (or gal)”.

You would expect a coder to code in JS, PHP, SQL, and many other programming languages, so why can’t the UI guy do everything which ends with “design”. But the truth is, UX is NOT interchangeable with UI – surprising, right? UI Designer is NOT same as a UX Designer (I said it again).

This discussion can get even more complicated if we start throwing terms such as, Information Architecture, Interaction Design, Human Factors etc. Let’s not do that, let’s just focus on UI and UX for now.

Okay, so what is User Experience and who is a UX Designer?
As the name suggests, it has to do something with the Experience – how users feel, something to do with the emotions! UX Design is about analyzing and creating designs keeping users emotions in mind. The idea is to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty (by giving them great experience while using the product). UX Designer should try to improve the usability, ease of use, and should make sure that the interaction between the customer and the product must be pleasant.

Who is UI Designer then?
To simplify, let’s say UI Design is closer to graphic design. UI Designer creates an interface based on the guidance provided by UX Designer. It goes without saying, they both must work together to create a successful product.

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