NowadaysUX/UI-design is a necessity for any serious business, not just in the IT industry. UX is short for user experience, UI for user interface.
The term user experience was coined by Don Norman in the 1990s and covers all interactions of a user with a company and its products and services and is therefore not a term used purely in the digital environment. In the app and web sector today, the term refers to the goal of creating the most pleasant experience possible for the user and making their journey through a purchase app, for example, as simple and obstacle-free as possible.
In the app and web environment, a UI designer is primarily concerned with the look & feel and usability of a user interface, i.e. the front end. Using the respective front end should be as intuitive as possible, which is why the UI designer concentrates particularly on graphical elements such as buttons.
The terms are usually used together in the digital environment. It’s not just about pretty mock-ups, colors or fancy fonts. Of course, visually appealing applications are a good advertisement for companies. But functionality and user-friendliness should not take a back seat to beautiful graphics.
We interviewed our UX/UI designer Iga about this.
Iga has been part of our Vialutions team for more than 5 years and was initially employed as a marketing/PR specialist. The field of design has always been close to her heart and so the desire to move more and more into the area of UX/UI grew. We asked them what fascinates them so much about this area.
Iga: “In the beginning I worked at Vialutions as marketing/PR specialist. I liked my job, but the more I got into communication, the more I understood that the image has a great power to communicate and connect with other people, in this case the users of our application. I prepared more and more graphic elements, and I liked this activity more and more. Eventually I realized that I was most interested in communicating with people through images. I learned more about UI design und UX. My marketing knowledge has helped me a lot in this area. UX is about talking to users and understanding their needs and expectations. I think this is very similar to marketing research.
What are your tasks as a UX/UI Designer at Vialutions?
Iga: I work together with developers and testers everyday. First of all, I talk a lot with the product managers to understand what their expectations are and how the app should work.
Then I make the workflow diagrams on FigJam, then lo-fi layouts. The next step is very pleasant – typography, color palettes, production of the components. Next, I have to deal with the developers (yes, sometimes I hear “that won’t work”, but most of the time they do a great job with my layouts) and with the testers (yes, they find every single inconsistency and bug). The final and most exciting step is the presentation of the finished product to the product manager.
What challenges do you face in your work?
Iga: Barrier-free! This is the future – giving every single person an app that they can use. This is difficult and requires a lot of thought and empathy.
What do you like most about your job?
Iga: Create workflows and develop application functions. It’s really exciting to slip into the role of the user and find out what they really need. Of course, it’s also fun to choose colors and design buttons, labels and animations, but my main goal is to create a user-friendly application.
What made you decide to become a UX/UI designer?
Iga: Empathy, I think. I observed the work of my developer colleagues and asked myself how they create applications. How much do they think about the users? Do the workflows match the users’ behavior? I also learned the basics of graphics, and I liked that. What was the result of this combination? UX/UI design.
What is your favorite activity at work? Or your favorite project? And why?
To follow my colleagues and ask: “What do you think?” I’m just kidding, but the opinion of potential users is very important to me. Criticism can be hard to take, but I try to see it as advice for my development.
My favorite project is vGoal, a prediction game for soccer tournaments. This was fun. We have further developed the app into vFun. Now you can bet on all kinds of sports. That is the challenge – to develop such a multi-purpose application.
Do you need advice for your project, a click dummy or a design? Do not hesitate to contact us!