You may have heard the terms ‘user experience’ and ‘user interface’, and even heard the term ‘UI/UX’ used. You may even have heard some people use the two terms interchangeably. But what do they mean? And are they really synonymous with one another? They are in fact, quite different; in a nutshell, UI refers to the aesthetic elements by which people interact with a product, while UX is about the experience a user has with a product or service.
User Experience (UX)
Early developments in user experience can be traced back to the machine age that includes the 19th and early 20th centuries. Inspired by the machine age intellectual framework, a quest for improving assembly processes to increase production efficiency and output led to the development of major technological advancements, such as mass production of high-volume goods on moving assembly lines, high-speed printing press, large hydroelectric power production plants, and radio technology to name a few.
Frederick Winslow Taylor and Henry Ford were in the forefront of exploring new ways to make human labour more efficient and productive. Taylor’s pioneering research into the efficiency of interactions between workers and their tools is the earliest example that resembles today’s user experience fundamentals.
The term “user experience” was brought to wider knowledge by Donald Norman in the mid-1990s. He never intended the term “user experience” to be applied only to the affective aspects of usage. A review of his earlier work suggests that the term “user experience” was used to signal a shift to include affective factors, along with the pre-requisite behavioural concerns, which had been traditionally considered in the field. Many usability practitioners continue to research and attend to affective factors associated with end-users, and have been doing so for years, long before the term “user experience” was introduced in the mid-1990s. In an interview in 2007, Norman discusses the widespread use of the term “user experience” and its imprecise meaning as a consequence thereof.
User Interface (UI)
In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine from the human end, whilst the machine simultaneously feeds back information that aids the operators’ decision-making process. Examples of this broad concept of user interfaces include the interactive aspects of computer operating systems, hand tools, heavy machinery operator controls, and process controls. The design considerations applicable when creating user interfaces are related to, or involve such disciplines as, ergonomics and psychology.
Generally, the goal of user interface design is to produce a user interface which makes it easy, efficient, and enjoyable (user-friendly) to operate a machine in the way which produces the desired result (i.e. maximum usability). This generally means that the operator needs to provide minimal input to achieve the desired output, and also that the machine minimizes undesired outputs to the user.
