The increasing digitization of media consumption continues to grow. This is accompanied by an increase in the importance of user experience (UX) and user interface design (UI). It’s not for nothing that the number of jobs in these fields has increased by an impressive 560 percent in the last year. Contrary to the perception of many, however, these are two separate fields – even though there are many interdependencies. For example, UI doesn’t work without UX, and vice versa.

UX and UI – a distinction

User experience design lays the foundation for a successful digital product. It aims to make the application maximally simple, efficient, and engaging for user:ins. The UX design forms the strategic-conceptual basis.
For a successful UX it is crucial to understand the users. Accordingly, target group analyses, benchmarking, definition of user flows and the creation of personas are an integral part of the process. A good user experience is fully aligned with the primary target groups of the product in the respective application context. App prototypes, website concepts, product designs, etc. are then created on the basis of the analyses described.
User interface design builds on UX, but is more specific. It deals – as the name suggests (UI = user interface) – with all interfaces of users and products. There are a lot of these interfaces: menu bars, buttons, touch screens, voice controls, fonts, colors, icons, and so on. The goal of UI is to design these interfaces in the best possible way for users. It is therefore a design process. Properties of different devices, operating systems, screen sizes, etc. are important aspects to consider.
In both UX and UI design, analytical skills, empathy and creativity are essential. If UX and UI are implemented correctly, the result is a product that creates an optimal customer journey – with a powerful design.

Best Practice: the DLR Augmented Reality App eFlight

UX and UI are also daily business for us, for example in app or website development. The latest example is the Augmented Reality App “eFlight” we developed. In it, the German Aerospace Center presents the latest research on the topic of low-emission flying. Users can bring 17 research areas to life by means of elaborate renderings and animations. Due to the thematic complexity, high demands are placed on the UX design. All important information must be displayed with just a few intuitive clicks. The same applies to the animations and renderings. We reduced the necessary in-app navigation to a minimum so that the theme enjoys full focus. The whole thing is rounded off by a – in app development indispensable – modern UI design in DLR style.

The best thing is to take a look at the app yourself! 😉

Link to iOS store:
https://apps.apple.com/app/id1552361763?platform=iphone
Link to Android store:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.raumtaenzer.DLReFlight&hl=en