A Simple Yet Concise Difference Between UX, UI, Interaction design, Web design, Product Design, and Graphic design.

So you are looking to become a professional designer in the IT/Tech Industry.

The UX market is new and all these terms usually get thrown around and still people do not know what difference between them is.

Depending on the company or person hiring, job titles are usually very distinct in the industry. They might choose to say UX designers but what they are actually referring to are product designers or they might really be focused on UI, or do more of user research than even the design itself. So it really depends on the specifics of the role.

Before I share my own thoughts I did some research on Google, Medium, and Quora most especially to see what other people thought about this same topic and there was this one person on Quora that uploaded a complicated diagram of how these different roles are placed in the job market.

My Own Thoughts.

I want you to picture product design as a big umbrella covering various designs skills like;

1. User experience (UX).

2. User interface (UI).

3. Patterns.

4. Visual design.

5. Product/Business strategy.

6. Data/User research.

Then We Have Branding/Marketing.

1. Visual design.

2. Illustration.

3. Colors, Typography.

4. Graphic design.

5. Logo.

6. Ad image.
7. Merchandise.

A lot of companies like to call their designer's product designers because product designers have implications of the designers owning the products because they are there from the beginning to when the product ships.

UI: focuses on the interface, that is what you see. It can be anything from dropdowns, icons, and how things are grouped. User interface (UI) design is the process of making interfaces in software or computerized devices with a focus on looks or style. Designers aim to create designs users will find easy to use and pleasurable. UI design typically refers to graphical user interfaces but also includes others, such as voice-controlled ones.

UX: has more to do with when a user is stuck on a particular page during their checkout process and what actions do they need to move to the next page. User experience (UX) design is the process of creating products that provide meaningful and relevant experiences to users. This involves the design of the entire process of acquiring and integrating the product, including aspects of branding, design, usability, and function. User experience (UX) focuses on having a deep understanding of users, what they need, what they value, their abilities, and also their limitations. It also takes into account the business goals and objectives of the group managing the project. UX best practices promote improving the quality of the user's interaction with and perceptions of the product and any related services.

It encompasses:

• User flows.
• User goals and stories.
• Site mapping.
• Information architecture
• Business/ Product strategy.

Now companies are expecting designers to know both UI and UX and can be called product designers because they own the entire product.

So I thought this would be a good definition of a product designer.

A product designer is responsible for not only how the experience looks, but also what it does and how it works.

A good product designer is expected to have a good knowledge of animations, prototyping, coding, research, visual, and interaction design. They are known to deliver wireframes and hi-fidelity mockups.

Interaction Design: Enables you to make a huge impact on your projects. Expertise in integrating engaging and inspirational design into your projects seamlessly can deliver excellent results. Using the latest technology available in the interactive development field, professional designers can handle all types of projects, regardless of complexity, with commendable ease. The services that you engage for creating your website design or to use on mobile devices must have cutting edge technology to deliver the best quality and future-proof projects that achieve the desired effect and results and even more.

The rapid development in the interactivity technology leaves no room for doubt that the future generation will use it extensively in almost all areas of technical application. Experts who can provide services such as Flash and Flex design, mobile application development for iPhone, Android, and tablets, and create unique interactive games can make a huge positive impact on your interactive design and development project.

Web Design: Web Design is Fun, interesting, and also my area of interest. It is undeniably a practice of design, a process by which problems are solved. For the millions of web surfers out there, your web design is their first impression of your business and your credibility. The key issue in web design is how to add value to the user's experience, how to make them feel that they truly got something out of visiting your web site. User-centered web design is all about giving the control back to the user, which brings us to the term Accessible Web Design - the art of creating webpages that are accessible to everyone regardless of any device in use. A web page should be designed keeping in mind, the user, and the business requirements. A well-structured website with clear and concise content will be aesthetically appealing and will attract much-needed traffic to the website.

Graphic Design: Graphic Design is very important in the Web Designing Process. As cliche as it may sound, many job roles I have come across recently usually demand that every web design applicant must have graphic design as an additional skill. Graphic designs add value to the website in terms of attractiveness. Proper use of graphics can draw people to a site. But these things are works of experts. You have to know why it is necessary to hire experienced designers to have eye captivating graphics to a website so that your website designing initiatives do not freeze for improper use of graphics.

Thanks for reading and I hope this helps.