History of UI/UX

UI stands for User Interface and UX stands for User experience. Both of these terms are used interchangeably and are often confused with each other. We often see UI/UX as one term but they are not, sure they are related.

Before starting my series of projects that I did for my graduation. I would like to take a moment to clear the mist around these two abbreviation. So user interface came into life during the inception of computing. It all started to happen when computer markets were started growing significantly. UI came into existence in the 1980s were as if we fast forward to the 90s when Don Norman helped coin the term User Experience while working at Apple.

At the UX Conference in San Francisco, he explains in a video interview that UX is about the entire experience that the user has with the product, the company, and the services. Everything from the way customer service is perceived to how easily the product is released from the package. Think of a house. The framing of the house is the physical structure – the coding. The electrical system and the plumbing and the HVAC are the functionality of the house – the user experience. The window hardware, doorknobs, faucets, and paint are how the homeowner interacts with the house and their enjoyment of it – the user interface.

In that example, the two are separate entities. They rely on each other, but there is little overlap. If UX design only relates to the functionality of the house, then UX design would need to come first, and UI design would wait to step in after UX was completed.

So the conclusion we draw is:

• Yes, the terms are related. • Yes, the terms can overlap. • No, they are not interchangeable – no matter how often people use them interchangeably.