How UX/UI informs software development (and vice versa)
User experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design are key roles in the success of software products like websites and applications. They play a critical role that directly impacts how users interact with and perceive a software application.
Often, the terms “UX” and “UI” are used interchangeably which can lead to some confusion because these are fundamentally different specialisations with their own responsibilities. Let’s break it down quickly:
What is UX design?
UX design refers to a user-centric approach to product and software development that focuses on a deep understanding of user needs, behaviours, and preferences to create products that ideally cater to every user requirement. It’s all about user empathy, ensuring that software is designed with end-users in mind to create products that are efficient, intuitive, and enjoyable to use.
What is UI design?
UI design deals with the visual elements of software or products – it’s all about the visual appeal that attracts users. It focuses on aesthetic aspects of the software, including layout, colours, typography, and graphical elements. UI design is responsible for capturing a positive first impression. Before users interact with a digital product, they soak in its visual design, so beauty together with intuitive design is critical to get users to want to engage.
As you can see, UX and UI design are quite different in practice yet they work toward the same goal: ultimate user enjoyment. If either isn’t up to scratch, the product fails.
How do web developers and UX/UI designers work together?
Much like how architects are responsible for designing a space for contractors to actually build it, UX and UI designers must collaborate closely with software developers to bring their design visions to life.
The reality is that UX/UI designers and web developers must work closely together throughout the design and development process. The strength of their collaboration and understanding of the role they play in assisting each other determines the success of the final product.
Here are the many ways UX/UI designers and web developers should collaborate:
Requirement gathering
The collaboration kicks off at the early stages of a project. The first task is to work together to understand the project goals, target audience, and overall vision. This helps align design decisions with technical feasibility and user requirements.
Developers and designers team up to gather requirements from stakeholders and users: designers focus on understanding user needs, preferences, and pain points, while developers provide insights into technical constraints and possibilities.
Conducting user research
The secret to successful and user-friendly products is to cater to the needs of the end-user. Solving a particular user problem is key here. UX designers collect data indicating what users think, want, and need. This is achieved by listening first-hand to what users require and involves conducting surveys, questionnaires, focus groups, and in-person interviews.
Developers assist by identifying possible areas where user input is required and develop questions used in user research they deem important to help them find a solution. Their input is needed here because they have a good idea of what features will likely be present in the product.
MVP outline
Once user research is complete, the primary requirements for the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) can be refined with input from all members of the project team. This is the stage where user needs and design specifications together with technical requirements can all be considered alongside each other.
From here, designers and developers will work closely to see how their specific roles and capabilities can potentially work together to realise the project.
Wireframing and prototyping
Designers create different kinds of wireframes and prototypes to present the first visual representation of the project design. Wireframes are low-fidelity outlines that show the proposed layout, structure, and interactions of the website or application.
These initial designs are presented to developers where they both discuss the limitations and possibilities regarding the feasibility of the proposed designs. The key here is to identify if the designs are in alignment with technical capabilities.
Design exploration
The next step is to explore various design options to end up with the right fit for the project requirements. Designers and developers collaborate to consider how the design will affect the technical aspects of the project, such as page loading times, responsive design, and other front-end/back-end elements.
Based on the feedback from developers, designers can continue to refine their designs and make informed decisions that marry design with functionality.
Designer-developer handoff
Once all designs have been refined and finalised, a critical step takes place: the designer-developer handoff. This is where designers hand over all of their design assets to developers, including visual designs, icons, images, and other graphical elements.
As design and engineering are very different disciplines, this step can go awry if not done correctly. The key to successful designer-developer handoffs is clear communication and documentation to ensure developers understand the design.
Now, the project pendulum swings from design to development.
Frontend development
Frontend developers are tasked with turning the design assets into functional frontend code to bring the designs to life. During this stage, developers must commit to close collaboration with designers to ensure accuracy and consistency during the implementation of design assets into code.
Consideration must be given to achieving responsive design. As designers create work across various devices and screen sizes, developers must ensure that they are implemented responsively.
Iterative feedback
Throughout the development process, designers and developers continue their collaboration by providing feedback to each other at each step of the process. Designers are tasked with reviewing the implemented code to ensure it matches the design vision, while developers give further feedback on technical considerations and feasibility.
Often, designs will change once they are handed over to developers due to practicality measures. To ensure the project remains aligned from design to code, there must be transparent communication between the two disciplines as each new item is developed.
User testing and optimisation
Designers and developers are involved in user testing and optimisation phases. Together, they analyse user feedback and data to identify key areas where improvements can be made to optimise the user experience and overall functionality.
This is an important step as it is the first time the project has been given a real-world user test. Often, critical elements are missed in the planning stages and are only made apparent once users engage with the product.
Launch and post-launch support
Collaboration continues well after a successful product launch. Again, there might be things that need to be fixed, adjusted, or improved once more users have engaged with the product.
Designers might need to refine designs based on real-world usage, while developers may need to implement updates and improvements based on user more user feedback.
Collaboration is key
The key ingredient to a successful digital product lies in the collaboration between web developers and UX/UI designers. This dynamic and iterative teamwork combines expertise in design and technology to create memorable digital experiences that are visually appealing, user-friendly, and technically sound.
As with every project that requires cross-team collaboration, effective communication and a shared commitment to delivering a high-quality product are paramount. The stronger this collaboration, the better the results.
Anastasia Gritsenko
Working Machines
An executive’s guide to AI and Intelligent Automation. Working Machines takes a look at how the renewed vigour for the development of Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Automation technology has begun to change how businesses operate.
