Equating UX with UI is missing the point
“UX/UI” is a Misleading Term
These days, I am seeing more and more job titles or disciplines labelled as “UX/UI”.
I understand why it’s become common — but I don’t agree with the trend.
UX/UI implies 4 things:
That User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) are interchangeable terms
That UX begins and ends with a person interacting with a product interface
That UX is about tweaking the UI.
That UX is inherently visual
All 4 statements are incorrect in my book.
Let me explain - starting with a story.
The Shrink-Wrapped CD Story
In the mid 90s, I led the design team behind CIBC’s (a top Canadian bank) premier internet banking website. This was the dial-up era. Customers had to install the banking software onto their computer — yes, an actual shrink-wrapped CD — in order to access online services.
Naturally, I focused on the digital interface (web pages). But one day, the project leader handed me a copy of the CD packaging and said,
“Can you review this? I want to make sure the instructions are clear.”
That CD packaging was part of the user experience. If the instructions were confusing, the product might never get used — no matter how well-designed the website was.
This leader understood something that many still overlook today: User experience doesn’t start at the first screen. It starts the moment someone hears about the product. It also does not end with the log out screen but continues in how users reflect on the experience, talk about it, and decide whether to return.
UX is never just about screens. It’s about the whole journey, including knowledge, expectations, thoughts, and emotions user carry them far before they see the UI and long after they interact with it.
UX and UI are not interchangeable terms
Let’s define the terms.
User Experience (UX) refers to the holistic relationship — encompassing perceptions, emotions, and interactions — between a person and a product, service, or company.
User Interface (UI) is the point of interaction between a user and a system - physical (e.g. knobs and dials on a machine) or digital (i.e. a screen). The concept can also be extended to Service Design, in which an interface is the boundary or point of interaction between a customer and the service.
In short
UI is a touchpoint. UX is the all encompassing relationship.
UI is a subset of UX - not a synonym.
UX practice is not limited to tweaking UI
With these definitions above in mind, you can clearly see why UX practitioners must not limit their jobs to addressing UI issues. Their goal is about understanding and meeting users’ needs and wants through optimizing their experience with a company from all angles.
Having said that, there is a branch within UX that is solely concerned about the quality of the UI. Usability focuses on whether people can effectively accomplish what they need to do with the design. Is the screen readable? Do people know which button to click on? Are the error messages clear? These are all important concerns.
UX practice is not visual design
Along with the shift to customer-centric business models, there’s been increased interest in UX as a career over the past 3 decades. When I did my Master’s in Human-Computer-Interaction, only a handful of universities offered that course. These days, there are many ways to further your career in the UX field. My observation is that it has attracted many from the design background, and with that UX and UI began to merge as a job title.
Still, it is dangerous to call “good visual design” as “good user experience”. It is worth repeating that User Experience is about the holistic relationship a person has with a product, service, or company, whereas UI - and with that Visual Design - is limited to the interface of interaction.
Good visual design absolutely contributes to good UX. But a beautiful interface that doesn’t solve the problem of poor UX — that’s just decoration.
Final Thoughts
Let’s stop using “UX/UI” as if it is one same thing.
Let’s give both the distinctive depth - and respect - they deserve.