User Interface (UI)
The part of the product you actually see and touch.
Definition
The point of interaction between a person and a system: the screens, controls and feedback through which use happens.
Craft convention. True because the industry converged on it. Breaking it costs familiarity, not correctness.
On this plate
In plain language
The part of the product you actually see and touch.
Example
A form's fields, labels, buttons and error messages are the interface. Whether the form makes sense to fill in is the experience.
Commonly confused with
Close neighbours that get substituted for each other. The difference is stated first, then the condition that picks one over the other.
User Experience (UX)
TermThe whole of someone's experience of a product, including support, pricing and what happens after.
Key difference
UX is how the whole experience works, including things with no interface at all. UI is the visual and interactive surface. Every UI decision is a UX decision, but most UX decisions are not UI decisions.
Use User Interface (UI) when
- The question is what the reader sees and touches.
- You are specifying components, states or visual hierarchy.
- The work is producing or reviewing the interface itself.
Use User Experience (UX) when
- The question spans research, flow, content and outcome.
- The problem may not live on a screen at all.
- You are talking about whether the product works for someone.
Local chart
TERM·002 · Region X · Grid C6
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Nearby in the Atlas
Adjacent territory, found through shared tags rather than a stated link.