One of the biggest boons to humans is the power to communicate. And ever since the discovery of information technology and computers, humans have been striving to communicate with them in the simplest ways possible. As the first computers were meant to behave like bots, the interface of this behaviour was not easy to be laid down. This process of human-to-computer interaction is popularly known as User Interface (UI).
Rewind
to the 1970s – humans delved into the fascinating world of computer programmes
that were huge in size and made use of thousands of lines of code used to
execute a single task. This mode of communication was termed as Character User
Interface (CUI) and the only mode available till the 1980s when smaller, independent
programmes were started to be built that gave the UI a graphical and more
readable look. This was termed as Graphical User Interface (GUI). The CUI is
still widely used in a lot of computer system operations to make programmes
that are implemented in almost all spheres of work.
As
time progressed, the importance of and stress on GUI has overcome those of CUI
in that the former is easier to interpret, remember and utilise in further
computer programming. Checkboxes, drop-down menus, buttons and icons are all
part and parcel of GUI. The revolutionary shift from CUI to GUI meant a lot to
humans as they were pre-programmed snippets of code or tiny programmes that saved
time, effort and money to the people or firms hiring computer programmers.
So,
is GUI the end of the road? Not quite. Fast forward to the 2000s and one can
find the Operating Systems themselves made up of fantastic GUIs. Whether it’s
the Windows or Mac OS, the GUI has become the heart of all computers. It’s also
the measuring stick for the OS’s popularity – the better the GUI’s look and
functionality, the more it used to sell. Diving deeper, what they found from
the end-user or the consumer’s psychology is how they perceive a programme the
first time they used it. This gave birth to a whole new digital world of user
experience (UX). The UX itself forms a USP of any software manufacturer or
designer and can make or break their unit sales.
While
a lot of users get confused between UI and UX, it’s imperative to remember that
UI is just a drop in the ocean when it comes to forming a positive user
experience or UX. Hence, firms or software giants, especially digital marketing
channels, focus a lot on hiring more talented UX designers than software
programmers. At the end of the day, UX is the impression that one takes away
after visiting a website or any entity on a digital platform. When it’s the
marketing collateral, for instance, a blog, flyer, campaign letter, travel
blog, product feature or simply a model car’s launch, the ‘feeling’ that gets
associated with the viewers’ mind seals the deal. And that ‘feeling’ is
proportional to how absorbing the UX is. They don’t go and see the website
source to find whether Wordpress or Joomla is implemented to construct that
design!
Someone
coined them perception and response – two of the most important parameters that
define UX. While perception is more to influence the purchasing decision of the
customer, the response is more a yardstick used to calibrate the UX. A positive
response is a corollary of the positive perception that is attributed to an enticing
GUI. While the positive perception coherently builds the brand image, the UI
and its various nuances are actually what act in the background to put the UX
into shape. Think of a play and its colourful characters acting on the dais.
While the ornaments on the actors, the lighting and the visual characteristics
of the dais build a perception on the mind of the audience, the skills,
experience and rehearsals of the actors are actually what give them the form
they deserve. In our case, the former is the UX and the latter, UI.
Some
of the technical aspects of building a great UI are the positions of
placeholders, GUI components across the page and keywords with which a consumer
is likely to search for the online content. It’s statistically proven that many
readers see the online content in a “Z” fashion and draw their perception out
of the content on those lines. So positioning the keywords or images in those
directions can lead the viewer and entice them to click on that most coveted
“purchase” button. Also, the compatibility of the content created matters a lot
– if the UX designer doesn’t optimise the layout of the article or blog to be
viewed on an Android-powered smartphone, then the user viewing it will choose
their competitor within a split-second.
