The user interface is the graphical layout of an application. It consists of the buttons users click on, the text they read, the images, sliders, text entry fields, and all the rest of the items the user interacts with. This includes screen layout, transitions, interface animations and every single micro-interaction.

The “UI” in UI design stands for “user interface.” The user interface is the graphical layout of an application. It consists of the buttons users click on, the text they read, the images, sliders, text entry fields, and all the rest of the items the user interacts with. This includes screen layout, transitions, interface animations and every single micro-interaction. Any sort of visual element, interaction, or animation must all be designed.

This job falls to UI designers and UI/UX design agencies. They decide what the application is going to look like. They have to choose color schemes and button shapes — the width of lines and the fonts used for text. UI/UX designers create the look and feel of an application’s user interface.

UI designers are graphic designers. They’re concerned with aesthetics. It’s up to them to make sure the application’s interface is attractive, visually-stimulating and themed appropriately to match the purpose and/or personality of the app. And they need to make sure every single visual element feels united, both aesthetically, and in purpose.

“UX” stands for “user experience.” A user’s experience of the app is determined by how they interact with it. Is the experience smooth and intuitive or clunky and confusing? Does navigating the app feel logical or does it feel arbitrary? Does interacting with the app give people the sense that they’re efficiently accomplishing the tasks they set out to achieve or does it feel like a struggle? User experience is determined by how easy or difficult it is to interact with the user interface elements that the UI designers have created.

So UX designers are also concerned with an application’s user interface, and this is why people get confused about the difference between the two. But whereas UI designers are tasked with deciding how the user interface will look, UX designers are in charge of determining how the user interface operates also known as UX strategy.

They determine the structure of the interface and the functionality. How it’s organized and how all the parts relate to one another. In short, they design how the interface works. If it works well and feels seamless, the user will have a good experience. But if navigation is complicated or unintuitive, then a lousy user experience is likely. UX designers work to avoid the second scenario.

There’s also a certain amount of iterative analysis involved in UX design. UX designers will create wireframe rendering of their interface interactions and get user feedback. They’ll integrate this into their designs. It’s important for UX designers to have a holistic understanding of how users prefer to interact with their applications.

A little introduction before we dive into the topic, so you know who I am and why I am writing this article.

I’m pursuing a degree in computer science. But I found that my interest lies in design. So I took up a couple of free online courses to get started as a UX designer.

The online design community has been very supportive to me. So I’d like to give back to the community and if I’m able to help even a single person in the tiniest way possible, then I’ll sleep a little better tonight

In this article, I’m going to share a few free UX design courses which helped me get started as a UX designer. So here we go!

CareerFoundry UI Design Short Course

Please don’t point out that UI and UX are two different things, I know it. They are complementary to each other.

This was the first course I ever took. I still remember the first time I opened up Adobe XD and designed a screen for a climate action app. I was so proud of it that I sent it to my friends :’)

This course is a mix of video and written lessons which helped me get familiar with the absolute basics.