Clearly Illustrating the Difference Between UI and UX

A new iOS application called Clear has been making the rounds in the online tech and design circles.  Tech pundits are loving the simplicity, user interface, and gesture based interaction model. I’ve received messages from friends and colleagues asking if I’ve seen the “clever UX” of the to-do application. Well, I have seen it; I downloaded it the day it was launched, and spent some time using it. I determined within about 15 minutes that, while the user interface is certainly clever, the application falls short in the usefulness department.

UI != UX

This post isn’t meant to be a review of the Clear app. I encourage you to check out the reviews in the app store, or shell out the two bucks and make your own decision. What I really want to do is help people understand that a novel user interface (UI) does not necessarily ensure a positive user experience (UX).

UI is not the same thing as UX. UI (the interface) is one of several components that add up to the overall UX (experience). An application can have the world’s most innovative interface, but if users struggle with usability, don’t find value in the software, or the software isn’t built well (crashes, loads slowly, loses data, etc.) they will have a poor experience.

I’m not alone in thinking that a useful to-do app should do some basic things including reminding me to do the things I’m supposed to do. All software should help users undo actions (like accidentally deleting entire lists of things to do due to the “innovative” user interface). These basic elements didn’t show up on the road map for the initial release of the Clear app which, for me, equate to a negative user experience—in spite of the clever UI.

A clever UI won’t prompt me to keep using this (or any) application. A positive user experience will.

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