UI vs UX: What’s The Difference?

You can invest in the perfect logo, beautiful imagery, and expert designed storefronts. But if your online booking or checkout experience feels clunky or confusing, your brand’s premium feel starts to falter fast. Even worse, you risk losing thousands of dollars in revenue. This is why knowing the difference between UI vs UX is so important, so you can design an experience that doesn’t just work, but feels like your brand at every step.

Here’s a stat that hit us hard: 88% of users are less likely to return after a bad user experience. That’s huge. And worth asking yourself:

“How is my brand’s online experience? Does it reflect the same high level of polish and care as our stores? Is it designed around how customers actually navigate?”

If there’s even a moment of hesitation in answering those questions, this blog is for you.

We’re breaking down the difference between UI and UX, why both matter, and how to build a digital journey that’s unmistakably on-brand.

We’ll start with a crucial reminder about what your foundation of every decision you should make is: your target personas.

Target Personas: The Foundation Of Successful UX and UI

Before branding and site maps, you should know exactly who your target personas are.

Target personas are more than your target audience, they’re specific, profiled individuals that represent one of your ideal customers. The people who buy from you, keep coming back for more, and rave about your brand to others.

They’re the kind of customers you wish you could clone because they’re the heartbeat of your best business.

So if your website doesn’t reflect how your users actually think, move, and make decisions, your experience is going to fall short.

Don’t have your personas identified? Read more on what they are and how to identify them here.

What Is UI and UX?

UI (User Interface)

Let’s be honest, have you ever judged someone based on what they were wearing? Of course you have. We all do it. Because appearances matter, especially when it comes to first impressions.

If someone walks in dressed head-to-toe in luxury brands, you instantly assume they’re successful, confident, and mean business. But if they show up in a stained, worn-out sweatsuit… well, unless it’s Adam Sandler, you’re probably not thinking “premium.”

When it comes to your digital presence, the same rules apply. First impressions of your brand are 94% influenced by design and what people see when they visit your website.

The interface of your website is just that, the face of it. It includes what users see and touch on their screen.

UX (User Experience)

User experience is exactly what it sounds like, it’s how your users interact with your site. What they have to do to find what they need, how they move through each step, and most importantly, their overall impression and comfort level with your brand online.

UX is about how users feel and flow to buying a product/service. It focuses on three main things:

• What tasks users are trying to accomplish
• How easily they can do it
• How content is structured to guide their journey

When you’re hyper focused on those three things and truly give your visitors an easy visit with intuitive content structure, you can see an increase in conversions up to 400%.

Why such a big increase?

People like things easy. People like consistency. And people like to invest in brands that feel effortless, trustworthy, and built around their needs.

What Exactly Is The Difference Between Them?

Let’s use an example of a calculator to really help you determine the difference between the two.

All of the calculators below have about the same UX (some have more functionalities than others). All of the buttons will add, subtract, divide, and multiply the numbers you put in with the buttons. However, notice the different colors? The different designs?

What you see is the UI. How you use the calculator is the UX.

“UI is the saddle, the stirrups, & the reins. UX is the feeling you get being able to ride the horse”

– Dain Miller

Here’s How This All Relates To Your Brand:

Next, let’s keep going with this calculator example.

In this case, if you were designing a calculator for a child, you wouldn’t just make it functional. You’d make it fun, simple, and engaging. Big, colorful buttons. Certainly sound effects when they press a number. A super clean layout with only basic functions like adding and subtracting because the goal is to make it feel easy and exciting to use.

But if you were designing a calculator for an accountant, it would look completely different. You’d need more functionality like tax calculation buttons, memory storage, and multi-line displays. The design would be clean, minimalistic, and professional, because an accountant cares about speed, precision, and efficiency, not entertainment.

Same basic tool. Same core UX principles. At the same time it’s a completely different experience depending on who you’re building for and what they need.

Real World Example: FACE FOUNDRIÉ

Let’s now look at a real world example (and client) of ours where we implement this knowledge everyday.

FACE FOUNDRIÉ is a brand that’s modern, minimalist, elegant, and all about helping their clients relax. Their services are accessible, high-end skincare treatments designed to help clients feel better. So, thinking about their personas, they are people who want an effortless, polished, and stress-free experience both in-store and online.

Those same wants and needs need to be applied to their website and have been a main driver of how we’ve built their mobile app and booking flow to work. Take a look:

1. Made the “Book Now” button stand out, so it’s one of the first things that stands out to them.
2. When you click “Book Now”, it immediately takes you to a locations menu, where it clearly lists all the possible states and locations so you can find the one nearest you.
3. “What services are you looking for?” Straightforward question to quickly and clearly guide users to the right treatment.
4. Once you select your service, you’re given a list of subservices to fine-tune your choice and get exactly what you’re looking for.
5. It then asks if you’d like to add enhancements or another service, making sure you can fully customize your experience.
6. Once you’re clear on WHAT you’re doing, you’re then asked if you have a favorite skin expert. This follows the intuitive flow because it mirrors the natural in-person experience and keeps the process simple and familiar.
7. After selecting your provider preference, you’re presented with a live schedule for the location you chose. (Notice how the dates and times are displayed side-by-side? This makes it incredibly easy to find the perfect appointment time quickly.)
8. Finally, you land on a confirmation page to double-check all your selections. If you’ve already booked with them before and have an account, confirming your booking is even faster. This is another major perk of being signed in or having the mobile app downloaded.

Other things we want you to notice about this booking experience:

1. Speed is a priority: We work every day to make sure the experience loads faster and faster. People love instant results, and fast loading builds trust and satisfaction.
2. Consistent branding: Throughout the journey (from the copy to the colors to the font choices) the brand experience is cohesive and unmistakably FACE FOUNDRIÉ.
3. Minimalist design: We only include necessary options. Too many buttons and choices can overwhelm a user. Keep it simple. Keep it easy.

Conduct a Brand UX and UI Audit

If you’ve been looking for more conversions, a revamp of your UX and UI could be needed. It’s important to take a step back and audit your current experience through the eyes of your customer. Remember, a premium brand doesn’t deliver what they think is best. They deliver what their people actually want.

It’s Not Just About Looking Good.

It’s About Working for the People You Serve.

At the end of the day, great UX and UI aren’t just about design. They’re about delivering on who your brand is and what it provides your customers at every single touchpoint.

Furthermore, when your digital experience feels as thoughtful and elevated as your in-person one, that’s when loyalty builds, conversions increase, and your brand truly stands out.

So whether you’re a growing business or already operating at an enterprise level, take the time to audit your experience through your customer’s eyes. What feels confusing? Could anything be faster? Does anything need to be added/changed to make it feel more you? Is everything easy for them?

If you’re ready to elevate your digital experience but need extra support, book a strategy session with Mintun Media today. We’ll help you design a user journey that not only reflects your brand but drives conversions through an unparalleled online experience.