UI/UX design
UI/UX design covers the design of the user interface (UI) and the overall user experience (UX) of a website, app or software — how it looks and how easy it is to use.
UX design clarifies what users want to achieve and which path is easiest: flows, information architecture, prototypes and tests. UI design gives it form: layout, typography, colours, buttons and states.
Good UI/UX design saves training effort, reduces operating errors and raises the conversion rate. It is best developed with real users — especially for software used under time pressure in everyday work.
trafe, for example, is designed as a white-label app: every rental company uses the same software in its own design.
What to look out for
- Start with users’ goals: what do they want to achieve, in which situation?
- Test flows as simple sketches or a clickable prototype before development.
- Test with real users — even five conversations reveal the biggest hurdles.
- Use consistent building blocks so everything works the same way.
- Design error states, empty lists and loading times too, not just the ideal case.
Common mistakes
- Design follows management’s taste instead of users’ needs.
- The flow is only tested after development — changes are expensive by then.
- Every view looks different because there are no shared building blocks.
Frequently asked questions
Both belong together. A beautiful interface is of little use if the flow does not work — and a good flow is hard to understand without clear design.
Because flows can be changed in hours in a prototype, but often only in days in finished software. Finding errors early saves development costs.