When you're building a product or website, you might find yourself wondering whether you need a user experience designer or a visual designer. While both roles involve creating visual experiences, they serve distinct objectives and operate at unrelated points of the design process. Understanding the difference can save you time, money, and frustration.

A user experience designer focuses on the user’s journey through a system and how users interact with it. Their main goal is to make the experience easy to use, fast, and rewarding. They research user needs, build low-fidelity mockups and interactive models, test interactions, and optimize the user journey. Whether it's a SaaS platform, a online portal, or a desktop application, the user experience specialist ensures that users can navigate intuitively. They think about information architecture, keyboard shortcuts, WCAG compliance, and the emotional response during interaction. Their deliverables include user flows, clickable prototypes, and usability reports—not just aesthetically pleasing assets.

A branding specialist, on the other hand, specializes in visual communication and aesthetics. They create logos, branding materials, marketing banners, and other visual assets that communicate values or attract attention. Their strength lies in visual hierarchy, composition, and stylistic consistency. If you need a corporate identity system, a Instagram ad or banner, or retail display, a brand designer is the right person to hire. They make things look good and align with your brand’s identity, but they typically don't focus on how users navigate through a digital product.

So when do you choose one over the other? If you're redesigning your website to increase engagement and reduce bounce rates, you need a UI. They will help you understand how users behave and design a logical workflow. If you're rebranding your business and need stunning graphics for ads or product boxes, or if you want to refresh your brand identity, then a branding professional is the better fit.

Many teams need each. A UI might design the core interactions and structure, and a graphic designer might then apply the brand’s colors, fonts, and icons to make it aesthetically cohesive. In some cases, one person may have skills in both areas, but it's important to know what each role brings to the table. Don’t ask a visual artist to solve a usability issue—that’s not their job. And don’t ask a UX designer to design a brochure or flyer—they might not have the branding sensibility.

In short, think about your goal. If you want users to complete tasks with minimal friction, hire a user experience specialist. If you want your brand to convey prestige and personality, найти дизайнера hire a branding expert. And if you can afford it, bring each specialist in to create a product that’s intuitive to use and a joy to behold.