How Web Design is different from Web development?

Both the terms web designer and web developer are different but used interchangeably in the media and advertising. But remember they are not synonyms. Web design refers to what your website visitor sees on your website and web development includes the functionality and the features of your website both are two different things.

In this article, we are going to highlight the difference between the Web Design and Web Development.

A website contains several different aspects:

Appearance - color scheme, primarily graphics, navigation elements, etc.

Content - Information, picture and products available on the website.

Functionality – It includes interactive functions that the website provides to visitors and the necessary infrastructure to provide them.

Usability - A site from the point of view of the visitor, which includes such things as the interaction of elements, ease of navigation and usefulness of the resource.

Appearance:

Appearance of the Web design & development includes the overall appearance of the website. The graphic designer is the one who decides which color combinations, text, and font to use and how these page will be arranged. A graphic designer must also have a sense of aesthetics, understand how colors combine, and how the images will project the image that the site owner wants to show to his visitors.

Content:   

Content is all text, photos, media files that can be found on the website. Content includes everything from a privacy policy to very compelling statements about the benefits of products on this site. Text is the basis of content. You will need a copywriter and editor to create good content.

Functionality:

Functionality includes all the interactive aspects of the website, as well as animation. A common denominator is that programmers using various web programming languages ​​work either on a web server or in a web browser, creating all these functions.

Flash is used to create animations. Perl, PHP, and Java are programming languages ​​used on a webserver to create complex dynamic web pages. These pages can work independently, but most often with a database to create all the functions that we used to expect from a website.

JavaScript is used in the browser to create many interesting effects, such as replacing the image when you hover over the image, “ticker tape”, links for changing colors, etc. JavaScript works in the user's web browser, not the webserver.

There are other “backend” applications that are invisible to visitors, such as forms of processing, content management and other management programs that allow non-programmers to maintain certain aspects of the website’s data.

All these programs must be integrated into the HTML code that will be used on the web page.

Usability:

Usability is how a website looks and functions from a user's perspective. Basically involves testing things, for example:

·         Does the appearance convey the proper image/image of the website?

·         Is navigation easy and intuitive to use?

·         Does visitor navigation lead to where they need to be?

·         Is the website loading fast?

·         All the apps working properly?

Design vs. Development

Unfortunately, there is a lot of overlap and integration needed between web design and web development. When you rush into a mixture of content creation and usability testing, then you are faced with a real mess.

Can one person do all these things? There are some people who can do everything, but most do just one or two things. Web design usually involves the creation of content and appearance, while web development includes the creation of functionality and testing its usability.

Web designers must have experience with graphic web design tools such as Photoshop or InDesign. Most also need to know HTML for a better understanding of the work and the ability to implement their websites and projects themselves. However, the use of animations on the site and the layout of the contents of the website are also part of the responsibility of the web designer.

Many site owners provide content for the site, but the web designer should be able to change, and even rewrite, the content if necessary. Web designers typically conduct usability testing on the navigation and website loading speed.

Programmers create functionality for the website, but all these functions must be integrated into the HTML pages on the website. In addition, HTML content can also be integrated into the program. Web developers also do usability testing on the site, at least for the functionality they create. Therefore, the programmer must also have knowledge of HTML.

Web designers and web developers must work together to ensure that the website is everything the customer expects. Only large companies can afford to hire individual specialists in the field of graphic design, content creation, programming, and usability testing to create a new website. In most other cases, the web designer and web developers are two different people who must work together to create a successful website, and only in individual cases can one person competently combine these abilities.