Web Design vs Development. What is the Difference?

The understanding of web design vs development is useful for any business that leverages the software. If it’s your case, make sure to know what services you need. This will make your cooperation with a subcontractor more effective and better coordinated. For example, a new website layout or logo branding is the specialization of a web designer.

Whereas a website developer can create a pop-up form or troubleshoot server issues. Such differences are mainly related to the stages and tasks of the software development process. There is usually no distinction between a web design company and a web development company.

In particular, The Coder provides the full range of services and hires both qualified designers and developers.

Besides, the differences between design vs development may be unclear for a person who is about to start a tech career. Both occupations require different types of practical and soft skills.

Whereas web design is all about the visual representation of a web resource, website development is focused on the backbone of the solution. Although there are so-called unicorn developers that can do everything, most people start learning from small steps. Therefore, if you are eager to create websites, decide on which side you want to be. Analyze your preferences and think about what you like more: a coding or creative solutions. This will be the starting point of your professional growth.

Continue reading to learn what is the difference between web design and web development?

Who Is a Web Designer?

A website designer is a professional with HTML and CSS coding skills that can make your website look appealing. They know how to combine various fonts, colors, animations, and other elements to ensure a seamless user experience.

With the help of web design software, designers customize software products and make them unique. They also regularly update the look of websites to meet rapidly changing web design trends.

Speaking of web design vs web development, it’s worth mentioning that web designers can also be categorized. Since the role of usability in user engagement has significantly increased, the design field comprises:

• UI design

  UI web designers focus on user interface engineering for websites, applications, and other web products. Their key goal is to make sure the interface is simple, clear, intuitive, and doesn’t cause excessive cognitive load.  Every website element must serve a purpose and be predictable.

  Otherwise, users will just leave the page and go to competitors with better usability. Also, UI designers take care of brand consistency. Buttons with the similar function must be exactly the same on all pages. The designers choose the most suitable form and color to build a strong association with specific action.

• UX design

UX web designers are responsible for creating a product that ensures user-centered experience. What does it mean? Visiting a website, people smoothly go through every step of navigation and customer journey.

UX designers try to understand why, how, and for what purposes people use a product. They analyze the audience, their needs, and expectations based on numerous demographic and behavioral factors. Besides, UX designers are responsible for prototyping, wireframing, and development planning.

Generally, UI and UX design have many points of touch. Both fields exist to make the life of users more convenient and comfortable. Note that the demand for web designers proficient in both disciplines is steadily growing. Highly qualified UI/UX designers are professionals with analytical UX competence and creative UI skills.

Why Do Web Design Matter?

The competition in the online market is extremely fierce. There are so many businesses that you need to try really hard to attract customer attention. Plain resources created with website builders already cannot surprise anyone.

According to recent statistics, nearly 70% of people prefer to use websites with beautiful design. 75% decide whether a website is credible based on its look. 81% search products online before buying them in a physical store.

These numbers prove that the first impression is a decisive factor for your website success. Poor web design solutions will inevitably cost you a lot in the long run.

What Is a Web Developer?

A web developer is a professional with coding skills in Java, Phyton, JS, PHP, C++, or other programming languages used for web development. With respect to the web design vs development comparison, web development is about building the site foundation.

Developers write code that determines whether the future website will run smoothly and handle the expected load. Similarly to web design, development falls into two broad categories:

• Front-end development is client-side development that is usually connected with using JS, HTML, and CSS programming languages. Front-end developers create elements visible to website visitors, such as layouts, lead forms, page flow, and more. They also implement animations and other visual elements.
• Back-end development is building the skeleton of a website. Although theoretically, you can rely on front-end to send requests to the database, only back-end can ensure the necessary level of security and performance. Back-end development is necessary to design complex web resources that contain dynamic data and process personal user information. Simply put, if you plan to save data and access it later, you’ll need a database connection and, hence, back-end. PHP, MySQL, and SQL are the most common languages used for back-end web development. 

Why Do Web Development Matter?

Any efforts of web designers will be futile without the back-end and front-end built by developers. Although appealing design matters, users also expect websites to be fast and functional.

There is no way a company can get a custom website without hiring a web developer. In case a 90,000$ average web developer salary is too high for your budget, consider outsourcing options. Top IT outsourcing destinations, including Asia and Eastern Europe, provide a slightly lower rate with decent design vs development quality.

Check out this handy website launch checklist.

Web Design vs Development. Is There Any Way To Get All-In-One?

We know that you expect an affirmative answer. Nevertheless, full-stack or so-called unicorn developers still cannot do everything independently. The scope of knowledge and skills necessary to create a seamless website is usually too huge to master. There are not so many people that have mastered the depths of several programming languages, perfectly know the market, and can offer creative solutions at the same time. A full-stack developer can really do more than a web designer and a web developer working separately. Yet only the joint efforts yield the best results.

Therefore, looking for a design and development provider, it’s better to contact an agency that has several specialists in place. They will analyze your requirements and offer the optimum solution for your case. 

Don’t hesitate to contact The Coder for any web design or development assistance.