What is UX?
Also called: User experience, UX design
The short answer
UX, or user experience, is how it feels to use a website: whether people can find what they came for, understand it and finish what they started without friction.
What people say: “easy to use”, “user friendly”.
UX, explained
UX design covers research, structure, flows and testing. It asks what the visitor is trying to do and removes every step, word and decision that stands in the way.
Good UX is mostly invisible. People notice it only when it is missing: a form that loses what they typed, a menu that hides the page they need, a button that does nothing.
Questions people ask about UX
What is UX?
UX, or user experience, is how it feels to use a website: whether people can find what they came for, understand it and finish what they started without friction.
What is the difference between UX and UI?
UX is how the whole experience works and flows; UI is the visual and interactive surface people touch. UI is part of UX.
How do you improve a website's UX?
Watch real people try to complete a task on it, note every hesitation, and fix the biggest one first.
Related terms
UI, or user interface, is the visible, clickable surface of a website: buttons, type, colour, spacing, icons and the states each element shows.
User flowA user flow is the path a visitor takes to complete a task, such as landing, comparing, choosing and paying, mapped step by step.
Information architectureInformation architecture is how a site's content is organised, grouped and labelled so people can find things and understand where they are.
Usability testingUsability testing is watching real people try to complete tasks on a site to find where they get stuck, confused or lost.
Part of the Web Encyclopedia by Apex Flow Digital. Definitions are general knowledge, kept current, with no invented statistics.