If you’ve created a website in the past or are looking to create one now, you’ve likely thought about hiring a website designer or a developer. But did you know there is a fundamental difference between these two roles? While both focus on the end goal of creating a functional website, their skills and responsibilities during the creation process makes them stand apart.
So what is the difference? And which should you hire when creating your website?
Before we delve into answering these questions, let’s define the two terms.
What is Website Design?
Website design encompasses the visual aspects of a website. Its primary focus is to design the user interface (UI) and the user experience (UX), which includes the overall look and feel of the website, and the way users will interact with specific elements, respectively. This includes aspects such as color scheme, layouts, typography, navigational buttons, and more.
A web designer is responsible for incorporating all these visual elements to effectively represent the overall brand identity while maximizing the website’s usability. Although the aesthetic appeal of a website is important, ensuring the site is usable, efficient, and intuitive is the main responsibility of web designers. Good website design is intuitive for users to use, allowing them to seamlessly navigate between pages in a way that does not require much thought.
What is Website Development
While it’s important to get the overall design of the website down, you simply cannot launch it without developing it. This is where website development comes in.
Web development involves all the technical aspects that make the website run and function properly- which requires in-depth coding and applications. There are two different sides to web development: the front-end and the back-end.
Front-end development encompasses the user-side of a website- that is everything that users see and interact with on the site. Back-end development involves the server-side of a website- which includes all the behind-the-scenes aspects that aren’t visible to the user, but is integral to the function of the website. Each of these requires different skills and technical applications to properly execute.
A web developer must be well-versed in various programming languages in order to effectively code and developer websites. Whether they are skilled at front-end development, back-end, or both (aka full stack developers), they are responsible for bringing the designer’s vision to life.
Web Design vs. Web Development: What’s the Difference?
The largest difference between web design and web development is their stage in the website creation process. Designers create the visual design of the site in the early stages, while developers are responsible for developing the technical side to launch it as a live, functioning site. Generally, developers are not responsible for creating any visual assets for the site, but rather translating these assets into code so they appear as intended on the site – the same way designers would not be responsible for writing code as it is the job of developers.
Additionally, the tools required for each differ to suit their specific roles. Web designers rely on platforms like Photoshop or Illustrator to edit images, design layouts, or create graphics. Web developers require the use of programming languages to write code and develop applications. The type of programming language differs based on whether they are developing the front-end or the back-end of the site, but some common ones include HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and Python.
You may also find that hiring a designer can be cheaper than a developer. This is primarily because web development requires more training to understand and use programming software to properly code a site.
Should You Hire a Web Designer or a Web Developer?
If you are looking to create a website and are wondering whether you should hire a web designer or a developer – the short answer is: you will likely need both.
A web designer is crucial to help layout your content and visuals in a way that is appealing but does not detract from the user experience. Designers are also well-versed in understanding basic UX/UI principles to ensure your site is efficient and functional.
And even if you have a website design laid out, you cannot bring it to life without a developer- who is equipped with essential coding and developing skills to do so. Although there are some ‘no code’ website builders to create sites without coding, these are often limited in what you can or can’t do.
Therefore, if you want a customized website for your business, it is necessary to hire both a designer and developer to properly execute it.
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