Web development vs web design: the phrases “web design” and “web development” are frequently interchanged. This can lead to communication breakdowns and prevent clients and web design firms from having productive dialogues. Especially when it comes to properly planning a website overhaul. In reality, the names refer to two very different parts of the process of making a website, each of which needs a different set of skills.
Web Design vs. Web Development: An Overview
Web design refers to a website’s visual appearance as well as its functionality from the user’s perspective. To develop visually engaging user experiences, web designers frequently employ design software such as Figma or Adobe XD. The designs are then passed on to programmers. UX designers and visual designers use their skills to make wireframes, mockups, design systems, colour palettes, templates, and other things that help developers make web apps and websites.
The process of developing a website to achieve the required design using computer languages such as CSS, HTML, JavaScript, Python, Ruby on Rails, and others is known as web development. Back-end developers focus on a site’s or web application’s infrastructure (hosting, security, etc.); front-end developers focus on the site’s or web application’s functionality. Full-stack developers work on both the front-end and back-end.
What you tend to find is web designers will make a beautiful website that may not be SEO friendly or built in the best way based on functionality. Often you will need a true web developer to rebuild for site speed, although you can do a lot of this yourself by running it through lighthouse speed tests and tools like GTmetrix to see what is slowing down the site loads. Usually this can be improved with good caching and importantly site size (you can easily use an online image resizer to fit the space and then smush it).
What is Website Design?
Transforming an idea or a story into a visually appealing design is what web design entails. This design layout is then used to create the website’s user experience. The look and feel of a website is created and designed through web design. A web designer creates a model layout of a website before a web developer begins coding and creating it, similar to how an architect creates and draws a house plan before building it.
What exactly does a web designer do?
Your website will look better with the help of a web designer. They concentrate on the page’s style and general feel, customizing the visual elements of the website with software such as Photoshop. They also construct their designs with HTML and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
The Majority of Web Designers Do Not Code
Web designers are in charge of a website’s overall look and feel. To design layouts and develop high-fidelity mockups, they might utilize a visual editor like Photoshop or an app prototyping and animation application like InVision Studio. However, none of these major roles necessitates coding.
Beyond their conventional position as visual designers, the growth of content management systems (CMS) like WordPress and no-code website builders like Wix has resulted in web designers who can use their graphic skills to build your website without knowing how to code. Shopify websites can be built with no coding required, though some coding may be needed for specific customizations if desired.
What is Web Development?
Web development is the process of making and keeping a website up-to-date by using different web languages and software tools.
Front-end and back-end web development are the two types of web development. Web designers and back-end developers communicate through front-end developers. They work with the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and JavaScript development languages (JS). These languages help you make a full website, from the basic layout to adding photos and videos, using different typography and fonts, making form interfaces, and more.
What is the Role of a Web Developer?
After the planning and design phases are completed, the web developer, also known as a programmer, takes over and turns the design into a fully functional website.
They make the vision a reality. The design is now non-interactive, so the developer fires up the engine and starts the process of transforming it into an interactive user experience. For the procedure, the web developer can use HTML or programming languages like PHP or a CMS (content management system) like WordPress, which allows the client to update and maintain their website without the need for a developer for each change or addition.
Web Developers Do Not Create Assets
Web developers are programmers who have the coding expertise to make a website more functional. They use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to convert the designer’s wireframes and mock-ups into code. Visual assets, such as the images behind buttons, colour schemes, and typefaces, are usually not created by web developers. They only need to add them to the page with code.
