What is the Difference between Web Design and Web Development
Differentiating website design from web site development was easier a few years ago. However, defining them now isn’t exactly a walk in the park.
The basic difference between the two was that the web designers focused on aesthetics and the developers were the ones who coded. But now? It’s a little more complex than that.
Generally, users form an opinion about your site in just 50 milliseconds. That means you have less than a blink of an eye to make a good impression.
Without integrating either of them, this is impossible. But first, we need to comprehend how they’re different and similar.
This blog will explore the key difference between web design and web development along with their importance among websites.
What is Web Design?
Website design is all about the visuals. It creates the visual layout, appearance, and overall user experience of a website. It includes elements like layout, color scheme, typography, images, and navigation. All of these are carefully planned and executed to achieve specific goals and objectives.
A responsive web design considers both aesthetic and functional considerations. A well-designed website isn’t just visually appealing but also
- Communicates the brand’s message
- Engages the visitors
- Simplifies user interaction and navigation
It shapes the overall user experience (UX) and impacts the website’s outcome in terms of attracting and retaining visitors, generating leads, and achieving business objectives.
What is Web Development?
Unlike web design, web development focuses on creating websites and web applications. An average of 88% of users usually abandon a slow site, and just a 1-second delay causes about a 7% drop in conversions.
That’s where web site development comes into play. From planning and designing to coding and programming, web development is in charge of everything.
Let us break it down:
- Create Websites: Building static websites that display information, and interactive web applications that allow users to take action, like submitting forms or shopping online.
- Codes and Programs: Web developers use programming languages like CSS, HTML, and JavaScript to create websites. HTML provides the content and structure, CSS controls the visuals, and JavaScript makes the web page design interactive.
- Designs: Web design focuses on visual aesthetics. However, web development creates those design principles to make sure the website is functional and user-friendly.
- Front-end and Back-end Development: Web development splits into—front-end deals with the user-facing side of the website, and the back-end focuses on the site’s server side.
Difference between Web Design and Web Development
While web design and development work together and are equally important for a website, they differ in several ways. Let’s break them down each:
1. Web designers usually don’t write code.
Web designers are creative artists. They use web design software like Photoshop, Illustrator, or Figma for mockups and prototypes of a website’s layout, color scheme, typography and imagery.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t understand basic HTML and CSS to know how elements are structured on a webpage.
It’s just that their primary focus is laid on aesthetics and user experience (UX).
2. You pay a web designer less than a web developer.
A web designer creates visual assets and layouts which requires a creative skillset at most, but web development demands an extensive coding experience. So, web development may cost more than web design.
Web development also uses more time and effort, especially for complex sites featuring user accounts, interactive elements, or e-commerce functions.
Among a web designer and developer, the latter solves problems, writes code, and maintains the website functions flawlessly. This in turn leads to a higher cost structure for their role.
3. Web developers are not responsible for creating assets.
When comparing web design and development, web designers are usually responsible for visual assets like stock photos, icons, or illustrations.
They specify the kind of images or graphics needed for the website but don’t design them from scratch.
The web developers, on the other hand, are aces of the technical aspects that run the website.
They integrate those visual assets—images or graphics into the website code and ensure that they’re displayed precisely on different screen sizes.
So, web designers create the visual assets and the web developers code them into the site.
4. Web development takes longer than web design.
Web designing time varies depending on how complex the project is. For a small website with a defined brand identity, the design process may be relatively quick.
For larger projects with extensive user research and multiple designs, web design may take longer.
As for web development, its timeline depends on the website’s functionality. A web design refresh for a website with a minor layout takes a few weeks.
Contrary to that, developing a new e-commerce website with features like secure payment, inventory management, and product filtering may take up to months of work.
5. Web design is for website revamps; web development builds a site from scratch.
Web design is a great solution for revamping websites. If a website has a solid foundation but needs a visual refresh or an improved user experience, the web designer gets the job done without any extensive coding changes.
For example, if your website has a confusing layout or slow loading time, you can revamp the visuals to make it modern and user-friendly. But it’s not the case for web development. It usually requires building a website from scratch.
This involves creating the entire website structure (including the front-end and back-end functionality).
For example, if you wish to launch an e-commerce site, you’ll need to build it from scratch and include all the product and payment features.
How They Work Together For a Website
Web design and web development are two peas in a pod for websites. Web designers craft the look and feel, user interface (UI), and user experience (UX) that makes users want to stay and explore.
Web developers translate those visions into reality. They use code to build the website’s structure and functionality, ensuring a seamless user journey.
Although the differences between web design and development are multifold, they collaborate to make a website stand out.
Combining their creativity and technicality, a web designer and developer create a site that’s aesthetically pleasing and user-friendly.
