UX and Usability: What's the Difference?

La Difference between UX and usability it often goes unnoticed, since they are similar terms and both are related to the user experience.

Although they have many points in common, these two disciplines have notable differences that we cannot leave unclarified. Before we begin, let's quickly define two concepts:

What is UX?

UX is the process of improve the user experience in all aspects of the interaction between a person And a product, utility or firm. It's very similar to the customer experience, but in this case the customer is the end user of a website, a mobile application or a product.

What is usability?

Usability refers to the functional part of the product And your degree of efficiency. That is, if a product is intuitive, easy to use and meets the expectations of its users. Usability has as its main objective that users can complete the tasks they need to perform without experiencing difficulty or frustration, and that everything happens naturally and smoothly.

What's the difference between UX and Usability?

One of the main differences between these two terminologies is their primary purpose.

Usability measures the ease of use of a product.

The primary goal of usability design is to ensure that a product or website is easy to use. On web pages, poor usability can manifest itself in many ways, but most of the problems it generates are related to poor link structures, an excessive amount of text or complicated navigation.

To find out if an interface has good usability or not, we can start by asking ourselves a couple of simple questions:

• Can my user complete a task in a matter of a few clicks?
• Can my user understand my interface in a matter of seconds?

If the answer is no, then it's time to consider and implement an improvement in the usability design of our product.

UX measures the feeling generated by the product.

Whether fun, frustrating, or satisfying, UX refers to the general feeling a user has when interacting with a company as a whole. Yes, the entire company. Not just the interaction with a website or product, but everything before, during and after that interaction. If usability measures the ease of use of a product, the user experience encompasses the usability of the product, its functionality, trust, value, appearance and pleasure.

Usability: concrete and focused.

Usability is a limited and specific term, referring to just one of the many aspects that constitute the user experience. For that reason, one of the best ways to see it is to separate it from the brand to which it belongs.

UX: Broad and Holistic

Comparatively, user experience is a broad term that encompasses all aspects of the end user's interaction with the company, the services and the products it offers. Because it's so broad and extensive, the user experience can be good in some areas and poor in others, while usability will always be clear and concise.

Despite their differences, it is important to understand that there is a close relationship between these terms, especially because good usability contributes to a good user experience. In other words, products with good usability are convenient and make users feel good when using them. This positive emotional experience provides happiness, which in turn translates into a good user experience with both the product and the company.

Makes sense, doesn't it?

Let's look at a practical example.

Juan enters an e-commerce clothing website because he wants to buy a new jacket. You can quickly find the sweater section and here you can apply filters based on specific search terms. Up to this point, he has had a good experience since the web has a high level of usability that guides him down the easiest and least laborious path.

Juan decides not to make the purchase at that time and returns later for more information. He has a very specific question, so he decides that it will be easier to contact the company using the contact number found on the web. When he calls, they put him on hold and after 20 minutes of waiting he gets tired and decides to hang up. Juan has had a bad experience with customer service and is frustrated, but after the failed attempt he returns to the web, where he navigates effortlessly through clear headers and links and a good information infrastructure. In general, his experience hasn't been terrible since the website had good usability, so he decided to complete the purchase.

Usability was a key element in the process of finding and buying the product Juan wanted, as it made the experience fast, easy and intuitive. Everything else is UX — Juan's experience with the company from start to finish.

Usability and Accessibility

We've determined that good UX includes good usability, but good usability also requires good accessibility. Accessibility seeks to ensure that a product not only has good usability, but is also inclusive and pleasant for users, regardless of their abilities or the devices they use to access it.

For this reason, to achieve the greatest usability, we must ensure that the design also takes accessibility into account.

Because accessibility is important.

Accessibility reaches a wider audience

Almost 25% of the population of Spain has problems moving in the digital environment. In this context, if a website does not offer an attractive and effective experience, it is no longer impacting millions of people.

Accessibility is equivalent to satisfaction

Nowadays, many users measure their satisfaction based on the company's digital experience, so the better and more accessible the experience that our website offers, the more satisfied our customers will be.

Accessibility improves SEO

When content is presented in a more organized, understandable and accessible way, it is much easier for Google to find and evaluate our website. This type of content not only increases the accessibility of the web, but it also makes it more SEO Friendly.

Accessibility is regulated

Meeting the latest web accessibility guidelines (WCAG 2.1) is already a legal requirement for public organizations. This covers all public mobile applications and, starting in June 2025, will include all private companies.

It's one thing to create websites that people enjoy using; it's another thing to create websites that everyone can use. Our designers specializing in UX they are experts in accessibility and can work with you to create a page that converts and is also accessible to everyone. We work with many aspects of usability, UX, and accessibility, and we design holistically to understand their connection to user experience, usability, and web performance.