Web Design vs. Web Development: What Is the Difference?

Web design vs. web development – these two, while seemingly similar, are significantly different. Website design refers to the creation of the UI and UX, the look and feel that the users will experience; website development is all about coding the website to work as intended, converting the design into the final product. In this article, we explore these differences more thoroughly. We invite you to read on!

Web Development vs. Web Design: The Basic Principles

Before we compare and contrast web development vs. web design, let’s look at them separately. For that, we prepared a short explanation of what each of these is.

Web Design

Web design is focused on the usability and aesthetics of the website. It deals with the layout, color schemes, information architecture, and so on. Ultimately, its aim is to create a website that is easy to navigate and builds a positive user experience. Web designers need to have a strong understanding of UX design principles and UX design patterns. Moreover, they need to be able to navigate through different methodologies and design systems and be able to choose the best for a given project.

Web Development

Web development is the process of coding the website and making all the functions work while ensuring excellent performance and correct data management. If we compare creating a website to building a body, web design would be responsible for the skin, hair, and other outside features, while web development would deal with the skeleton, muscles, and internal organs. Web developers aren’t responsible for creating the assets – they just make everything work by coding the site properly. However, they still need to work closely with web designers, understand their ideas, and translate them into practical solutions.

What Is the Difference Between Web Development and Web Design?

With this brief introduction behind us, let’s focus on the core of this article: what are the differences between web design and web development? Here are the key ones.

The Costs of Web Design vs. Web Development

We’ve gone through all the technical aspects, so it’s time for the more practical ones. What is the difference in price between web design and web development? Typically, web design is less expensive vs. web development. This is because there are more web designers than developers available on the market. However, you need to bear in mind that this might not always be the case – if you need a lot of graphical assets or seek to work with the finest experts, the prices might go up significantly.

Website Development and Website Design Work in Symbiosis

Despite the differences between web development and web design, these two need to work together in order to create a site that will truly serve its purpose. Therefore, if you intend to cut down the costs of website development, do not do this by skipping web design. Additionally, it’s good to align your web design and web development teams. If the communication between these two isn’t smooth, this might impact the whole process, making it longer and less effective, leading to higher development costs and worse user experience (hence, lower conversion rates and customer satisfaction). It is also possible with what was once jokingly called “unicorns” – experts who combine both web development and web design skills. Such specialists are especially useful for smaller projects, since they cut down the communication time to zero and can proceed from the concept phase to the final product release quickly. But, for more ambitious websites, we recommend working with aligned teams, like ours here at Digital Present.

Web Development vs. Web Design – The Takeaway

We hope that you now know everything about web design vs. web development. As you can see, both are critical if you want to create a website that will fulfill its business goals. Hence, we recommend working only with the best experts in both fields – us. With our extensive experience and proficiency in both fields, we are able to create a website that will truly drive clients toward your business, creating a steady stream of conversions and building a positive brand image for your organization. Contact us now and see what we can do for you! Did you like this article? If yes, check our other resources – perhaps our insights on how to improve landing page conversion rates will prove useful for your business?