Once upon a time, a website was just a website. We stuck some pictures up there and some links with a little navigation and presto! we were in business.

That seems like so long ago now. Now, we know better. Now we rely on the two pillars of design for the web: user experience (UX) and user interface (UI).

The disciplines are far too involved for us to fully explain here, but we'd like to talk a little bit about how important each is to the usability of your website. Because ideally, you'd like it to be so easy that a…well…you know.

Let's start with UI - user interface. Now, this can be just about any form of interacting with a computer or a device. Touch interfaces have become the standard on mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, smart watches). Personal computers still rely on a mouse or trackpad coupled with a keyboard to interface with the operating system. Old websites used to be created for personal computers - a fairly large screen and precise clicking on links. New websites need to be as usable on a 4" mobile touchscreen as on a 27" home computer. Which leads us to…

UX - user experience. User experience is just what it says - the experience of the user who is interfacing with your device, app, or website. UX is where we get the word "intuitive" from, meaning that the user is easily able to grasp how to navigate or what to do. We've all heard someone talk about being frustrated with what a pain it is to use their mega-remote control to find programs on their cable box, or how easy it is to use the simple remote that comes with an Apple TV. Both of those are UX, the bad and the good.

Returning to the web, it's important to understand that most new websites are not *just* websites. They are marketing machines, designed to lead a customer through a buyer's journey, be easy to navigate from section to section, and facilitate a purchase or contact. And the user experience must be consistent whether on a desktop computer or mobile device.

As we mentioned before, the disciplines of UX and UI design have a great deal of breadth and depth to them, and not every expert agrees on what's "best." Here at Bigfoot Web, we make the design experience painless by creating responsive websites that keep your visitors' experience in mind. Natural navigation and fluid performance make each Bigfoot site easy to use - for humans and humanoids alike.