Web Design Or Web Development?

Web design or web development – what’s the difference? If the above picture is anything to go by, web development is building the product. However, web design is making it look nice. In general, this is true but the answer is more intricate than that.

Web development

First of all, web design cannot exist without web development. The latter is the production of the part of the website that you cannot see. It’s building the foundation and structure behind the design; the back-end of the website. A web developer will focus on how the website works and what the customer does on the website. It’s the less “glamorous” part of programming if you like, but by no means less important. Without a web developer, there would be no website to design.

Web design

This is the part that you see as a customer – the colours, the font, the layout and so on. A web designer will focus on making a website look good and how the customer interacts with the pages. For example, a web designer will build and test run a website. If there is a button that is getting very little traction, they can look at how to rearrange the site so that this button is used more or even eliminate it altogether.

The similarities

Both a web developer and a web designer will need to be well-versed in coding. Though JavaScript, PHP and HTML are generally skills that are more applicable to a web developer, a web designer will need a basic understanding of these in order to do their job effectively. Equally, a web developer will need to keep the design of a website in mind while doing their job, as they often build the website to suit the design (and vice versa, for a designer). Web developers and designers work closely together to produce the best possible product for their client.

Which is best?

There’s no answer to that – web design and web development cannot live separately. Combining the two is what produces a website at the end of the building process.

For further information, SkilledUp has a great feature where they have profiled different developers and designers on what their job entails. Apparently, web development is more suited to left-brained people, while web design is a better match for those who are right-brained! If you want to get into web design or web development, check out the Code Institute’s Full-Stack Software Development programme which will teach you the basic skills you need to embark on web development and/or design career.

If you want to have a go at building a web page, try our free 5 Day Coding Challenge. It will teach you the basics of HTML, CSS and JavaScript. It will also show you what it’s like to learn online. Register through the form below.