Are a "UX designer" and a "UI designer" the same person — do we need both in a quote?

I've been in this industry for years; the UX vs UI distinction is valid, but in the Turkish market it's often abused just to send two separate invoices. I've seen agencies label taking screenshots of competitor sites as 'UX'. Real UX means user interviews and prototype testing. If they aren't doing that, don't pay two separate fees.

Last year we paid 100,000 TL to a single product designer for a similar B2B dashboard redesign. The process took 9 weeks. The designer first conducted 45-minute 1-on-1 interviews with 3 of our key clients, mapped out the flows, and then jumped straight into designing the UI. Having two separate people can easily double the revision back-and-forth.

we tried using two separate agencies first the ux team came in and did wireframes then the ui designer didn't like them and tried to change the flow pure chaos and for b2b a single senior product designer delivers way cleaner work.

What are those two agencies actually committing to for the UX phase? Are they going to interview your clients, dig into your analytics, or just sit at their desks drawing cookie-cutter templates? Without asking that, you can't really make sense of that 65,000 TL difference.

When making your choice, ask the agencies if they will deliver these three outputs: 1) A user journey map and a clickable wireframe prototype. 2) A design library of reusable buttons and forms. 3) UI documentation that developers can directly turn into code. If you get these three, it doesn't matter whether it's one title or two.

When they bill it as two separate specialists, they usually just assign a junior graphic designer and a project manager from within the agency. Paying 195.000 TL is no guarantee you'll get twice the efficiency. In my opinion, if the party quoting 130.000 TL has solid references, they look a lot more honest.

The smartest move right now is to open and test a B2B platform each agency has built in the past. If the checkout flow is smooth and easy on the eyes, go with that team. Don't get too caught up in theory; what matters is that the screens actually work.

Let me summarize what's been said so far. Just because everyone does it doesn't mean it's right.

Good luck with that.

The discussion got scattered, let me summarize. The real issue isn't the number, but what it's based on.

That's all, sorry if I went on too long.

Just a heads-up. Weekly written progress reports are much more useful than asking for dates.

Good luck with that.

Let me share my experience. Code without setup documentation isn't yours, even if you have it.

If I were you, I'd go this route.

Exactly like that. Don't hesitate to ask; those who don't ask always pay more.

Implementing a change request process doesn't slow things down, it speeds them up.

Im a small business, let me explain from my side... The answer varies greatly by industry; there is no one-size-fits-all rule.

Noted thanks.

This is exactly what we experienced. The answer varies greatly by industry; there is no one-size-fits-all rule.

Mistakes made on the what is a ux designer side are usually reversible but expensive. I'm also curious if anyone does it differently.

Thanks, this was very helpful.

Thanks for writing this, that's the right way. When making a decision, first look at what data you have on hand.

Just leaving this note, it might be useful.

I have an objection here. The biggest time-waster for us was not knowing who had the final say.

Proven by experience.