Web Development
What's the difference between web design and web development?
Quick answer
Web design is how a website looks and feels — layout, colours, typography and the overall user experience. Web development is how it is built — the code that turns a design into a working site. Designers decide what the site should look like and how people move through it; developers make it actually function. Most projects need both.
Web design covers UI and UX work: understanding users, mapping how they move through the site, sketching wireframes, then crafting the visual design and interactive prototype, usually in a tool like Figma. The goal is a site that is clear, attractive and easy to use before a single line of production code is written.
Web development turns that design into reality. Front-end development builds what you see and interact with using HTML, CSS and JavaScript (often with frameworks). Back-end development builds what you do not see — the servers, databases and logic that handle accounts, forms, payments and content. Many projects need both halves.
The two overlap and depend on each other, which is why they are often handled by one team. When designers and developers work together, the finished site matches the vision, performs well, and does not lose its polish in translation from mockup to live code.
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