UI/UX and Website Design in Shanghai
QPSoftware is a UI/UX design agency in Shanghai, founded in 2009. Our team designs websites for brands and institutions in China and abroad, such as the responsive redesign of Duke Kunshan University and the game-based e-learning platform of TechTrek. We cover the whole website design process: user research, information architecture, wireframes, interface design and content.
Good web design is about function as much as form. Every choice, from the navigation to the colors, the images and the loading time, should help visitors do what they came for, and paying attention to details avoids errors later. UI and UX design is one of the services of our web design agency in China, next to development, localization and maintenance.
UX design: a structure built around your users
UX design decides how visitors move through your website and how much effort a task takes. We base it on research into your users and your business goals, carried out in our UX research and Core Model workshops. The research then becomes two deliverables:
- Information architecture. The content is organized so users find information and functions quickly, with a goal of three clicks or fewer to reach a first destination on the site.
- Wireframes. Simple plans of the key pages let you react early, before any costly rework, and later serve as a guide for our developers.
UI design: a look that fits your brand
UI design gives the website its look: layout, colors, typography, images, and the way buttons and forms respond. We start from design standards and best practices, then develop design concepts and refine them with you over several rounds of revisions. Text and design are planned together, because visitors see a website as a whole, not as separate words and pictures.
For Duke Kunshan University, the design team first studied what the university stands for. The final design used simple details and clean lines to express quality and relevance in international education. For sharp images on high-density screens, read our article on Retina display design.
Responsive web design for users in China
Responsive web design adapts one website to every screen, from phones to large monitors. In China it is not optional: in December 2025, 99.6% of internet users went online with a mobile phone, according to CNNIC’s 57th Statistical Report on China’s Internet Development. Every website we design is responsive and mobile-friendly.
During development, you can test the design and ask for adjustments, so the result matches what you expect. Design choices also affect search rankings: see how UI and UX affect SEO.
A design that loads in mainland China
A good design fails if the page does not load. In mainland China, Google Fonts, Google Maps and YouTube embeds do not load reliably, and Chinese fonts are heavy because they cover thousands of characters. A design for China therefore relies on fonts served from the website itself or on system fonts, on maps and videos from services that work in China, and on images sized for mobile networks.
Design habits differ too. Our overview of web design trends in China shows what Chinese users are used to, from video on home pages to H5 pages.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between UI and UX design?
UX design, or user experience design, decides how a website works for its visitors: the structure, the paths between pages and the effort a task takes. UI design, or user interface design, decides how it looks and responds: layout, colors, typography, buttons and forms. A good website needs both. UX work usually comes first, with research and wireframes, and the UI design builds on it.
What is responsive web design?
Responsive web design uses HTML and CSS to adapt a website's layout to the screen it is viewed on, from a phone to a large desktop monitor. The content stays the same, while columns, images and menus rearrange. In China, where almost every internet user goes online with a phone, every website we design is responsive and mobile-friendly.
How long does a website design project take?
It depends on the scope rather than on a standard timeline. The main factors are the number of page templates, whether user research comes first, the number of revision rounds, and the date the content is ready. Quick feedback on wireframes and design concepts shortens the project. The schedule is set once the requirements are defined together.
Can you redesign our existing website?
Yes. We design new websites from scratch and redesign existing ones. For Duke Kunshan University, we redesigned the university's website with a new responsive UI, data migration and the integration of an event management system. A redesign starts, like a new website, with research on your goals and your users, so the new version fixes what did not work.
WHY QPSOFTWARE
Founded in 2009, QPSoftware designs websites from Shanghai, with more than 200 projects delivered by an international team of more than 20 people. We design for the Chinese market, for international markets or for both, for small and large organizations, and support you from the definition of your requirements to the launch and promotion of your website.
