When people start learning Salesforce CRM with LWC, they usually focus on objects, fields, automation, and reports. But very soon, a deeper question appears:
How does the Salesforce user interface actually work?
What is Lightning Experience?
Where do Aura and LWC fit into the UI?
Many learners know these terms individually, but they struggle to connect them into one clear picture. This confusion slows learning, affects interviews, and creates gaps in real project understanding.
This blog is written to solve that problem completely.
● What Salesforce UI really means
● What Lightning Experience is
● What Aura Components are
● What Lightning Web Components (LWC) are
● How all three work together
● How Salesforce UI evolved and why it matters
This is not documentation language.
This is conceptual, human, real-world explanation.
Before we talk about frameworks, let us define one simple thing.
Salesforce UI (User Interface) is everything a user sees and interacts with inside Salesforce.
That includes:
● Pages
● Buttons
● Forms
● Lists
● Dashboards
● Navigation menus
Every click, every screen, every interaction happens through the UI.
And Salesforce UI is not static.
It is dynamic, configurable, and customizable.
Salesforce is used daily by:
● Sales teams
● Support agents
● Managers
● Executives
If the UI is slow or confusing:
● Users avoid the system
● Productivity drops
● Adoption fails
That is why Salesforce invests heavily in UI technology.
Understanding Salesforce UI is not optional.
It is core to Salesforce success.
To understand how Salesforce UI works, think in three layers:
Lightning Experience – What users see
Aura & LWC – How UI components are built
Salesforce Platform – Data and logic behind the UI
This blog focuses on Layer 1 and Layer 2.
Lightning Experience is the modern Salesforce user interface.
It is not a framework.
It is not a programming language.
It is the overall UI experience that users interact with.
Lightning Experience provides:
● Page layouts
● Navigation
● App structure
● Standard Salesforce pages
● Custom pages
Think of Lightning Experience as the shell or environment.
Inside that environment, UI components live.
Salesforce originally had Salesforce Classic.
Classic was:
● Server-driven
● Slower
● Less flexible
Lightning Experience was introduced to:
● Improve speed
● Improve usability
● Support modern UI patterns
Lightning Experience is now the default UI.
This is the key question.
Lightning Experience does not build UI by itself.
It uses components.
Those components are built using:
● Aura Components
● Lightning Web Components (LWC)
This is where confusion usually starts.
A component is a reusable piece of UI.
For example:
● A record detail section
● A custom form
● A related list
● A dashboard widget
Instead of building full pages, Salesforce builds pages by assembling components.
This makes UI:
● Modular
● Reusable
● Scalable
Aura Components were Salesforce’s first framework to build dynamic UI components for Lightning Experience.
They introduced:
● Component-based design
● Event-driven communication
● Client-side interactivity
Aura made Lightning Experience possible.
Before Aura:
● Pages were server-rendered
● UI updates were slow
Aura enabled:
● Partial updates
● Faster interactions
● Rich UI behavior
Aura was essential in Salesforce’s UI evolution.
Aura works by:
● Using a Salesforce-managed framework
● Handling UI rendering internally
● Managing component communication through events
This means Aura:
● Controls how UI updates happen
● Adds abstraction over JavaScript
This worked well at the time but had limitations.
As Salesforce usage grew, Aura showed challenges:
● Performance overhead
● Complex syntax
● Difficult debugging
● Proprietary patterns
Salesforce needed something better for the future.
Lightning Web Components (LWC) is Salesforce’s modern UI framework built on web standards.
Instead of creating a custom framework again, Salesforce aligned with:
● Standard JavaScript
● Native browser APIs
● Web Components architecture
This was a strategic shift.
LWC treats UI as:
● Lightweight components
● Browser-driven rendering
● Predictable data flow
It removes unnecessary abstraction and lets the browser do more work.
This results in:
● Faster UI
● Cleaner architecture
● Better scalability
This is important to understand.
Salesforce UI today uses both Aura and LWC.
But they are not equal.
● Aura → Legacy and compatibility
● LWC → New development and future
Aura still exists so existing applications continue working.
LWC is where Salesforce invests.
Aura and LWC can coexist.
This allows:
● Gradual migration
● Reuse of existing Aura components
● Smooth upgrades
But Salesforce clearly recommends:
Use LWC for all new UI development.
Now let us connect everything.
Lightning Experience:
● Provides the UI shell
● Manages navigation and layout
Aura & LWC:
● Build the actual UI components
● Define what users see and interact with
Lightning Experience hosts the components.
Aura and LWC create the components.
User opens a Salesforce page
Lightning Experience loads the page structure
Page contains multiple components
Components are built using Aura or LWC
Data flows from Salesforce backend to components
Components render UI dynamically
This is how Salesforce UI works end-to-end.
Salesforce promotes LWC because it offers:
● Better performance
● Better developer experience
● Better alignment with the web
Modern Salesforce UI relies more and more on LWC.
● More framework processing
● Slower initial load
● Heavier memory usage
● Lightweight
● Faster rendering
● Efficient updates
This directly affects:
● Page load time
● User productivity
● Mobile performance
Salesforce mobile app uses the same UI concepts.
LWC works especially well for mobile because:
● It is lightweight
● It uses browser-native behavior
● It handles dynamic updates efficiently
Modern Salesforce UI must be mobile-ready.
Many learners think UI is “optional”.
In reality:
● Most Salesforce customization is UI-driven
● Most user complaints are UI-related
● Most interviews test UI understanding
Knowing how Salesforce UI works gives you:
● Better interview answers
● Better project decisions
● Better troubleshooting skills
No. Lightning Experience is the UI container.
No. They are different frameworks.
No. Every Salesforce developer touches UI.
Salesforce UI evolution shows a clear pattern:
Server-driven pages
Aura-based components
LWC-based components
Each stage improved:
● Speed
● Flexibility
● Developer experience
LWC is the most mature stage so far.
Modern Salesforce UI customization includes:
● Custom Lightning pages
● Reusable LWC components
● Dynamic user interactions
Aura is used mainly for:
● Legacy components
● Compatibility
If you are starting today:
● Understand Lightning Experience conceptually
● Learn how components fit into pages
● Focus your development learning on LWC
Aura can be learned later if needed. To build this knowledge through structured learning, explore our Salesforce Training.
Good UI leads to:
● Higher user adoption
● Faster workflows
● Reduced training cost
● Better ROI
That is why Salesforce keeps improving UI frameworks.
Salesforce continues to:
● Invest heavily in LWC
● Improve UI tooling
● Align with browser evolution
This shows long-term commitment.
Remember this simple model:
● Lightning Experience → The UI environment
● Aura → Older component framework
● LWC → Modern component framework
All three together form Salesforce UI.
Salesforce UI may seem complex at first, but it follows a logical structure.
Once you understand:
● What Lightning Experience is
● What Aura and LWC do
● How they work together
Everything becomes clearer.
Salesforce UI is not magic.
It is well-structured engineering.
And understanding it deeply makes you a stronger Salesforce professional.
1.What is Lightning Experience in Salesforce?
Lightning Experience is the modern user interface that users interact with in Salesforce.
2.Are Aura and LWC part of Lightning Experience?
Yes. They are frameworks used to build components inside Lightning Experience.
3.Is LWC replacing Aura completely?
No, but LWC is preferred for all new development.
4.Can Aura and LWC exist together?
Yes. Salesforce supports coexistence.
5.Which is better for beginners: Aura or LWC?
LWC is better for beginners.
6.Does Salesforce UI affect performance?
Yes. UI framework choice directly impacts speed and usability.
Is UI knowledge required for Salesforce developers?
Yes. UI is a core part of Salesforce development.
8.Will Salesforce continue to invest in LWC?
Yes. LWC is Salesforce’s long-term UI strategy. For those seeking to complement their development skills with platform administration knowledge, our Salesforce Admin Training provides a comprehensive foundation.
Salesforce UI works as a layered system:
● Lightning Experience provides the environment
● Aura and LWC build the components
● Salesforce platform powers the data
Understanding this structure removes confusion and builds confidence.
If you want to succeed in Salesforce:
● Do not ignore UI
● Do not memorize blindly
● Understand the system as a whole
Clarity is the real skill.
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