What are the Different Types of UX/UI Designer Jobs Out There?
UI and UX design are very broad terms, so it can be easy to be confused when you start your job search and see different kinds of design roles. What’s the difference between a UX developer and a UX engineer? Are graphic design and UI design the same thing? Here’s a list of different UI/UX designer roles that might help you discover what you would be best at!
UX Designer
In the design process, user experience, or UX design, comes first. UX designers create the architecture of a website. Their job is to make sure it’s easy for the user to get to what they’re looking for without any confusion by doing the groundwork for UI designers to build off of. Product research and creating user personas are big parts of a UX designer’s every day tasks. They create wireframes and prototypes that go through testing to fully understand their customers. UX designers are typically analytical people who are empathetic and have excellent problem solving skills.
UI Designer
The user interface, or UI, designer works off of the groundwork completed by the UX designer. They design the layout of the page and the elements that the user interacts with while visiting the site or app. A UI designer decides how information should be arranged based off of research done on visual patterns and hierarchies. They take care of the more traditional topics that most people associate with design like colors choice and font. Designing buttons, icons, and other interactive parts of a page is also part of their day-to-day. Most companies have style guides created by UI designers that they can use as a reference to make sure every page follows a consistent style and color theme. UI designers ensure that everything they work on fits into the company’s brand image.
Graphic Designer
You’re most likely more familiar with graphic design than UX or UI design. Graphic designers use color, images, text, and typography to assist in developing a company’s branding and marketing. Graphic design is also a very broad term. UX and UI designers only design digital interfaces like websites and apps, while graphic designers can also design more physical things like advertisements, packaging, and books. As a result of this, graphic designers don’t need to know how to code.
UX Researcher
A UX researcher is a specialist who uses qualitative and quantitative research to give other designers information about users that will help them while they develop their designs. UX researchers play a large role in the beginning of the design process, and their daily roles include user research like interviews and surveys, analyzing data to determine the key findings, presenting findings to other designers, developers and marketers, and continually improving designs through user testing.
UX Strategist
The role of a UX strategist combines UX design and business strategy. They’re responsible for tasks like meeting with clients to define business goals, conducting user research, combining their knowledge of business strategy and design to come up with innovative solutions, and creating and presenting strategy decks.
Content Strategist
The role of a content strategist can vary from company to company, but they are responsible for creating a content strategy that aligns with the company’s goals and the needs of the customer. A content strategist should be organized, a multitasker, and good at analyzing and interpreting data.
IA Researcher/Analyst
If an information architect has done a good job, you don’t even notice it. They’re responsible for creating the structure of a digital space so that it’s easy to understand and navigate. They need to have a solid understanding of user-centered design and good critical thinking, leadership, and advanced computer skills.
UX Copywriter
Put simply, UX copywriting is UX design, but with words. This job has become increasingly popular over the past few years. They make sure that the words used give the reader the best experience as they navigate a digital space. Unlike most copywriting jobs, they’re more focused on helping users get to what exactly they’re looking for rather than trying to sell something. UX copywriters need to be good problem solvers, concise writers, and familiar with how websites are built.
Product Designer
Product design and UX design are very similar and easy to get mixed up. A product designer wears many hats and can do UX, UI, code, project management, and problem solving. They make sure that the product is functional and help design solutions to any issues that might occur during the beginning of the design process. Product designers decide whether a product is relevant considering the business, cost, and the current state of the economy, while UX designers focus on whether or not a product is functional.
UX Developer
A UX developer’s job is similar to UX design, but their roles are much more technical. UX developers use code and visual design tools to develop the front end of web pages and applications. Their job can best be described as a combination of UX and coding. They understand how customers think while also having the necessary knowledge of web development.
UI Engineer
UI engineers are front-end website developers. They put themselves in the user’s shoes to create an effective website design that is easy to use. Unlike UX copywriters and other design jobs, they require more hard skills like turning their designs into code, fixing any errors in the code, and improving the user interface.
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