WHAT A UI UX DESIGNER DOES: Duties, Salary, Course & Difference

UI UX DESIGNER
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User experience (UX) and user interface (UI) designers originate digital products and interfaces that are user-friendly and intuitive. This means if you have an interest in working with the latest technologies with the aim of giving customers a favorable experience with your digital products, it might be the career for you. Furthermore, it is also profitable to understand the job description of a UI/UX designer to make an informed career choice. In this article, we will discuss what UI/UX designer is, explore their average salary, and discover the course required to excel in this career. We will also look at the differences between UI and UX designers.

Who is a UI UX Designer?

A UX designer focuses on the user’s journey to solve problems, whereas a UI designer focuses on making the product or interface beautiful. As much as both play an important role in urging a customer to purchase a product. A UI designer is different from a UX designer in the following ways:

Who is a UX Designer?

A UX designer is responsible for generating services, products, and technology as user-friendly as possible. UX designers monitor users’ experience with digital platforms or products, understand areas of improvement, and improve digital offerings to make sure the product or interface is user-friendly. In addition, their primary responsibility is understanding the requirement and behavior of a user and generating products that enable a user to achieve a task with less effort. These designers focus on the interactive features, usability, and information architecture of different products.

Who is a UI Designer?

UI designers focus on reducing the communication of a user with a product or interface. They make an informed decision concerning the product’s overall look, feel, and aesthetics. Hence, it is the responsibility of a UI designer to ensure that the user interface is intuitive and beautiful. These designers are an integral part of a design team because their UI design can shape how a user sees a brand.

How To Become An UI UX Designer

One of the best ways to get into web design or product development is to study how to become a UX/UI designer. After all, behind every successful product or web page is the person who created its look and feel. Observe carefully the steps below to become a UX/UI designer and earn a higher salary.

#1. Plan your Career Path

Because there is no one perfect way to become a UX/UI designer, you first need to create a roadmap for your journey into the design industry. This is because there are formal and informal pathways to acquiring the necessary skills. To choose the best path for you, just examine your learning style and decide how much time you want to spend.

#2. Obtain Education 

The many options for your UI/UX designer education include college degrees, boot camps, and self-study. But, the main advantage of college is that most job ads, even in the UX/UI design field, list a bachelor’s degree as the minimum requirement. The problem is that web design bachelor’s degrees may be too evident, and may lack opportunities for hands-on experience.

#3. Become Certified

This optional step is for striving UI/UX designers who want to market themselves as having specific skills. After all, if you are fighting to move past entry-level jobs, it may be because the experience you’ve gained is hard to prove to employers. A certificate in UX design, UI design, or some subset of relevant skills or tools might be your ticket to becoming a UI/UX designer. 

#4. Gain Experience

For any UI/UX designer, work experience is essential. This is because you need to practice what you learned in school so that proposed employers will believe you know what you’re doing. Also, you can become a user experience designer more quickly if you land some sort of junior position first, something similar to UI/UX that can give you relevant experience.

#5. Work on Your Resume

Your resume is your chance to make a good first impression. So, it’s essential to create a UI/UX designer resume that showcases your experience and skills, including any notable projects and awards. Whether you’re trying to figure out how to become a UX designer or how to become a UI designer, the advice is the same. Market your qualifications as best as you can. 

#6. Apply for Jobs

Although this is the most obvious step, it is worth highlighting that you cannot become a user experience designer or user interface designer if you don’t know how to handle the job application process. Hence, your work experience, education, and skills will influence which jobs you decide to apply for. From there, it’s simply a matter of mastering the art of applying for jobs. 

Is UI UX Design a High-Paying Job?

The estimated total pay for a Ui\Ux Designer is $86,633 per year in the United States, with an average salary of $81,730 per year.

Job Description For UI UX Designer

UI/UX designers are accountable for converting an idea into a web design that meets a certain set of specifications. After they complete a design, it is passed onto the development team, which turns the design into a functioning application. UI/UX designers work to ensure that a site is easy to use and navigate. Additionally, they combine with other members of an organization to create designs that match to the marketing strategy for a given product. Here are some specific roles and responsibilities, 

Job Description For UI UX Designer: Duties & Responsibilities

A typical job description of a UI UX designer includes the following responsibilities:

  • Investigating user experience design requirements for our suite of digital assets.
  • Developing and conceptualizing a comprehensive UI/UX design strategy for the brand.
  • Producing high-quality UX design solutions through wireframes, visual and graphic designs, flow diagrams, storyboards, site maps, and prototypes.
  • Designing UI elements and tools such as navigation menus, search boxes, tabs, and widgets for our digital assets.
  • Testing UI elements such as CTAs, banners, page layouts, page designs, page flows, and target links for landing pages.
  • Collaborating with the marketing team, and internal and external designers to ensure the creation and delivery of tailored experiences for the digital user.
  • Providing advice and guidance on the implementation of UX research methodologies and testing activities in order to analyze and predict user behavior.
  • Adhering to style standards in typography and graphic design.

Job Description For UI UX Designer: Requirements

Below are the necessary requirement to become a UI UX designer and earn a good salary,

  • A bachelor’s degree and a minimum of 2 years of UI/UX design experience for digital products or services.
  • A portfolio of professional UI/UX work for both web and mobile platforms.
  • Working knowledge of the following technologies and software: Sketch, InVision, Visio, HTML, CSS (SCSS), iOS, Android, Design Systems, and Adobe Creative Suite.
  • A team player but can work independently too.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
  • Multi-tasking and time-management skills, with the ability to prioritize tasks.
  • Visual and interaction design skills
  • User empathy
  • Proficiency in design and prototyping tools

Does UX Design Require a Degree?

Many UX designers do not have a degree in UX or a UX-related field. In fact, it’s possible to start a career in UX without a degree at all.

UI UX Designer Salary

The national average salary of a UI UX designer is 5,68,655 per year, while a UX designer earns 2,89,689 per year. Although their various salary differs depending on the job location, experience, education, and skills. Some of the top-paying cities for UI and UX designers are:

For UX designer

  • Bengaluru  8,44,615 per year
  • Mumbai     8,05,287 per year
  • Hyderabad 7,54,332 per year
  • Chennai:     6,87,014 per year
  • Pune:         3,97,458 per year

For UI Designer

  • Mumbai:      5,84,862 per year
  • Hyderabad:  4,98,976 per year
  • Calicut:       3,30,405 per year
  • Gurgaon:     3,25,056 per year
  • Coimbatore: 3,24,701 per year

UI UX Designer Course

There’s never been a better time to learn product design, and investing in a UI/UX design course is an excellent place to start. The biggest brands in tech have adopted a design-first mentality, and businesses in every industry are scrambling to snatch up talented UI/UX designers to bring their digital products to life. Therefore, when selecting a course, it’s important to think about what you plan to accomplish and how you learn best. Here are a few questions to ask yourself that will help you find the course as a UI UX designer.

  • Do you want to be a generalist or a specialist?
  • How do you learn best?
  • How much time are you willing to invest?

UI UX Designer Course: Examples

Looking for the best courses to choose from? Here are the top on our list, 

  • CareerFoundry
  • Coursera
  • Skillshare
  • UX Academy
  • Interaction Design Foundation
  • LinkedIn Learning
  • Udemy
  • SuperHi
  • General Assembly
  • DesignLab
  • Google UX Certificate

Do UX designers Work From Home?

A large number of UX designers work from home.

Difference Between UI and UX Designer

Though they fall under the same canopy in web design, user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) are two terms that are often used mutually despite their different purposes and definitions. However, for aspiring designers, understanding these distinctions is key to establishing general web development knowledge, honing applicable skills, and breaking into the UX/UI field. 

Difference Between UI and UX Designer: In Different Approaches

UX and UI designers often work closely together, it’s common for UX and UI to be mistaken for one another even though they represent different components of a product or service. While there is some overlap between the two roles, there are several key differences to consider.

#1. Look vs Feel

UX and UI design play related, but different roles in a product’s development. UI design involves the look of a product like the visual components and interactive elements that contribute to a strong user experience. Meanwhile, UX design focuses on the all-around feel of the product or service and the components that will lead to a meaningful, relevant experience for users. 

#2. Design vs Prototyping

UX and UI designers might work on the same product, but they have different duties and goals. UX designers often create wireframes and testable prototypes that form the basis of a website or service’s user flow, while UI designers finalize products and designs that drive user engagement. 

#3. High-Level vs Details

Another difference between UI and UX designers is the level of detail that goes into their work. UI designers work on individual pages, buttons, and interactions; making sure they are polished and functional. While UX designers take a more high-level view of a product or service, ensuring the collective user flow of a site, service, or app is fully realized and consistent.

#4. Experience vs Tools

A UX designer is solely focused on improving the experience a user has with the interface, whereas a UI designer discovers the tools needed to create a successful experience for a user such as icons and animations.

#5. Purpose

A UX designer is assigned to reach the goals of who the experience is targeting, which is the reason why they’re in charge of coming up with personas symbolizing the client’s target audience. UI designers ensure that you have an emotional connection by crafting a digital journey that leads them to purchase a product that fulfills their needs.

#6. Brand Focus

A UX designer is more hands-on with a brand and the products and services they sell while the UI designers mainly work on the interface to get their desired result. In other words, user experience is closely aligned with product development in comparison to the interface itself.

Is UI UX a Coding Job?

UI/UX is one among numerous non-technical roles in tech that doesn’t require any coding or programming skills.

References

  1. UI DESIGN: The Complete Guide to UI Design 2023
  2. USER EXPERIENCE DESIGNER: Definition, Duties, How to Become it, Salary & Certification
  3. VISUAL DESIGNER: Meaning, What They Do, Salary, Software & Difference
  4. UX DESIGN INTERNSHIP: 20 Best User Experience Design Intern Jobs 2023
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