Everyone knows that for a product to be successful and generate hefty sales figures, it needs to solve a common problem. But this alone isn’t enough: it also needs to have a positive emotional impact on the people who use it. There’s no point designing a feature-packed smartphone with a lagging interface and a one-hour battery life.

Both physical and digital products should leave the user feeling great about their purchase. This responsibility lands firmly on the shoulders of highly skilled UX (user experience) designers.

The booming tech sector has created a strong demand for professionals in the UX field. If you want to help meet this demand and learn more about the UX designer career path, this post is a great place to start. We’ll discuss common UX job titles, their roles and responsibilities, and how much you can expect to earn.


Popular UX Job Titles

There’s a lot of confusion regarding UX job titles, mainly because UX is often mistaken as a single career. In reality, UX is an umbrella term used for a host of specialized careers. Let’s look at some of the most common job titles in UX:

UX Designer

A UX designer is someone who understands the customer’s mindset and designs according to their needs. Their primary goal is to enhance the user experience by considering a person’s emotions and attitudes about using a product. The UX designer must establish a logical flow in the product.

Roles and Responsibilities:
Perform user and competitor research Interview users and understand their wants and needs
Create product prototypes Develop and test products

UI Designer

The role of a UI (user interface) designer is often misunderstood. Many professionals confuse the job with UX design. While some overlap exists, they’re two distinct roles.

A UX designer is responsible for the overall look and feel of a product, while a UI designer is solely responsible for the interface. An interface is the point where the user and product meet and interact. An input interface could be a touchscreen, keyboard, mouse, or on/off button. Examples of output interfaces include visual and audio components like screens or earphones.

Digital products like websites and apps have a GUI (graphical user interface). This handles both the input data and output responses between the user and the system.

The job of the UI designer is to create an interface that’s easy to use and understand. They achieve this with an impressive combination of buttons, menus, search bars, and labels. You may notice a UX/UI designer job title in some organizations, which is the two roles merged into one.

Roles and Responsibilities

UI prototyping
Build the site or app navigation system
User testing
Understanding system flow
Installing system shortcuts
Design the screen and pages that users interact with
Translate UX designer instructions by choosing the right screen elements


Visual Designer

Visual designers are creative artists concerned with the aesthetics of the screen. They’re not responsible for how the user interacts with the interface. Their focus is on typography, color, graphics, visual effects, and layout.

Roles and responsibilities

Creating mood boards
Drafting pixel-perfect designs
Designing pleasing aesthetics through beautiful icons, controls, and visual elements

Motion Designer

Animation can play a major part in creating a lasting user experience. While visual designers are responsible for static elements, motion designers are concerned with the dynamic experience. A motion designer creates animated effects when a user interacts with the screen.

Roles and Responsibilities

Building product motion prototypes
Creation of motion graphics, animations, and moving elements
Testing animations and ensuring smooth performance

How to Become a UX Designer

To start your UX career, you’ll need to learn the skills required to become a professional designer. You’ll also need practical experience in the role. While some people prefer to get a degree, it's been found that individuals entering the field of UX come from various different backgrounds outside of the traditional college route.

Become an Intern: One way to gain the experience you need, would be to get an internship with an organization. You’ll learn on the job as you work on real-life projects.
Enroll in a Bootcamp: Bootcamps are another great way to learn career-ready skills and build some practical work experience. These laser-focused online courses are specifically designed to get your hired, fast.