UX Designer Job Description
What is UX design?
UX stands for user experience, so UX design involves crafting the best possible experience for a user when they access a product or service. The term is sometimes – and wrongly – used interchangeably with UI, or user interface, but UX design is a far broader discipline that deals with the whole experience the end user has of the company.
What does a UX designer do?
As UX design is a broad field that handles all of the different aspects of user experience, the role of a UX designer has to reflect this. The role takes into account user psychology, as well as the more practical duties of actually crafting the experience.
This means researching the products and services offered by the organisation, as well as their position within the market, crafting user personas and understanding motivations, and then designing the best possible experience for the user based on this.
User experience design is, of course, an ongoing discipline. As consumer motivation changes, and as new functionality is added to the business, the role of the UX designer will evolve alongside this.
UX designer responsibilities
- Researching the product or service to understand its audience and its position in the market, gathering data that is used to deliver the best possible results to each user
- Understanding the psychology and motivation of the user so as to position the product or service in a way that supports this
- Crafting the product, service, or other point of interaction in a way that fits into the narrative of the customer journey
- Structuring and labelling the information architecture and then wireframing to demonstrate the final look and feel of the experience
- Creating prototypes of websites, applications, or products to further demonstrate this user experience
- Testing the user experience and ironing out any issues before launch
- Ongoing testing and appraisal to make sure the user experience continues to be the best it can be
What skills does a UX designer need to have?
- UX designers need to have strong research skills to examine the market and the intentions of the user.
- They will need strong interpersonal skills and an ability to collaborate effectively on projects, communicating findings, listening to feedback, and actively contributing to solutions.
- They will need to be able to use wireframing tools competently and to great effect.
- They will also need to be able to get the best out of prototyping software to create effective demonstrations of the UX in action.
- Copywriting skills may also be required as the user will need to be guided and inspired by text and verbal communication at different stages of the experience.
- Graphic design skills and visual communication are necessary to support the UX and to connect the product with the brand.
The designer will need a solid grounding in empathy and psychology to be able to put themselves in the position of the user on the way to crafting the best experience. - UI skills are necessary. We have discussed how UX and UI are not interchangeable terms, but there are significant crossovers between both disciplines, and UX designers will certainly need to be able to design a pleasing interface.
- To craft the best UX, sophisticated coding is required. While organisations will probably employ coding specialists, it is still helpful for the UX designer to have a good understanding of coding.
- All that testing and appraisal require data, and this data comes from analytics. UX designers will need to be able to gather and interpret data from analytics platforms and then put this insight into action in their designs.
What qualifications does a UX designer need?
Most UX designers will need to be educated to bachelor's degree level to qualify for a position. This bachelor's degree will most likely be in visual design, information technology, or computer science, but degrees in psychology and communications may also be useful.
Some organisations may take on UX designers without this bachelor's degree, provided that they have enough experience in a relevant field. This experience may have been gained in the form of apprenticeship or from freelance UX design projects in some cases. More experienced and better-qualified candidates will have an advantage when applying for roles, and will receive higher salaries as a result.
Master's degrees may not be required for entry-level positions but may make it easier for UX designers to achieve higher salaries. A master's degree may also give the designer the opportunity to achieve a more senior role as long as they also have the requisite experience on the job.
What is the career path for a UX designer?
Junior Roles
Junior UX designer
UX design assistant
Customer psychology researcher
UX design apprentice
Manager Roles
UX design manager
UX design team leader
UX design project manager
Senior Management
Senior UX design manager
UX director
UX strategist
Project director
Who does a UX designer report to?
The management structure for a UX designer depends largely on the size of the organisation. In smaller organisations, the UX designer may report directly to upper management or to senior project managers handling the development of new products and services.
In larger organisations, the structure is likely to be more complex, with junior UX designers reporting to line managers and senior UX designers. These senior UX designers may report to upper management, or there may be other intermediary strata that they must report to.
All UX designers will need to work side by side with different teams to ensure a harmonious approach to design. This means reporting to different groups within the organisation and collaborating on a project-specific basis.
Common UX design terms
A/B testing
Accessibility
Adaptive
Analytics
Avatar
Prototyping
Breadcrumb
Card Sorting
Conversion rate
Customer experience
Design thinking
Eye tracking
Experience
Flowchart
Frictionless
Grid system
Heat map
Interface
Mockup
MVP
Pain points
Persona
Profiling
Prototype
Sitemap
Segmentation
Storyboard
Pain points
UI Pattern
User centred design
User flow
User journey maps
User psychology
User stories
Wireframing
How much does a UX designer earn?
A UX designer earns around $101,850 on average each year.
This is greatly dependent on experience and qualification, with entry-level UX designers earning around $46,000 and more experienced professionals commanding a salary of $179,000.
Do you know how much analytics professionals are getting paid?
Download our salary guide to access salary ranges for over 166 analytics roles in Australia.
Contact our specialist UX design recruitment team
Our consultants know what good looks like when it comes to UX design talent. Whether you are looking to hire or to place yourself in a new role, we are here to help.
UX design jobs
Data Analyst
Hudson is looking to engage the services of a Data Analyst to work with stakeholders to understand their needs and tailor data extracts and reports and analysis to different audiences. This position will be key in helping improve products and busines...
Thank you. You have been successfully subscribed to our newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter
By subscribing to our newsletter I agree to the collection, use and disclosure of my personal information in accordance with Hudson’s Privacy Policy