Icon
Select
Icon
Customize
Icon
Download

Want a stronger resume? Use our extensive library of professional resume examples as practical starting guides. You’ll also find ready-made content with our helpful Resume Builder – simple click, customize, and download.

Looking for cover letter ideas? See our sample UI Designer Cover Letter.

Find out what is the best resume for you in our Ultimate Resume Format Guide.

Icon

UI Designer Duties and Responsibilities

Develop and Design Graphical Elements Graphic design is one of the most important elements of a UI designer’s role. Successful UI designers need a strong grasp of graphic design trends and principles, particularly as they relate to web and application design. UI designers are familiar with a wide range of graphic design and prototyping programs and use these to design graphical elements that work across platforms.

Determine Technological Needs and Limits UI designers also need to have a keen grasp of the technology they are working with, understanding its use cases and limitations in order to design user-facing elements. In this role, UI designers have a strong sense of what users expect from the software or application and understand how design elements work with backend elements to balance attractive design with ease of use.

Build Mockups and Wireframes Frequently, UI designers develop and present mockups and wireframes to clients, team members, and management. This is often an iterative process, with the UI designer developing several different versions, incorporating feedback and revision requests, and presenting updated versions before the project moves into the final design stage.

Conduct Consumer Research UI designers may communicate directly with users, including beta testers and initial users, to receive feedback on design elements. This aspect of the role can involve A/B testing to determine which elements of a site or application users find most accessible and usable, as well as asking users to provide their general impressions of the look and feel of the application or site.

Collaborate with Team Members UI designers work with cross-functional teams that can include product development and content management personnel, so successfully communicating and coordinating across departments is a major aspect of this role. UI designers may need to gather specifications and report their findings to other teams while also receiving updated guidelines and UI requirements throughout the design, testing, and deployment process.

Program and Code Many UI designers are also responsible for some level of writing and editing code. While this is not always the case, some level of familiarity with programming languages and best practices can help support other aspects of this role and speed up project timelines. Because they work with applications and sites that face the user, many UI designers use front-end coding languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to design and tweak specific aspects and elements.

Icon

UI Designer Skills and Qualifications

UI designers play a vital role in determining how applications and sites look and feel for the end user. They need both a strong design sense and extensive familiarity with technology to succeed in this role. Most employees hire UI designers with at least a bachelor’s degree in a related field, along with the following skills:
  • Graphic Design – Successful UI designers have extensive familiarity with graphic design processes and principles and possess a keen understanding of how design elements work together
  • Coding and Design Tools – UI designers use a variety of design and coding tools to develop and edit user-facing elements. They may also develop wireframes and prototypes during the design process
  • Testing and Feedback – While developing projects, UI designers conduct usability testing and gather feedback from users. This provides helpful information for future iterations of the application or site
  • Team Collaboration – UI designers usually work with cross-functional teams, so the ability to communicate with product development and content production personnel is key to successful UI design
  • Presentation – Often, UI designers need to present and defend their design decisions during the project lifecycle. UI designers are able to justify design decisions and clearly articulate their reasoning behind those decisions
  • Problem-Solving – UI designers think on their feet and rapidly adjust ideas and solve problems. Specifications may change, or a significant revision of backend code may result in the UI designer developing new solutions
Icon

UI Designer Education and Training

Most UI designers have at least a bachelor’s degree, although there are many options when it comes to specific programs. UI designers may have a bachelor of arts degree in graphic design or fine arts, or a computer science or design-related degree in a field like information systems or interaction design.
Icon

UI Designer Salary and Outlook

While the Bureau of Labor Statistics does not have specific wage data for UI designers, both Glassdoor and PayScale have gathered salary reports from this field. Glassdoor estimates that the median annual salary for UI designers is $81,794, with 1,626 salaries reported. PayScale reports that the median annual salary is $63,343, with a significantly smaller sample size of 809 reported salaries. Increasingly, companies are combining the roles of UI designer and UX (User Experience) designer. These two roles do have some overlap, so job seekers looking to enter this field may have better prospects if they have experience with both.
Icon

Helpful Resources

If you’re interested in beginning a career as a UI designer, we found several resources to help you learn more about the field:

"What Do I Need to Know to Become a UI Designer?" – This article provides a look at the creative process and provides exercises and tips for people looking for a career as a UI designer.

Designing with the Mind in Mind, Second Edition: Simple Guide to Understanding User Interface Design Guidelines by Jeff Johnson – Read about principles and best practices for UI design, including user perspectives.

"Why UI Designers Should Learn to Code" – Read this blog article about the many benefits of learning to code when you work as a UI designer.

UI is Communication: How to Design Intuitive, User Centered Interfaces by Focusing on Effective Communication by Everett N. McKay – This book examines the role of UI and provides guidance on designing accessible and intuitive experiences for end users.

Create your own professional resume in just minutes.

Try our resume builder today

Build Your Resume
create-your-own-professional