UI Designer: Job Description and Salary

Companies employ several types of designers. Visual or graphic designers create the beautiful graphics and assets that inject beauty into the product, as Fast Company notes. User experience (UX) designers are concerned with how the product feels when it’s being used, and they do this by ensuring that the product logically flows from one step to the next.

Another important part of design is how the product is actually laid out. That is where user interface (UI) designers come into play.

What is a UI Designer?

A UI designer is responsible for making a UX designer’s vision a reality. After conducting tests on user behavior for a website, app, or video game, the UX designer will outline how the product should be ordered to provide users with a smooth experience. Then the UI designer will begin putting everything together. An analogy would be coming up with a new car: the UX designer comes up with the specifications and features, and the UI designer follows through with putting everything together so it all works seamlessly.

The two designers work together to create a sensible and beautiful product for users, but the roles are quite different. UX design is more analytical and technical, and it involves research, testing, development, prototyping, and more to support the product’s main goals. UI design is more aesthetic and visual. It encompasses the digital design and interactive elements needed to support a strong user experience. As a result, UI designers typically need design and coding skills.

Designing the user interface means ensuring the site is easy to use in all aspects. For instance, in eCommerce, some of those aspects include:  

• Splash pages: Splash pages display before the main content of a site is shown. The user receives an email subscription pitch, desired language choice, or age verification.
• Landing pages: Understanding calls to action and how they relate to UI design is a big part of pages that are designed to convert visitors to customers. 
• Product pages: A UI designer balances the white spaces, headlines, text, videos, and images to create a compelling visual layout that moves inventory.
• Checkout pages: Customers who are distracted, disappointed, or simply leave the site undermine a company’s revenue. The UI designer must create a simple, fast checkout experience that encourages the user to complete the purchase.
• Mobile app interfaces: From swiping pages, to touching buttons, UI design is a crucial part of the mobile app experience. The designer must account for aspects such as touch screen technology and the ability to transform the site for a wide range of devices and sizes (responsive web design).

The average salary for UI designers in the United States is $88,801, based on more than 10,000 data points collected from employees, users, designers, and job advertisements on Indeed.

Take the Next Steps

Hone your skills in core interface design fundamentals for websites, mobile devices, information kiosks, and product interfaces with the Design for User Experience BA online program at Lesley University.

In our program, you’ll learn to research, conceptualize, design, and prototype user interfaces and experiences for digital interactions across multiple platforms. You can create integrated design solutions, get hands-on experience, and learn to solve real-world problems.

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