Explore the world of UI design and its related fields such as UX, Interaction, and Visual Design. Understand the role of UI designers and how they contribute to various industries, as well as the various career paths and salaries within the field.

Key Insights

  • A UI Designer designs user interfaces for digital applications, including buttons, menus, and widgets. They also develop prototypes and refine their designs based on user research.
  • Several professions overlap with UI design, including Interaction Design, UX Design, Visual Design, Graphic Design, Web Design, and Product Design. These roles vary in their focus on different aspects of the user interface and user interaction.
  • Salaries for these professions vary, ranging from $35,000 to $146,000 annually depending on experience and location.
  • Choosing the right career involves self-evaluation and consideration of personal strengths, interests, preferred work environment, salary expectations, and career growth.
  • Skills gaps can be filled through self-learning or attending bootcamp training courses over a three to six-month period.
  • Noble Desktop offers UI design classes and certificates for those interested in pursuing a career in UI design, with options for in-person learning in NYC or online learning from anywhere. They also provide learning hubs with free tutorials and self-guided education.

There are several careers similar to UI design. Usually, these fields focus on one aspect of UI design, such as visual design, graphic design, and user interaction. These related job positions may serve as jumping-off points for individuals interested in becoming UI Designers but who haven’t yet acquired the necessary experience or education. They are also excellent pivot choices for those with UI design skills looking for other career options.

What is a UI Designer?

A UI Designer designs user interfaces, usually for digital applications such as the web, mobile, or video games. They build visual and interactive elements such as buttons, menus, and widgets. They also develop prototypes and refine their designs based on information gained from user research. Primary job duties of UI Designers include:

  • Developing and enforcing a style guide that establishes a consistent visual “look” across the application.
  • Designing each screen and individual elements within that the user can interact with.
  • Making decisions about layout and visual elements that drive an intuitive user experience.
  • Creating animations.
  • Building wireframes and prototypes.
  • Ensuring layout responsiveness across various screen sizes.

UI Designers craft designs for various industries, such as financial and banking, healthcare apps, retail apps, education, automotive, and gaming. A UI Designer’s primary goal is to design applications so that users intuitively understand how to use them and perform the actions or find the information they need without learning how to use the application first. UI Designers play a significant role in influencing how we use digital technology in our daily lives. 

Read more about what a UI Designer does. 

Interaction Designer

An Interaction Designer focuses their work on the interactive elements of a user interface. Their job responsibilities overlap significantly with that of a UI Designer, including creating wireframes and prototypes and integrating user feedback. At first glance, their job descriptions might appear the same, but the role of a UI Designer lies with the entire user interface, including non-interactive elements. The salary for an Interaction Designer ranges from $70,000 to $145,000 a year, depending on experience and work location. 

UI Design Certificate: Live & Hands-on, In NYC or Online, 0% Financing, 1-on-1 Mentoring, Free Retake, Job Prep. Named a Top Bootcamp by Forbes, Fortune, & Time Out. Noble Desktop. Learn More.

UX Designer

UI and UX Designers both build digital applications focusing on usability and user experience. However, UI Designers are concerned with the visual design and usability of an application’s interface. In contrast, UX Designers are interested in the user's overall experience as they interact with the whole application. 

UX Designers are primarily concerned with conducting user research. In addition to focus groups and usability testing, they also look at analytical data. They gather user feedback and data-focused information and give suggestions to UI Designers for improving their designs. UX and UI Designers generally see similar salaries. 

Visual Designer

Visual Designers are concerned with the visual aesthetics of what users see on their screens. They may work on small projects such as a single webpage or be responsible for designing an attractive and cohesive look across an entire website. They are often tasked with maintaining brand aesthetics on their projects. A UI Designer often faces the same tasks but with the additional duties of building physical interfaces. Salaries for Visual Designers range from $45,000 to $115,000, depending on experience and work location.

Graphic Designer

Graphic Designers are tasked with communicating ideas to their audience through text and images. Graphic Designers traditionally worked in print media, but digital mediums are more common and often provide higher salaries due to the technical knowledge needed. Along with this digital shift, Graphic Designers may also create animations and other visual effects. UI Designers often create digital images and animations but with the additional duties of building physical interfaces. Graphic Designers earn around $35,000 to $85,000 a year, depending on experience and work location.

Web Designer

A Web Designer performs job duties similar to a UI Designer. They design and create all front end aspects of a website, from visual design to graphics and navigation. They commonly develop wireframes. However, they don’t often focus on user interaction or customer research. However, these skills from UI design can greatly enhance web design and are excellent skills for a web designer to possess. Web Designer salaries can range from $42,000 to $110,000, depending on experience and work location.

Product Designer

A Product Designer manages the creation of a product from conception to launch. A UI Designer follows a similar life cycle of a product, including conceptualization, design, prototyping, and user testing. However, they don’t see the whole of a product’s lifecycle. They are also likely to work within a team led by a Product Designer. Product Designers are also responsible for managing product creation teams and product scope and deadlines. They earn, on average, between $60,000 to $146,000 annually, depending on experience and work location.

How to Decide Which Career is Right for You

Deciding on a career can be considerably daunting as many become concerned about choosing the wrong one. It’s important to remember that your career will likely shift throughout your lifetime. This won’t necessarily be because you choose wrong, but because you are likely to change roles or industries as your interests, motivations, and needs change. That said, there are still a few steps you can take to choose a good fit for yourself.

First, you should do a little self-evaluation and ask yourself the following questions: 

  • What skills do you have that you consider strengths? 
  • What topics do you enjoy learning about? 
  • What kind of physical environment would you prefer to work in?
  • How comfortable are you with working in a team or with clients? Or would you prefer more solitary work?
  • What range of salary are you looking for?
  • What kind of growth would you like to see in your career?
  • What type of work/life balance are you looking for?
  • Would you be comfortable moving to a new location to start a new job?

Now that you know the answers to the above questions, you can begin looking for a matching career and relevant job opportunities. You’ll also need to assess what required skills you don’t possess and determine how you want to learn them. Some professionals may self-learn (if applicable) while others will pursue a three to six-month bootcamp training course to fill in skills gaps. 

If you are a college student, you can take advantage of your university’s career services. Training counselors are usually available to help you transition to a new career. Non-students may look into hiring a career coach who can examine their background and guide them through choosing a new career.

Learn the Skills to Become a UI Designer at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop offers several UI design classes for those seeking professional instruction in pursuing a career as a UI Designer. Classes are small and feature expert instructors and free retake options. Courses can be attended in person in NYC or online from anywhere. 

The UI Design Certificate is designed to prepare students to launch a career in UI design. You’ll learn essential design principles as well as how to use the most popular UI design tools: Figma, Photoshop, and Illustrator. Throughout the course, you’ll complete a number of hands-on projects and build a portfolio to showcase your skills to potential employers.

Should you be interested in UX design as well as UI design (the two fields commonly overlap), you can pursue the UX & UI Design Certificate. You’ll learn the design principles and industry tools of both UX & UI design, build a professional portfolio, and receive one-on-one job preparation assistance. 

Bootcamps are also available where you can learn the ins and outs of the most popular UI design tools, including Figma, Photoshop, and Illustrator. These courses are open to pure beginners and are designed to guide you to mastery of the program. 

If you’re not ready to jump into a full UI design course, you can explore Noble Desktop’s learning hubs. These hubs are designed to inform you about a topic and offer learning resources, including free tutorials and self-guided education. UI design learn hubs include: