User experience (UX) design is a rapidly growing field, and businesses are using it in a wide variety of industries. From financial services to healthcare, UX design can help improve user-facing products and services across a wide range of sectors.An important aspect of receiving professional UX Design training to set yourself up for a career change is learning what fields and industries that training will help you find work in. Each industry will have different requirements and expectations for prospective employees, and you should consider these expectations when you start your training. This is true for students who have an idea of what kind of work they want to do and those who aren’t yet sure what path to take after learning UX design skills.

What is UX Design?

User experience design (UX design) is a field of web design dealing with how a website, application, or other digital product feels to its users. User experience design ensures that an application feels easy and accessible to operate. It is a heavily invested field in user behavior research, prototype testing, and data analysis. It is useful to think of it as the more hands-on counterpart to its visually-oriented sister skill, user interface design. User experience design isn’t isolated to work on a single webpage or digital application and instead refers to a subset of data science that strictly examines user preference and behavior regarding web applications.

Read more about what UX design is and why you should learn it. 

What Can You Do with UX Design Skills?

UX design skills will allow you to build better digital applications and contribute to a larger pool of knowledge that helps other designers build better web applications. Whether one is working on individual projects or attempting to improve digital design as a whole, user experience training will help professionals build digital applications that are more user-friendly, accessible, and memorable than ever before. UX design is a particularly enticing field for anyone who feels that digital applications need to be doing more to respond to the needs of their users, as this is the field that gathers the data that demonstrates these needs.

Common Industries That Use UX Design

Several industries make use of UX design and its principles. These professionals develop technical skills to create software, websites, and applications more responsive to user needs. With UX design, professionals can craft user experiences tailored to unique users' different needs. Here are some of the most common industries that use UX design.

Computer Systems Design and Related Services

Computer systems design is an industry that depends on UX design in order to create user-friendly digital products. Professionals in this field use their skills to develop systems for clients and help them manage their data and operations. UX Designers in this field focus on creating user interfaces that are intuitive, attractive, and organized. Without the help of UX professionals, many computer systems would be difficult to navigate and use.

This industry has positions at various levels, from entry-level UX Designers to senior staff members tasked with leading design teams. UX design professionals made up 16% of the industry in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and this number is expected to grow over time. With the right training, UX professionals can find work in several different roles in this industry.

Software Publishing

Software publishing is an industry that relies heavily on UX design. UX Designers in this field craft user interfaces and experiences that make software programs more accessible and easier to use. Professionals also evaluate existing products, identify problems, and suggest solutions to improve user experience. The focus here is not only on creating attractive user interfaces but also on making sure that these interfaces are intuitive and easy to navigate.

Software publishing is a growing field with an increasing demand for UX Designers. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, UX professionals made up 13% of the software publishing industry in 2021, highlighting the importance of UX design in this field. As software companies continue to create new products and improve existing ones, they will need more professionals with UX design skills. 

Finance and Insurance

Finance and insurance are two industries that have come to rely heavily on UX design. Companies in this field strive to create digital products that are secure, reliable, and enjoyable to use. UX Designers in this field create user interfaces that make it easy to access information, manage finances, and make secure payments. They also work to ensure that the user experience is enjoyable and satisfying.

UX Designers are a crucial part of the finance and insurance industry. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, UX professionals made up 5% of the industry in 2021. As companies continue to invest in digital products and services, they will need more UX Designers to develop user interfaces that make the user experience more efficient and enjoyable.

Retail Trade

Retail trade is another industry that makes use of UX design. Retail companies need to create user experiences that are intuitive, attractive, and enjoyable if they want to attract customers. Professionals in this field use their skills to craft user interfaces for websites, mobile applications, and customer service systems customized to different user needs. They also focus on making sure that customers have a smooth, enjoyable experience when they are shopping online.

UX Designers in this field are increasingly sought after. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, UX professionals made up 5% of the retail trade industry in 2021. As consumers become more comfortable shopping online, companies will need more professionals with UX design skills to develop user interfaces tailored to customer needs. 

Advertising and Public Relations

Advertising and public relations rely heavily on UX design skills. Professionals in this field create user experiences for websites, mobile applications, and other specialized digital products to meet the target audience's expectations. One of the primary focuses in this field is to create user interfaces that are visually appealing and engaging. UX Designers also need to have an understanding of the target audience and their needs in order to craft experiences that are tailored to those needs.

UX Designers in this field play a key role in creating engaging user experiences. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, UX professionals comprised 4% of the advertising and public relations industry in 2021. With this industry focusing on creating digital products and services, the demand for UX Designers will continue to grow. 

Learn UX Design Skills with Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop offers students many user experience design courses and bootcamps. These courses, available both in-person and online, offer in-depth, career-focused UX design training and are all taught by expert instructors in real time. Even taken online, these courses allow students to interact directly with their instructor in the classroom and during one-on-one mentoring sessions. The small class sizes ensure students won’t get lost in crowded lecture halls. In addition, students can retake any course they enroll in for free within one year. This means students can take their courses a second time to review lessons, cover material they found difficult, or get more hands-on user experience design practice.

For students looking to learn the basics of UX Design, Noble offers a UX Design in a Day, in which students will learn the basic elements of the UX design process. They will learn key terms and ideas, like personas and scenarios, and how to conduct basic user research and interview participants to receive feedback. They will also learn the basic process of sketching and building prototype applications for testing. This is an introductory course, so it will only scratch the surface of the tests and research work involved in UX design, but it is an important course for laying the foundation for more immersive training.

Students seeking a more detailed, career-focused training course can enroll in Noble’s UX & UI Design Certificate. This course prepares students for employment in the UX/UI design field and will provide students with hands-on experience building and testing user interfaces. Users will receive training in advanced research techniques, including conducting interviews, producing written user reports, and running surveys. Then, students will learn how to interpret this data so that they may return to their designs and iterate on them in light of the feedback. Students will also be given hands-on training in prototyping and design software like Figma, Sketch, and Adobe XD. At the end of the course, students can build a portfolio of sample interface designs and user experience case studies. In addition to this portfolio, students will receive one-on-one career mentorship, and by the end of the course, they will be ready to enter the workforce in the field of user experience design.

Key Takeaways

• UX Designers are responsible for creating engaging user experiences tailored to the target audience's needs. 
• UX design professionals use skills in research, prototyping, and design software to create user interfaces that are visually appealing and engaging. 
• Demand for UX Designers is growing as the digital products and services industry grows, making it an exciting and rewarding field.
• Noble Desktop offers comprehensive UX design training in-person and online.