If you are into Digital Products and Design, then being a part of the UI/UX industry just might be for you. Let’s break down what a UI/UX Designer actually does, the key skills required for the job, and their major responsibilities.
What Does A UI/UX Designer Do?
The job of the UX Designer is to make sure that a Product enhances the user experience and increases user satisfaction. The Designer has to ensure that the product is such that satisfies the user’s needs and makes him happy at the end of the day. This increases the business’s return on investment and facilitates business growth and success.
UI Designer
A UI Designer on the other hand focuses on how the user will interact with a Digital Product or service. UI is another function of UX Design however the primary goal with UI is to focus on how the user interacts and engages with the product. It is more concerned with the visuals and layout of the product and service.
Now that we know what UI/UX Design actually is, we can now talk about the Key Skills that every UI/UX Designer needs to have under their belt to be successful.
UX Designer
Since UX Designers have to make sure that there is overall customer satisfaction above all else, they need to have the skills and the ability to conduct competitor analysis to see ways and strategies that they can stand out from the crowd.
They need to gather research about the users through qualitative and quantitative techniques. Prototyping and Wireframing is another very important skill that every UI/UX Designer needs to have.
Information architecture skills enable the UX Designer to ensure that the content is properly structured and organized so that the users are easily able to find it. Content strategy is key here and therefore this skill is necessary. And since UI/UX go hand in hand, there needs to be coordination between the two departments as well as the developers so that all the goals can be achieved effectively.
On the other hand, the key role of a UI Designer is to carry out the branding of the Digital Products and services, create the visual designs of the product, interact and collaborate with the Development team, focus on the typography, color schemes, and layouts and conduct Design research to figure out the latest Design trends.
UI/UX Designer
Other Interpersonal skills a UI/UX Designer needs are the ability to be curious about the needs and wants of the customer and what they can do to make their products and services better. The UI/UX Designer also needs to have the ability to put themselves in the shoes of the customer so that they can understand the customer’s needs and then design and develop products to ensure customer satisfaction. And that can only be achieved through a thorough understanding of their needs and their problems.
A UI/UX Designer also needs to be equipped with communication skills as they have to interact with the customers, the different departments, and the developers. Communication skills are necessary to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that all the mutual goals are achieved.
The Key Responsibilities that a UI/UX Designer has to undertake include conducting user research and learning about their needs and motivations to then build a product that caters to their demands. They also need to create the Information Architecture of the Digital Product and make it effective so that the user can easily identify where to find any information that they need easily.
Conclusion | What Does A UI/UX Designer Do?
Last but not the least, they have to test the Product on actual users before launching the Product into the world. One of the key roles of a UI/UX Designer is gathering valuable feedback based on the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) launched. This product testing is important to determine if the Digital Product could be a potential success or not. Feedback is collected by analyzing and observing the actual responses of the users.