A Comprehensive Guide to UI/UX Design Careers & Salaries

The UX field has been under continuous evolvement ever since its being introduced. A lot of sub-branches have spread under this umbrella. In this blog, I discussed  9 roles in the UX field and their average salaries. It should be mentioned that information is acquired from different sources like Glassdoor, Indeed, Ziprecruiter, and Payscale.

UX Designers and Their Salary 

A user experience designer is someone who knows the customer's perspective and designs to meet their wants. Their primary purpose is to improve the user experience by taking into account a person's emotions and attitudes toward utilizing a product. The product's logical flow must be established by the UX designer. 

They are in charge of conducting user and competitor research, interviewing people to understand their wants and needs, developing product prototypes, iterating those designs, and testing products.

Every year, about 17,900 jobs open up in the UX field. This is expected to grow by 13% in the next ten years. From these numbers, it's clear that the job market for UX designers is good. The average salary for a UX professional who is just starting out is $89,528 per year, and senior designers can make up to $134,395 per year.

UI Designers and Their Salary 

UI designers make all of the screens that make up a digital user interface, as well as all of the parts that go on each screen. So, they think about the layout of each screen and how all the screens fit together.

Their goal is to make user interfaces that look great, accurately represent the brand, and are easy and fun for users to use. They mostly focus on colors, images, fonts, and visual elements like buttons, text and form fields, drop-down lists, scrollbars, icons, and checkboxes.

Indeed says that the average base salary for a user interface (UI) designer is $81,484. User Interface Designers in the United States are expected to make a total of $108,891 per year, with an average salary of $79,451 per year.

And Zippia says that user interface designers in the United States make an average of $92,247 per year or $44.35 per hour. The bottom 10% of user interface designers, to be exact, make about $64,000 a year, while the top 10% make about $131,000.

Lead UX Designer and Their Salary 

As the name suggests, they are usually project leaders. The person in charge of a project's creative aspect is the person who fills this UX function. This individual generates ideas, considers several alternatives, determines the path that the design solution will take, collaborates creatively with the client or the project team, and allows others to handle the technicalities of the work.

They mainly organize information and have a clear aim to improve communication.  The lead user experience designers are accountable for testing usability, accessibility, and intrusiveness when the project is complete and also create wireframes for different project stages and user journey sessions. Lead designers usually are UX designers who have 10+ years of experience. 

The salary range of Lead UX designers starts from $125,193 to $168,00 annually. And according to the job post from Indeed, the salary range is $139,000 to $201,000.

Product Designers and Their Average Salaries 

A product designer is someone who employs numerous design components and approaches to create and implement a plan to solve user experience challenges. They are known as problem solvers. Aside from that, product designers are especially vital at critical stages of product development.

Depending on the type of company, the size and variety of the design department, and the individual's area of specialization, a product designer may also serve as a User Experience Designer, Customer Experience Architect, User Interface Designer, Interaction Designer, or Information Architect. Alternatively, the Product Designer could be in charge of any or all of the above.

According to Glassdoor, if you start as an entry-level product designer, your salary range can vary from $58,297 to $88,381 annually. And as a senior product designer, your salary range is between $109,693 and $150,000 annually.

To learn about the differences, have a look at the article “ UI Designer vs. UX Designer vs. Product Designer: A Comparative Analysis ”

UX Information Architects and Their Average Salaries 

An Information Architect sets up complex information systems so that users can find exactly what they are looking for. You could call this person a "digital data docent." If you've ever been looking for something on a website and thought, "If I made this, I'd make this so much easier to find!" "—then you might be meant to be an Information Architect.

The role of an Information Architect is to find and express the "why" behind a project. They are responsible for website/user interface design and development, including layout, navigation, and flow, as well as creating IA documentation such as site maps, navigation models, and content models.

Usually, companies want to hire someone with information architecture and UX design skills.  In Upwork, from entry-level to experienced information,  architects are charging from $50 to $100 per hour. Also, they working UI designs, UX research, and writing as well.  And according to Glassdoor, the salary range is from $106,000 to $151,000. 

UX Researchers and Their Salary 

UX researchers are essential to human-centered design, despite the fact that they are not traditional designers. They contribute to the understanding of the user, which is essential for the development of amazing products. They extensively examine clients and users to comprehend their needs and desires. In addition, they collaborate closely with designers and developers to suit the goals and desires of the user. LinkedIn rates the position in the top 25 fastest-growing occupations in the United States.

To comprehend user behavior, a UX researcher uses several research techniques, including surveys, interviews, focus groups, and observation. They are responsible for conducting research prior to design, generating new ideas for design solutions, validating the completed design, prototypes, and concepts, and iterating for improvements. They champion client advocacy throughout the company.

The average UX researcher's pay in the United States is $100,400 per year. This can rise to $230,000 as your professional experience and specialty increase. According to Glassdoors, the projected total compensation for a UX Researcher in the United States is $113,154 annually, with a mean salary of $90,788 annually.

UX Engineers and Their Average Salaries

Using UX concepts, a UX engineer produces and designs digital goods such as websites and applications. UX engineers are typically responsible for the user-facing aspects of these products, such as the interfaces' buttons, layouts, and flow. As professionals with design and programming skills, UX engineers frequently serve as the link between the two groups. UX engineers can develop products alongside designers, back-end developers, and writers. 

Learning the coding languages that will allow you to build out the structure and style of your products is essential for UX engineers, who typically deal with the front-facing aspects of websites and apps (menus, layouts, and navigation pages). Included here are HTML, CSS, and Javascript. UX engineers typically hold degrees in the following disciplines: Psychology, Human-computer interaction, Design, and computer science.

According to Glassdoor, the average annual wage for UX engineers in the United States is $102,951. The majority of UI UX Engineers' salaries in the United States range between $79,000 (25th percentile) and $118,500 (75th percentile) yearly, according to ZipRecruiter.

UX Consultants and Their Average Salaries 

Digital products can be very complicated, just like the human body. Sometimes, they become unbalanced. They get sick in the end. When a business calls a consultant, it's usually because they know something is wrong but don't know how to fix it. They need a professional diagnosis and plan for getting better. UX consultants are hired to look for problems that haven't been found yet.

A junior UX designer shouldn't do UX consulting. To be taken seriously as a consultant, you need to have worked for a number of companies for a long time. Also, you should know a lot about UX design, including user research, information architecture, interaction, and so on, and have worked in the UX field for at least 7 years.

The total pay for a UX Consultant in the United States is estimated to be $120,356 per year, with an average salary of $103,237 per year. Payscale says that the base salary range for UX consultants is between $54,000 and $115,000.

In conclusion, the UI/UX field offers diverse and rewarding career paths, where professionals have the chance to create meaningful experiences for users while being rewarded with competitive salaries. As technology advances, UX design's importance will only grow, making it a compelling field for those passionate about combining creativity, psychology, and technology to shape the digital world.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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