Your constantly-updated definition of UX Roles and
collection of videos and articles
248shares
What are UX Roles?
UX roles describe the various parts designers play in the design process. They range from generalist roles—e.g., UX designers and product designers—to specialist ones such as visual designers and UX researchers. UX roles might overlap in scope, and they keep evolving with our understanding of the ideal design process.
“Successful design projects require effective collaboration and healthy conflict.”
—Dan M. Brown, Author, co-founder and principal of EightShapes
One major part of what a design team does is to follow a user centered design process and work through it to produce the best possible designs for the target users. Team-mates perform many tasks throughout projects—from user research[TTV3] , to prototyping, to conducting usability testing—to iterate towards optimal solutions. Design thinking showcases the key UX tasks corresponding to these roles. It also reflects how each role contributes slightly differently regarding tasks. Main roles are:
1. UX designers(akaInteraction/UI/Experience designers) – Generalists working on all design thinking phases.
Design pattern libraries, style guides or design systems
2. Product designers – Like UX designers, but focusing especially on product designand the UX. They help create product designs, goals and roadmaps (high-level summaries/6–12-month forecasts of product offerings and features).
Tasks:
(Same as UX designers’)
Inform and plan roadmaps
Collaborate closely with development and marketing teams to ensure designs can be implemented properly
Typical Deliverables:
(Same as UX designers’)
Product roadmaps (probably co-developing these alongside other stakeholders)
3. Visual designers – Specialists with graphic design/visual design backgrounds focusing on making pixel-perfect prototypes later in the design process.
Tasks:
Convert UX goals into attractive design sets (e.g., app screens) with high usability and accessibility
Create and/or maintain libraries of product icons, colors and fonts
Apply branding guidelines
Utilize design concepts (e.g., Gestalt principles) to make pleasing graphical user interfaces (GUIs)
Typical Deliverables:
Prototypes: pixel-perfect and interactive
Visual style guides
Icon libraries
Design specifications for frontend developers to produce needed live code
Branding materials or guidelines supplementing each product
4. User/UX researchers – Researchers interested in human psychology, focusing on understanding and advocating for users.
Develop realistic understandings of specific user traits through quantitative research
Analyze gathered user data to synthesize key findings and make design proposals
Advocate to other internal stakeholders for users’ needs and perspectives
Help inform product goals by presenting research findings to relevant internal stakeholders
Test and improve designs using evaluative research – e.g., usability testing
Typical Deliverables:
User personas
User stories
Customer journey maps
“How might we” statements
Reports: user research, usability, heuristic evaluation and user testing
5. Content strategists – Skilled in copywriting to create persuasive, clear, consistent copy (during prototyping) to appear directly on products.
Tasks:
Write copy so users can navigate, use and troubleshoot user-interface products easily
Create effective page titles and navigation menu item names so users can intuitively access desired pages/screens
Write simple, effective and blame-free error messages to assure users
Craft effective emails and newsletters to achieve product goals
Weave cohesive narratives throughout products to express a consistent tone of voice and direction for users
Define and maintain a vision for each product’s language for across-the-board application
Typical Deliverables:
Copy (incorporated into products)
Editorial/product language guidelines, setting each product’s tone and content style
6. UX unicorns (aka UX engineers) – A rare breed handling UX design and frontend development.
Tasks:
(Same as UX designers’)
Develop live frontend prototypes for realistic usability testing
Implement frontend code
Typical Deliverables:
(Same as UX designers’)
Frontend prototypes
Ready-for-launch frontend code
Author/Copyright holder: Yuval Yeret. Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
UX Roles at Work
Organizations’ definitions of UX roles vary. While these shouldn’t deviate drastically from those listed above, you should research a brand’s culture to understand its expectations. For instance, recruiters scanning UX portfolios may want a “UX designer” to handle all UX-related tasks. Applicants would then address that in their UX cover letters and UX resumes. Also, with the industry’s dynamic nature, expect to constantly find new job titles, job descriptions and UX tools. Nonetheless, your knowledge remains timeless – you just must adapt to whatever hat your company wants you to wear.
Did you know the average UX recruiter spends less than 5 minutes skimming through your UX portfolio? If you want to join the growing and well-paid field of UX design, not only do you need a UX portfolio—you’ll need a great UX portfolio that showcases relevant skills and knowledge. Your UX portfolio will help you get your first job interviews and freelance clients, and it will also force you to stay relevant in your UX career. In other words, no matter what point you’re at in your UX career, you’re going to need a UX portfolio that’s in tip-top condition.
So, how do you build an enticing UX portfolio, especially if you’ve got no prior experience in UX design? Well, that’s exactly what you’ll learn in this course! You’ll cover everything so you can start from zero and end up with an incredible UX portfolio. For example, you’ll walk through the various UX job roles, since you can’t begin to create your portfolio without first understanding which job role you want to apply for! You’ll also learn how to create your first case studies for your portfolio even if you have no prior UX design work experience. You’ll even learn how to navigate non-disclosure agreements and create visuals for your UX case studies.
By the end of this practical, how to oriented course, you’ll have the skills needed to create your personal online UX portfolio site and PDF UX portfolio. You’ll receive tips and insights from recruiters and global UX design leads from SAP, Oracle and Google to give you an edge over your fellow candidates. You’ll learn how to craft your UX case studies so they’re compelling and relevant, and you’ll also learn how to engage recruiters through the use of Freytag’s dramatic structure and 8 killer tips to write effectively. What’s more, you’ll get to download and keep more than 10 useful templates and samples that will guide you closely as you craft your UX portfolio. To sum it up, if you want to create a UX portfolio and land your first job in the industry, this is the course for you!
Have you gained substantial experience in User experience (UX) design to the point where you're considering a career cha
551 shares
8 mths ago
Open Access—Link to us!
We believe in Open Access and the democratization of knowledge. Unfortunately, world-class educational materials such as this page are normally hidden behind paywalls or in expensive textbooks.