User interface designer

A User Interface Designer is a creative professional who focuses on the visual layout and interactive elements of a product’s interface. Their role is to design intuitive, attractive, and functional interfaces that enhance user experience across websites, apps, software, and digital platforms. UI Designers work closely with UX designers, developers, and product teams to ensure that the look and feel of a product aligns with its brand identity and usability goals.

Here are typical duties of user interface designers:

• Design user interface layouts, menus, buttons, icons, and visual elements that guide users through a digital experience.
• Collaborate with UX designers to translate wireframes and user research into high-fidelity visual designs.
• Develop style guides, UI kits, and design systems to ensure consistency across digital products.
• Use design tools like Figma, Adobe XD, Sketch, or InVision to create mockups, prototypes, and interactive demos.
• Conduct design reviews and make adjustments based on team feedback and usability testing results.
• Ensure visual designs align with brand identity and accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG).
• Work with front-end developers to ensure pixel-perfect implementation of design elements.
• Stay up to date with trends in digital design, typography, color theory, and responsive layout practices.
• Prepare design assets and specifications for development handoff.
• Contribute to creating user flows and interaction models when needed.

The following job titles also refer to user interface designer:

UI designer
accessibility designer
user interface designers

User Interface Designers typically work in tech companies, creative agencies, startups, or as freelancers. Most work is done in design studios or remotely using cloud-based collaboration tools. The role involves teamwork, iteration, and consistent communication with UX designers, developers, and project managers. Standard work hours apply, though tight deadlines or product launches may require extended effort.

• Education: A degree in graphic design, visual communication, human-computer interaction, or a related field is often preferred. However, many successful UI designers are self-taught or bootcamp-trained with strong portfolios.
• Experience: 1–5 years in UI or digital design roles; experience with responsive and cross-platform design is a plus.
• Certifications (optional): Google UX Design Certificate, Adobe Certified Expert (ACE), or certifications from platforms like Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, or DesignLab.

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

• the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
• the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
• the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

User interface designer is a Skill level 4 occupation.

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to user interface designer.

digital games designer
ICT intelligent systems designer
3D modeller
ICT system architect
software architect

This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of user interface designer.

• Software UI design patterns: The reusable solutions and formalised best practices to solve common user interface tasks in software development and design.
• ICT accessibility standards: The recommendations for making ICT content and applications more accessible to a wider range of people, mostly with disabilities, such as blindness and low vision, deafness and hearing loss and cognitive limitations. It includes standards such as Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
• Web programming: The programming paradigm that is based on combining markup (which adds context and structure to text) and other web programming code, such as AJAX, javascript and PHP, in order to carry out appropriate actions and visualise the content.
• Task algorithmisation: The techniques to convert unstructured descriptions of a process into step-by-step sequence of actions of a finite number of steps.
• ICT security legislation: The set of legislative rules that safeguards information technology, ICT networks and computer systems and legal consequences which result from their misuse. Regulated measures include firewalls, intrusion detection, anti-virus software and encryption.
• World wide web consortium standards: The standards, technical specifications and guidelines developed by the international organisation World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) which allow the design and development of web applications.
• Human-computer interaction: The study of the behaviour and interaction between digital devices and human beings.
• Graphics editor software: The field of graphical ICT tools which enable digital editing and composition of graphics, such as GIMP, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator, to develop both 2D raster or 2D vector graphics.
• Application usability: The process through which the learnability, efficiency, usefulness and ease of use of a software application can be defined and measured.
• Software interaction design: The methodologies for designing interaction between users and a software product or service to satisfy the needs and preferences of most of the people who will interface with the product and to simplify the communication between product and user such as Goal-oriented design.

These skills are necessary for the role of user interface designer.

• Use markup languages: Utilise computer languages that are syntactically distinguishable from the text to add annotations to a document, specify layout and process types of documents such as HTML.
• Design process: Identify the workflow and resource requirements for a particular process, using a variety of tools such as process simulation software, flowcharting and scale models.
• Translate requirement concepts into visual design: Develop visual design from given specifications and requirements, based on the analysis of the scope and target audience. Create a visual representation of ideas such as logos, website graphics, digital games and layouts.
• Assess users’ interaction with ICT applications: Evaluate how users interact with ICT applications in order to analyse their behaviour, draw conclusions (for instance about their motives, expectations and goals) and improve applications’ functionalities.
• Utilise methodologies for user centered design: Use design methodologies in which the needs, wishes and limitations of end users of a product, service or process are given extensive attention at each stage of the design process.
• Develop creative ideas: Developing new artistic concepts and creative ideas.
• Interact with users to gather requirements: Communicate with users to identify their requirements and collect them. Define all relevant user requirements and document them in an understandable and logical way for further analysis and specification.
• Test system accessibility for users with special needs: Examine whether software interface complies with standards and regulations so that the system can be used by people with special needs.
• Manage online content: Ensure the website content is up to date, organised, attractive and meets the target audience needs, the requirements of the company and international standards by checking the links, setting the publishing time framework and order.
• Define technical requirements: Specify technical properties of goods, materials, methods, processes, services, systems, software and functionalities by identifying and responding to the particular needs that are to be satisfied according to customer requirements.
• Build business relationships: Establish a positive, long-term relationship between organisations and interested third parties such as suppliers, distributors, shareholders and other stakeholders in order to inform them of the organisation and its objectives.
• Design graphics: Apply a variety of visual techniques in order to design graphic material. Combine graphical elements to communicate concepts and ideas.
• Create website wireframe: Develop an image or set of images that display the functional elements of a website or page, typically used for planning a website’s functionality and structure.
• Draw design sketches: Create rough pictures to assist in creating and communicating design concepts.
• Design user interface: Create software or device components which enable interaction between humans and systems or machines, using appropriate techniques, languages and tools so as to streamline interaction while using the system or machine.

This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of user interface designer. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

• Haskell: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in Haskell.
• Incremental development: The incremental development model is a methodology to design software systems and applications.
• Erlang: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in Erlang.
• SAS language: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in SAS language.
• Agile project management: The agile project management approach is a methodology for planning, managing and overseeing of ICT resources in order to meet specific goals and using project management ICT tools.
• Ruby (computer programming): The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in Ruby.
• Common Lisp: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in Common Lisp.
• Lisp: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in Lisp.
• Visual Studio .NET: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in Visual Basic.
• Adobe photoshop: The computer program Adobe Photoshop is a graphical ICT tool which enables digital editing and composition of graphics to generate both 2D raster or 2D vector graphics. It is developed by the software company Adobe.
• Java (computer programming): The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in Java.
• Computer programming: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms (e.g. object oriented programming, functional programming) and of programming languages.
• Cognitive psychology: The human mental processes such as attention, memory, language use, perception, problem solving, creativity and thinking.
• Adobe Illustrator: The computer program Adobe Illustrator CC is a graphical ICT tool which enables digital editing and composition of graphics to generate both 2D raster or 2D vector graphics. It is developed by the software company Adobe.
• Prolog (computer programming): The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in Prolog.
• OpenEdge advanced business language: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in OpenEdge Advanced Business Language.
• Iterative development: The iterative development model is a methodology to design software systems and applications.
• JavaScript: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in JavaScript.
• Perl: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in Perl.
• Smalltalk (computer programming): The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in Smalltalk.
• PHP: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in PHP.
• Assembly (computer programming): The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in Assembly.
• Spiral development: The spiral development model is a methodology to design software systems and applications.
• GIMP (graphics editor software): The computer program GIMP is a graphical ICT tool which enables digital editing and composition of graphics to generate both 2D raster or 2D vector graphics. It is developed by The GIMP Development Team.
• C#: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in C#.
• R: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in R.
• Groovy: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in Groovy.
• ASP.NET: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in ASP.NET.
• APL: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in APL.
• Waterfall development: The waterfall development model is a methodology to design software systems and applications.
• SketchBook Pro: The computer program SketchBook Pro is a graphical ICT tool which enables digital editing and composition of graphics to generate both 2D raster or 2D vector graphics. It is developed by the software company Autodesk.
• TypeScript: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in TypeScript.
• Microsoft Visio: The computer program Microsoft Visio is a graphical ICT tool which enables digital editing and composition of graphics to generate both 2D raster or 2D vector graphics. It is developed by the software company Microsoft.
• Quality standards: The national and international requirements, specifications and guidelines to ensure that products, services and processes are of good quality and fit for purpose.
• Software design methodologies: The methodologies such as Scrum, V-model and Waterfall to design software systems and applications.
• Rapid application development: The rapid application development model is a methodology to design software systems and applications.
• Business process modelling: The tools, methods and notations such as Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) and Business Process Execution Language (BPEL), used to describe and analyse the characteristics of a business process and model its further development.
• CoffeeScript: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in CoffeeScript.
• Objective-C: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in Objective-C.
• ML (computer programming): The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in ML.
• Synfig: The computer program Synfig is a graphical ICT tool which enables digital editing and composition of graphics to generate both 2D raster or 2D vector graphics. It is developed by Robert Quattlebaum.
• AJAX: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in AJAX.
• C++: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in C++.
• SAP R3: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in SAP R3.
• Swift (computer programming): The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in Swift.
• ICT project management methodologies: The methodologies or models for planning, managing and overseeing of ICT resources in order to meet specific goals, such methodologies are Waterfall, Incremental, V-Model, Scrum or Agile and using project management ICT tools.
• MATLAB: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in MATLAB.
• Python (computer programming): The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in Python.
• Scratch (computer programming): The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in Scratch.
• Process-based management: The process-based management approach is a methodology for planning, managing and overseeing of ICT resources in order to meet specific goals and using project management ICT tools.
• Lean project management: The lean project management approach is a methodology for planning, managing and overseeing of ICT resources in order to meet specific goals and using project management ICT tools.
• Agile development: The agile development model is a methodology to design software systems and applications.
• VBScript: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in VBScript.
• COBOL: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in COBOL.
• Pascal (computer programming): The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in Pascal.
• ABAP: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in ABAP.
• Prototyping development: The prototyping development model is a methodology to design software systems and applications.
• DevOps: The DevOps development approach is a methodology to design software systems and applications focused on the collaboration and between software programmers and other ICT professionals and automation.
• Scala: The techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in Scala.
• Natural language processing: The technologies which enable ICT devices to understand and interact with users through human language.

These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of user interface designer. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

• Perform online data analysis: Analyse online experiences and online data for purposes of understanding user behaviour, triggers of online attention, and other factors that could optimise webpage development and exposure.
• Create software design: Transpose a series of requirements into a clear and organised software design.
• Manage localisation: Modify content or a product for the transference from one locale to another through the use of content translation or localisation service providers.
• Analyse business requirements: Study clients’ needs and expectations for a product or service in order to identify and resolve inconsistencies and possible disagreements of involved stakeholders.

2513 – Web and multimedia developers

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 References

1. User interface designer – ESCO
2. How to become a User Interface Designer – SEEK
3. User Interface Designer Job Description | Velvet Jobs
4. Featured image: Photo by Daniel Korpai on Unsplash