What Does a UX Designer Do?

Quality and quantity – the principle of work of UX – designers are based on research methodologies. These experts determine how elements of the site should work to increase user interest.

Lauren Solomon – UX Designer at PayPal, and Founder of VoxPopin.

Challenges and Opportunities for UX designers

The work of UX designers is important for the company – using skills and tools, they evaluate the effectiveness of proposals and guide the startup in the right direction.

Analyzing proposal, user behavior, and other data, UX design experts determine the rationality of the idea: giving life or rejecting it. Based on constant data analysis, niche specialists can benefit from the information. Every user’s movement on the site can be crucial for the company – UX designers are increasingly becoming part of the team. Experts have up-to-date data on the interests, needs, and desires of their clients.

UX design trends in 2022

The UX design niche has its trends and methods of influencing the site’s success. Trends change every year, as well as the directions of development in the promotion.

The user experience is of paramount importance. Therefore, the entrepreneur creating the new resource must focus on UX design. Using this year’s benchmarks, companies can increase their chances of leadership.

Minimalism

The motto of the style is not to distract guests with various details. The palette of shades of one color demonstrates its features. The neutral design allows the client to read the offer carefully. Concentrating on the product, the visitor is more willing and quick to conclude that it is worth buying.

Using a “screaming” design with annoying elements brings the opposite result. The customer’s attention is distracted, it is difficult for him to understand how much the product is needed.

The use of simple designs allows guests to have a good experience. In addition, the minimalist design is easy to understand, and the client easily finds the page he needs. The comfort minimalism brings it the main and successful trends in 2022.

Simple user interface

Everything is interconnected – minimalism in details is closely connected with simplicity. If fancy elements and labyrinths of pages do not distinguish the site’s design, the quality of the user experience becomes higher. Users highly value the ability to find the page they want quickly. Do not forget about intuition.

The use of simple designs and the lack of elements that can confuse the user greatly impact the company’s turnover. Therefore, simplicity has become the leading trend of the year.

Keep in mind that intuition and the ability to save time are highly valued among buyers. Suppose the guest does not spend time searching for the desired page – his loyalty to the site increases. Using uncomplicated structures, the entrepreneur will get an increase in sales and regular customers.

Blurred website background

Soft lines of a blurred background do not distract the user from the choice of goods, and the vague contours of the picture behind all the site elements cause pleasant emotions.

The trend is skillfully used by real estate agencies, hotels, and travel companies. Blurred background does not switch attention – the consumer is most focused on choosing the country he wants to visit. An unobtrusive background sets the potential buyers in the right mood. A wide range of services and a guessed picturesque picture can play a role and become the last argument for buying a living space or a vacation permit.

Such an insignificant, at first glance, detail motivates the customer to buy. Proper use of the UX design trend can be a stepping stone to success even in the areas with the highest competition.

Unique illustrations

Using different colors, shapes, and sizes, specialists manage to achieve the uniqueness of the design and attract the customer’s attention.

The use of exclusive illustrations has a positive effect. Minimalism, combined with attractive images, evokes pleasant emotions in visitors. The accents in the illustrations adjust the guest to the right wave, helping to make a purchase decision.

Voice interface

Interaction with the site and applications has become a trend in general. The convenience that the voice interface offers have made its use a 2022 trend.

The voice interface allows the client to get what he wants quickly and conveniently. The guest does not use a standard keyboard and saves precious time. And direct communication with the site inclines the client to gain trust in him. This fact has general impressions of the site.

The effectiveness of customer interactions has made these trends the main tools in the hands of UX designers. Their use promises the site efficiency in terms of sales. Look for real incarnations of these trends on sites from the top Google search results.

Best UI/UX design tools for designer

Every niche in creating and promoting websites has its own set of tools – UX design is no exception. Instruments UX design use achievements for maximum Quality Custom Experience and ego analysis.

Together, all UX design tools aim to improve users’ comfort – so entrepreneurs persuade them to become regular customers, and companies – make a profit.

There are many tools, and each UX design expert can assemble an individual working set. What UX design uses to create UX frameworks and prototypes:

Balsamiq Wireframes is a small graphical tool to sketch out user interfaces, for web/desktop/mobile applications. Wireframes provide enough interactivity to replace prototypes most of the time and make it easy to collaborate and get feedback on wireframes.
Adobe XD is a vector-based tool for designing and prototyping user experiences for web and mobile apps. Switch easily from wireframing, visual design, preview, and sharing, all in one powerful tool.
Figma is a vector graphics editor that works primarily on the web, including additional offline features for macOS and Windows. Figma’s feature set is focused on user experience with a focus on real-time collaboration.
Sketch is a vector graphics editor. It does not include design features for printing. Available only for macOS, third-party software and transfer tools can be used to view Sketch projects on other platforms.

Once the frame and prototype are built, the specialist checks its usability. For expert verification, apply:

UserTesting
Applause
UXCam App Analytics

These tools are considered some of the best. There are dozens of others, but the professionalism of the expert determines their productivity. Regardless of the services used, an experienced expert can influence the company’s state of affairs.

UX designer vs. UI designer vs. Web designer

The field of website creation is full of interchangeable concepts – web design is intertwined with UX design, and finally, both terms are replaced by UI design.

You can understand how a UX designer differs from a UI designer and a web designer. First, however, it is necessary to dig deeper.

UX designer an expert in UX design is engaged in developing and designing site elements. Its main task is to understand the client’s problem and find a comfortable solution.

The tasks include the development of solutions to problems, working with the usability of the site. And finally – providing maximum convenience to the user.

A UI designer is a professional whose work is aimed at comfortable and uninterrupted contact of the user with the interface. Its main purpose is to set up a comfortable connection between the user, the device, and the site itself.

The user’s impressions of visiting the site depend on the quality of his work. UI is part of UX. They complement each other. Both areas of design focus on improving the user experience.

A web designer is a specialist whose task is to combine a quality user experience with an attractive appearance. A web designer must know programming languages. After development, the prototypes are analyzed, achieving the perfect balance between a good user experience and an interesting appearance.

The web expert does not emphasize the reaction of the client. Instead, its tasks include the design of the site, its design, and the configuration of UX/UI layouts.

A clear delineation of concepts allows experts to focus on their professional tasks. The result of the synergy of three professionals will be higher than that of one station wagon.

What does a UX designer’s salary look like?

At the dawn of the development and spread of IT specialties, UX design became a popular niche. But even experts often do not understand in which direction they want to move.

The salary of a UX designer directly depends on abilities and experience. In digital equivalent, the ratio of the class of specialist looks like this:

Junior – about $35,000
Middle – about $45,000
Senior – about $55,000

The list shows the world average. The highest salaries – in America, the lowest – in China. The spread is caused by the demand for experts and the level of competition. A company in China can offer a better offer than a company in Germany and vice versa. Deciding to develop in UX design, the expert should assess their prospects in their home country. If they are disappointing – think about moving. Specialists in UX design can secure a decent income and work in a well-known company.

Steps for creating a UX design portfolio

Resume effectiveness and career success often depend on the quality of the prepared portfolio. The more professional the candidate’s portfolio, the faster the company will believe in it. A beautifully designed portfolio is admirable, and its effectiveness can directly affect the further advancement of the specialist.

Young professionals should carefully approach the design of their portfolios.

The first step is to check your projects

For the portfolio to allow the designer to get the desired order, he should recheck his projects. UX-Design is a niche with narrow specialties. You need to choose projects that are similar in their tasks. So a specialist in UX-Design will be able to show the employer that he understands the issues addressed by the company.

The inventory of projects gives the chance to analyze own works and not to include them in a portfolio project with doubtful success.

The second step is to select successful works

Managers who hire do not have much time. To get the most out of past achievements, the expert should reduce the number of projects. By choosing the 3-5 most effective, the specialist will increase his chances of being heard.

Similar projects will convince that the expert has experience in the given niche.

The third step is to choose the portfolio format

Portfolios are often displayed as a web version, presentation, or physical description. The main parameter for determining the format is the customer’s requirements. If the format is not specified in the conditions, its choice is left to the specialist.

The fourth step is to create a portfolio

You should find a template or come up with the best location for your projects and their descriptions. The result of this process can be a decisive argument for the employer.

The fifth step is to check the portfolio

The finished portfolio you should send to colleagues or friends – will help find errors. Listen to good advice and make edits.

These steps are aimed at improving the efficiency of the created portfolio. Visualizing your achievements and a qualified resume will significantly increase the chances of getting a place in the project.

TOP 30 Designer with awesome portfolio

How to become a freelance UX designer

Flexible hours, an office at home, and an unfixed schedule are the dreams of many professionals. Working as a freelancer seems like a paradise – no one is watching you, no one is distracting you from completing tasks. But working in a remote format requires discipline, which many lacks.

Unfortunately, many companies refuse to maintain offices in favor of remote work.

To succeed in freelance, it is important to present your skills correctly.

But the main thing that a UX designer will need to become a freelancer is responsibility. The lack of motivation to work often leads designers to miss deadlines and break them.

By learning to present his proposals properly, self-regulate work, a UX designer can succeed as a freelancer.

TOP 20 Best UX Designer

Conclusions

UX design is an integral part of site development. It is down to the UX designer how comfortably the user can find something he needs.

Niche is responsible for customer loyalty and whether he returns to the company’s website.

By studying relevant information and increasing competence, a novice designer can succeed in the industry.