UX designer.

The tasks of UX designers depend on the company size, your seniority and the industry. Here are some of the standard duties in the role:

• conducting user research: as a UX designer, your primary role is to learn about the users of a digital product or service. You identify users' behaviours, goals, motivations and needs. Most UX designers collect user research data through interviews, online surveys, focus groups and competitor analysis. You also create qualitative and quantitative data from user research to guide decision-making.
• creating user personas: as a UX designer, you consolidate and interpret user research findings to construct representative personas. Each persona highlights a user demographic's information, including needs, motivations and potential responses. The user persona assists designers in getting a clearer picture of the person the product will help and making adjustments to improve the experience.
• determining the information architecture of a product: as a UX designer, you are the information architect. That means you organise content within a website to guide users to accomplish tasks and educate them about a product. When you create a structure, users quickly find the information they need, optimising their encounters and interaction with the digital product.
• designing wireframes and user flows: wireframing is one of the key functions of a UX designer as it builds the final product. Wireframes are design sketches representing the stages or screens of a website throughout the user journey. As a UX designer, you include various elements like virtual buttons and images to create the ideal user flow.
• creating prototypes: as a user experience designer, you are involved in the design that creates a final interactive version of the pre-development product. The prototype allows users to test the main interactions on digital products. You can also use prototyping tools to create videos that guide users through the user design functions. From the prototype testing, UX designers identify areas for improvement.
• conducting user testing: a UX designer conducts user testing after releasing the final product or launching a website. User testing allows users to interact with the final design to analyse usability, intuitiveness and accessibility. Some UX designers use focus groups to provide valuable feedback on areas that need adjustment.

A UX designer works in various fields and business sectors. However, the majority work in IT consultancy or marketing firms. As a user experience designer, you work with different teams, from production to marketing and customer support. Most companies have interactive offices for designers and developers to promote creativity. While you work a desk job, the interactive and climate-controlled work environment boosts productivity and sharing of ideas. When you work for a consultancy, expect to be contracted out to different companies to assist on specific projects. Your role is likely to involve travelling to clients' premises. Some UX designers also work from home and accomplish all their tasks from a remote location.

Depending on your employer and the industry you work in, your colleagues might include product designers, web developers and UI designers. You might also be working in close proximity to software developers, software engineers and front-end developers, as well as other specialists that could include, but not be limited to, full-stack developers, industrial designers, marketing coordinators, project coordinators, and digital project managers.

The typical work hours of a UX designer are 40 hours a week. If you work for a company, you are likely to cover the regular business hours with occasional evenings. UX designers rarely work during holidays or weekends unless a project deadline is approaching. Freelancers and contractors set their time based on their projects. For instance, contractors plan their own schedules and have the flexibility of working fewer or more hours a week, depending on the role's demands.

User experience design is a fast-changing field that requires overlapping skill sets to progress. Many professionals possess graphic design, information architecture and software development skills. As you gain experience, you have the opportunity to specialise in graphic design, web design or user research. If you want to advance in the role, consider becoming a UX expert or consultant before moving to managerial roles like product manager, project manager or director of user experience.

Finding your UX designer job through Randstad provides important advantages such as:

• a wide variety of training and development opportunities
• an experienced contact person to provide help if needed
• a range of opportunities in your area
• get paid weekly or monthly, depending on the job
• temporary and permanent contracts

Want a permanent contract? A temporary job as a UX designer is often a stepping stone to an attractive permanent job. Every year, thousands of people earn a permanent contract with great employers thanks to a temporary job found through Randstad. What's more, many companies recruit their permanent employees through Randstad too.

As a UX designer, you create concise designs on all screens in a product. You create mock-ups and prototypes to test the design ideas. You develop user flows and walk users through the digital experience.

UX represents user experience, which means the accessibility and user-friendliness of a website or digital product to end users. 

As a UX designer, you rarely code, but it can give a leg up in the industry competition. Learning to code allows you to design better products since you understand the code’s capability. 

The average salary of a UX designer is between $90,000 to $150,000 per year. 

Applying for a UX designer job is easy: create a Randstad profile and search our UX designer job offers. Then simply send us your CV and cover letter. Need help with your application? Check out all our job search tips here.