Design and User Experience
Shaping how people interact with digital products
Overview
Design and User Experience covers the roles responsible for how digital products look, feel, and function from a user's perspective. Professionals in this category research how people interact with software, design the interfaces they navigate, and craft the visual and interactive details that determine whether a product is clear, usable, and well-made.
The category spans several distinct disciplines. UX Designers focus on research, flows, and information architecture. UI Designers focus on the visual layer — components, typography, colour, and interaction states. Product Designers typically work across both. Specialist roles in motion, accessibility, 3D graphics, and immersive experience design serve more focused needs. What unites the category is a shared commitment to designing for people — understanding real user behaviour rather than assumed preferences.
Roles in this Category
11 roles
Technical Writer
StableInteraction Designer
Growing3D Graphics Programmer
StableShader Developer
GrowingProduct Designer
GrowingGraphic Designer
StableMotion Designer
GrowingVirtual Reality Designer
EmergingAccessibility Specialist
GrowingUI Designer
GrowingUX Designer
GrowingSkills
Hard Skills
- Interaction Design
- Design Systems
- User Research
- Prototyping
- Usability Testing
- Visual Design
- Information Architecture
- Wireframing
Soft Skills
- CollaborationWorking across product, engineering, and research throughout delivery
- Attention to DetailPixel accuracy and interaction state correctness matter to users
- CommunicationMaking design decisions explicit and defensible to varied audiences
- Analytical ThinkingReasoning from research and behaviour data, not assumption
- Creative JudgementKnowing when a design is right beyond rationalisation
- User EmpathyDesigning for real user behaviour, not idealised personas
Tools & Software
Core Themes
- Conducting user research and synthesising findings into design decisions
- Designing user flows, wireframes, and interactive prototypes
- Crafting visual interfaces — components, typography, colour systems, and layouts
- Building and maintaining design systems and component libraries
- Collaborating with product managers and engineers throughout delivery
- Running usability tests and iterating based on real user feedback
- Ensuring designs are accessible, inclusive, and consistent across platforms
Typical Entry Points
Design is portfolio-driven — demonstrated work consistently outweighs formal qualifications. Google UX Design Professional Certificate and Interaction Design Foundation courses are widely recognised entry pathways. Degrees in Graphic Design, HCI, Psychology, or Computer Science are common backgrounds. Many practitioners enter from adjacent creative or analytical roles by building Figma skills and a portfolio of UX case studies.
Who This Category Is For
- People who care deeply about how products feel to use, not just how they function
- Those who enjoy combining analytical thinking with creative problem solving
- People comfortable working in iterative, feedback-heavy environments
- Those from psychology, humanities, or creative backgrounds considering a tech career
- People who want to work visually — layout, colour, interaction, and motion
- Those who want to conduct research and understand human behaviour as part of their work
- People comfortable with ambiguity — design problems rarely have single correct answers
- Those who want their work to be immediately visible and used by real people
Related Categories
Recommended Reading
The Design of Everyday Things — Don Norman
Don't Make Me Think, Revisited — Steve Krug
Laws of UX — Jon Yablonski
Articulating Design Decisions — Tom Greever