Hiring a UX designer? Need to know how and where to find the best candidates? Here is a comprehensive guide to finding the best UX designers. Read on!
UX designers are significant to a company since they are phenomenal in enhancing the user experience. They conduct market research, oversee the product development activities, create the strategy and design for a visually appealing front end screen for the target audience. They act as an interface between the company and its customers.
So the next question is, “How to hire a UX designer?”
In this article, we will elaborate on the skills and educational qualifications that need to be verified when you hire UX designer. Besides we will also discuss the probable questions to be asked and the various job titles that you can offer to the candidates. Knowing about the trending salary or hourly rates of a UX designer is also a crucial aspect, a focus topic of the article.
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Hiring market for UX designer
The job opportunities for a UX designer is high. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, till the year 2028, there will be a Y-o-Y growth of about 3%. Whereas CNN Money envisages a higher growth rate of about 18%.
The reason cited for a higher demand for UI/UX designers is an increase of 1.74 billion websites as of 2020 and the emergence of over 4 million mobile apps in Android and iOS for download. As an estimate, over 4 billion people internet users are available currently. Hence a sharp rise in the increase of demand for UI UX expert.
As per Glassdoor, a prominent job website, a varying % has been observed among companies with different employee strength. Interestingly companies with an employee count within 50 and those above 10000 have a high demand for freelance UI UX designer. Second in the range comes to the companies with employee strength of 201 to 500, 501 to 1000, and 1001 to 5000.
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Top 15 job titles that companies are hiring
The job titles of user experience designer and related profiles, opted by companies for ux design and development,
1. UX Designer
The job of a UX designer is to be smart and skillful in research and analysis with a competitive mind. They must possess the mindset of being able to solve problems critically and think of the best possible design. Besides they must be conversant with the business domain and the key performance metrics.
2. UX Architect
The duties of a UX architect is to assess the current architecture, identify the potential areas of improvement and deploy the same. They must be acquainted with the design principles and knowledge of the various design tools like Illustrator, Photoshop, Visio, PowerPoint etc.
3. UX Analyst
A UX analyst plays a critical role in assessing the user needs and collaborating with the respective stakeholders to bring in synergy in the end to end design process. They further document the functional aspects of the product and figure out methods to communicate the features to the end-users.
4. UX Copywriter
A UX copywriter is effective in creating the appropriate user experience. They need to ensure the documentation related to the product are adequate in feeding the required information to the users. They need to facilitate that the product or the brand is well accepted along with its essential features and benefits.
5. UX Researcher
A UX researcher collects data, conducts interviews and researches, analyses market competition, and tests products. They are responsible for creating user journeys, survey questionnaire, and user scenarios for test
6. UX Information Architect
A UX Information Architect is instrumental in creating websites, managing the apps, software, creating product navigation schemes. They leverage AI-based latest technologies for their work
7. UX Engineers
UX Engineers are experts in programming languages using HTML, JavaScript, CSS etc. for creating prototypes, assisting in design verification and validation.
8. UX Motion Designers
UX Motion Designers create strategies for animations, motion pictures, graphics and executes the same. They even create prototypes for motion dynamics
9. UX Interaction Designers
UX Interaction Designers focus on user interaction with the app via the interface. They design, create and test the interactions.
10. UX Strategist
UX strategist is entrusted with the duty of suggesting the best features or functions for better product improvement. They even look into the content being embedded within the product description and even in a website or an apps
11. UX Product Manager
A UX product manager is to ensure proper execution of the UX design through correct development and test activities. They need to work in close coordination with the rest of the team for the completion of the technical tasks.
12. UX Developer
A UX developer must be smart enough to understand the design and find out discrepancies and then develop the product leveraging his or her creative and technical skills
13. UX Artist
A UX artist is essentially a person who draws up the design through sketches, helpful for creating prototypes and visualizing the product before the actual execution commences.
14. UX Director
A highly respectable role, leading the UX department of a company, to fulfill the vision and mission of the company. A UX director must guide the team in designing the UX in alignment with the company’s objectives and brand.
15. Chief UX Officer
The Chief UX officer is essentially the Chief Design Officer. The person overlooks the design and innovation strategy of a company, inclusive of products or services. UX design falls under the purview of the person.
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Qualifications to look for in UX designers
For hiring a UX experience designer, you do not need to check for a higher educational degree. A Bachelor’s degree or a Diploma in Science or Arts is acceptable. If a candidate possesses a degree in architecture or design, then it’s a plus point. The important aspect is to develop the acumen for design, known as “Design Thinking”.
Check if the UX design freelance candidates have attended a short term course of 6 months, then you can be confident in the person’s proficiency in UX designing and architecture.
The Top colleges in the US that grant a Bachelor’s degree or Diploma in Science and Arts even Architecture are,
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- Stanford University
- Carnegie Mellon University
- University of California, Berkeley
- Harvard University
- Princeton University
- Yale University
- Harvey Mudd College
- Brown University
- Georgetown University
Each of them offers undergraduate and postgraduate programs in science, arts, and architecture. The undergraduate or Bachelor’s degree programs are for a duration of 4 years. The yearly tuition fees vary between USD 42,000 to USD 58,000 on average.
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Skills to look for in UX designer
While hiring a UX designer, it is essential to be aware of the skills to look for in the UX profiles. Here are the key skills and qualities to check while recruiting top UX designers.
- Check whether the UX professional is proficient in programming languages and aware of the coding needed for UX design
- Ux designers must possess good analytics skills and acumen for judging the performance and applicability of the design
- Excellent communication skills both written and verbal are a must check for UX hires
- Knowledge of interactive wireframes must be checked in a UX designer freelance
- UI prototyping and wireframing are important qualities to verify in a UX designer profile
- Must possess brilliant collaboration capabilities and interaction power with both the internal and external stakeholders
- A top UX designer must be skillful in conducting extensive research on the best in class practices and latest trends in UX design
- Understanding the user needs and embedding the same into the UX design is a vital skill to check in UX/UI designers
- Knowledge of information architecture involving navigation, labeling, search functions, etc. in a UX design is crucial to validate while you hire a UX designer
- Freelance UX designer must be proficient in visual communication concepts like typography, icons, layout, color, images, etc.
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Certifications to look for in UX designer
There are several full time online or in-person recommended certifications that you can check in a UX profile. Here is a list of the top UX certifications programs for your reference,
- UX Certification program and UX Master Certification program from Nielsen Norman Group. The duration of the first one is 5 days costing USD 3900 whereas the latter costs USD 11600 for a duration of 15 days.
- UX design course at General Assembly’s campuses in the US. It’s a full-time course from Monday till Friday for 10 weeks, the cost varying between USD 13500 and USD 14950.
- Certified Usability Analyst and Certified User experience Analyst programs at Human Factors International, a consulting firm mainly located in the US. There are 4 courses for each track spanning for 10 days, costing USD 6000 approximately.
- Certificate in User Experience and Customer-Centered Design offered by the California State University at Fullerton. One can attend online or in-person, costing USD 4240 tentatively.
- UX Certificate program from the UX center of Bentley University, at Waltham in the state of Massachusetts. The program has a combination of 3 mandatory courses and 6 elective courses, each for a duration of 2 days. The estimated cost for each course is USD 1400
- User-centered Design Certificate provided by the University of Washington at their Seattle campus. The estimated cost is USD 10,348, registration and application fees are additional being USD 45 and USD 50 respectively.
- UX Design Certificate offered by San Francisco State University. The course duration is almost 129 hours for 12 months, costing USD 3900 for tuition and an additional USD 50 for the certificate fee.
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Rate per hour of UX designer
“How much does a UI UX designer make and how much should I offer when I hire UX designer?” – A very frequent question being asked by recruiters looking for UX designers. In the US, the UX designer hourly rate rise as high as USD 52 and can go low to USD 38 approximately.
The hourly rate for UX designer varies with the years of experience, educational qualifications, and skillset. For example, at an entry-level, the freelance UX designer salary is USD 26 per hour. At a mid-level experience, the hourly freelance UX designer rates are almost USD 31.
The hourly UX freelance rates for senior designers are almost USD 40. In Australia and New Zealand, the freelance UX designer hourly rate is almost similar to that of the US. In the UK, the UI UX designer hourly rate is USD 40 approximately on average.
In the other prominent European countries like Germany, Ireland, Norway, Switzerland the hourly freelance UI designer rates are similar to that of the UK. In India and the Asian countries, the freelance UX or freelance UI designer rates are very low, varying between USD 10 and USD 16 per hour.
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Top 10 job boards to find best UX designer
Several job boards and websites are present on the internet that provide opportunities for recruiting companies to place their request for candidates and enlist their job requirements. Hiring a UX designer is not an exception. You can register on the websites, list out the roles required for UX designer, mention the job description, employment mode, location, and approximate salary range.
Besides you can request for candidates to bid for the job roles, assisting you to select among them with the appropriate profile and acceptable salary or hourly rates. The top 10 job boards to hire UX designer are enlisted below for your quick reference,
- Uxremote
- Remoteok
- unremot.com
- Uxdesign
- Skillcrush
- Careerfoundry
- Uxmastery
- Uxbeginner
- WeWorkRemotely
- Upwork
You can also search for potential profiles and connect with them for further shortlisting and interview. A different option is to check the blog forums and social media platforms where user experience professional experts converse or discuss design ideas or issues. You may contact them individually for your uxdesigner role.
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Top 10 companies hiring UX designer and salaries offered
Let us now check the top 10 companies, looking for UX designers for brand awareness,
- Autho, a company operating in 70 countries serving customers in various markets. It offers an initial salary varying between USD 20 and 25 per hour
- MonetizeMore, a firm focusing on monetizing websites by offering designs to increase ad revenues. The hourly UX designer freelance rate is almost USD 21 for entry-level candidates
- Modus Create, a firm specializing in optimizing and controlling the user experience on several devices. An entry level UX consultant hourly rate is almost USD 26.
- Trafilea, an advertising and marketing organization that helps in curating e-commerce strategies for customers to promote their products and brands. The salary of an entry level UX designer is approximately USD 25 per hour.
- Study, an online portal for education, offering an hourly rate of USD 24.
- Landi English, another online company for e-learning with good educational resources. The hourly salary for a 0 to 1 experience UX designer is almost USD 22.
- Missional University, an online educational platform providing training on Christian ministry and missional practice. An entry level designer can earn USD 20 per hour.
- Enago, a company offering editing services to authors, offering UX price at USD 22 per hour.
- Cactus, a provider for communication solutions focusing on pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions. It provides a salary of about USD 25 per hour.
- Wikimedia Foundation, a nonprofit company that develops and distributes free content in various languages. It offers a salary of USD 20 per hour approximately.
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Top 10 interview questions for UX designer
Once you decide to hire UX designer, you must list out the interview questions to be asked and their probable answers. Here is a list to help you out in the recruitment process.
1. What inspired you to pursue UX designing?
Rationale: To understand the driving factors behind selecting the profession
Expected Answer: The candidate must demonstrate curiosity in designing and improvising a UX interface.
2. Walk us through an end to end the journey of UX design from your past experience?
Rationale: To check the genuineness of the candidate’s skill and experience
Expected Answer: Check if the candidate is able to clearly explain the objective, design relevance to the requirements, and the execution.
3. What is the definition of UX?
Rationale: To verify the knowledge of the candidate on UX and its usage
Expected Answer: If the candidate demonstrates few examples to explain UX then you can be assured of the person’s credibility.
4. What is the difference between UX design and UI design?
Rationale: To check whether the candidate is able to distinguish the responsibilities between the 2 jobs as many tend to confuse between them
Expected Answer: UX is for ensuring the app or any software is functional. UI is for enhancing the beauty of the front end visuals.
5. Describe your UX design process?
Rationale: To check whether the candidate understands the end-to-end design process and the tasks involved
Expected Answer: Analysis, Design, Evaluation, and Implementation are key steps in a UX design process.
6. How do you plan the features that need to be included in the product?
Rationale: To verify the candidate’s past experience in UX designing
Expected Answer: The candidate must be able to sequentially refer to understanding the company objectives, target audience, brand of the company, products, and services offered by the company and enabling the same in the design.
7. Which research methods do you leverage for UX designing?
Rationale: To validate the research mindset of the candidate
Expected Answer: Usage of surveys, questionnaires, interviews for data collection, and further research and analysis.
8. How do you collaborate with the developers?
Rationale: To check the collaborative power in handing over the design to the developers for executing the same
Expected Answer: Explaining the design in clear and concise terms to the developer through documentation and deep-dive sessions.
9. Which tools have you used for UX designing?
Rationale: Helps in verifying the knowledge of using tools and technologies in UX designing
Expected Answer: Tools like Sketch, InVision Studio, Axure, Adobe XD, Marvel, etc.
10. What are your key considerations of working remotely?
Rationale: This will showcase whether the candidate can work independently.
Expected Answer: The candidate must be able to demonstrate the collaboration techniques and remote communication mechanism to be considered for the recruitment.
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How much does it cost to hire a UX designer?
Hiring a UX designer will cost you almost 93K per annum on average. The scale may vary between USD 70K to USD 140K yearly depending on the years of experience, and countries of operation. At entry level the yearly remuneration varies between 75K to 80K, mid-level between 90K to 105K, and for senior-level varies between 110K to 114K.
How do I hire a UX designer?
To hire UX designer, First and foremost you must decide the job description and the expectations from the candidate. Second, you must sort out the questions to be asked to the candidate. The third is to post the job opportunities on different job boards or search for prospective profiles. Shortlist candidates for the interview and once selected negotiate the salary and float the offer letters.
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