A UI Designer or User Interface Designer designs all the screens through which a user will move while using a website, app, or video game, while also creating the visual design elements that make this movement possible. UI design is about maximizing usability and ease of navigation as a good UI designer will distill something complicated into something user-friendly and easily navigable.
A good interface requires barely any thought from the user. Consider your favourite app: it’s easy on the eye and simple to use, right? When you first installed it, you didn’t spend ages working out how to get from A to B, it was just obvious. This is what makes UI designers so important as they have to have a level of empathy in which they can step in the user’s shoes and look from the outside in to see how functional their design is.
To be a good UI designer you need to have broad skillset with creativity being one of the cornerstones of the profession as UI Designers live in the creative world and need to come up with new design ideas. They should also solve problems in innovative ways, pushing the boundaries of aesthetic design while addressing user problems. You will also need experience with design and prototyping tools – As a designer, you’ll use UX/UI tools like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Figma, Sketch, Proto.io, Adobe XD, and Invision Studio.
A job in UI design offers plenty of variety and will require you to wear many hats. Of course, UI designers need a keen visual eye, but the psychological aspect is not to be underestimated. To design user-friendly interfaces, you need to understand how people work – and how each visual, interactive element shapes their experience.
If you are interested in UI Design then check out Dublin CODING School’s UX/UI Design course HERE!
