Designer roles and their responsibilities
Differentiation of designer roles according to job titles
When you look for designer jobs, you will see different roles written with various responsibilities.
Some of them are similar roles but written under different names and some are different but written under similar names.
In this article, I will try to explain which role requires which skillset and how consultants, recruiters, and JDs sometime can confuse designers with Job titles.
How many designer roles do you know?
Graphic designer, visual designer, UX designer, UI designer, Interaction designer, Product designer, Web designer, Animation designer, Game designer, Principle designer and so on…
the list is too long
l will cover those design roles which are the most popular (after reviewing over 100+ jobs on various platforms)
- Product Designer / Digital Product Designer / Fullstack Designer
- Visual Designer
- User Experience/ Experience Designer
- Interaction Designer
- User Interface Designer
- Graphic Designer
- Communication Designer
- Web Designer
- Motion Graphic Designer
- Game Designer
- Design Researcher
Product Designer / Digital Product Designer / Fullstack Designer
This is the most trending design job in the market.
The product designer is responsible for UX, UI, coding(not much but basic understanding), project management, problem-solving, or all of the above.
A product designer creates solutions to the problems that might appear in existing designs, during the initial design process or after the product launch.
The product designer manages the product design process by studying customer needs and creating a solution to deliver an appropriate experience. Both UX and product design roles follow the five-stage design thinking process.
Tools used by Product Designers:
Figma, Adobe XD, Invision, Sketch, MIRO, Figjam, Balsamiq, Mockflow, Zeplin, Photoshop and more depending upon the companies, above are the most common across the globe.
Visual Designer
The visual designer title is often used interchangeably with the graphic designer/ visual communications, but in reality, visual design is focused exclusively on the look and feel aspects of design — colours, sizes, and placement.
Many specialist design roles require a solid understanding of visual design principles. Because visual design knowledge is required by so many specialities, it’s more common to see companies hiring for specialist roles than generalist visual designers.
A visual designer’s brief may include creating entire visual languages for a brand or product. It goes beyond the scope of a single end product (website, app, brochure, etc.), and covers the way the entire organization approaches design projects.
Common tools used by Visual Designers:
Figma, Adobe XD, Photoshop, Illustrator
User Experience Designer / Experience Designer
Another trending design job is UX designer.
UX (user experience) designers help conceptualize and optimize a user’s entire experience with your product or company. They are concerned with the overall user experience of a digital product.
UX designers' decisions come after thorough research and stepping into the customers’ shoes; they try to understand their audience, the users’ approach to the product, their needs, and their goals in order to create the perfect design. UX designers make sure the look, feel, and usability of a product is top-notch.
This is a broad role with a significant amount of responsibility.
Common tools used by UX Designers:
Figma, Adobe XD, Invision, Sketch, MIRO, Figjam, Zeplin
Interaction Designer
Interaction designers focus on how users interact with products and use principles of good communication to create desired user experiences.
The term “interaction design” is sometimes used interchangeably with “user experience design.” That’s understandable because there’s a huge overlap between interaction design and UX design. After all, UX design is about shaping the experience of using a product, and a major part of that experience involves interaction between the user and the product. But interaction design and user experience aren’t synonymous.
Interaction designers are focused on the moment when a user interacts with a product and their goal is to improve the interactive experience.
For UX designers, the moment of interaction is just a part of the journey that a user goes through when they interact with a product.
Common tools used by Interaction Designers:
Figma, Adobe XD, Invision, Sketch, Balsamiq
User Interface Designer
UI designers are typically tasked with creating medium and high-fidelity mockups, as well as style guides, for digital interfaces.
UI designers, or user interface designers, conceptualize and optimize all of the visual elements that a user would interact with, such as buttons, icons, typography, spacing, color schemes and responsiveness.
Whereas a UX designer has the responsibility of owning the entire user experience, a user interface (UI) designer is concerned with the visual design components of a user experience.
UI designers design the screens that a user will move through in an app, video game, website, or piece of software. They create visual elements and interactive properties like images, buttons, menus, forms, and more. They are responsible for how the user navigates from A to B via different visual touchpoints.
Common tools used by UI Designers:
Figma, Adobe XD, Invision, Sketch, UXPin, Origami Studio, Zeplin
Graphic Designer
Graphic designers are often responsible for creating designs for marketing and advertising materials. It’s a bit of a broad title for an often broad position. People in these roles can design for a wide range of platforms and create visual content for print, digital and mobile formats.
At the highest level, graphic designers are responsible for creating 2D visual assets that effectively convey information. it wouldn’t be unusual to find a graphic designer who has focused on a particular type of work in a specific medium, such as marketing collateral for print.
Common tools used by Graphic Designers:
Photoshop, Illustrator, Canva, Affinity Designer, Procreate
Communication Designer
Honestly, I was not aware of this role but I have seen some big tech companies having this vacancy. I tried to collect details about this role from google.
A communication designer would design and produce the entire scope of a messaging campaign, from start to finish. Communication designers may work in advertising, web or app design, branding, or product design, among many other fields.
A communication designer is a professional who uses visual elements to deliver information to an audience. To attract new consumers or spread awareness about a topic, communication designers oversee promotional campaigns. They contemplate the messages they want to send to target audiences and use electronic media to make the messages more engaging. They also aim to persuade the audience to act in favour of the business, which may include purchasing a product, subscribing to a newsletter or registering for a special event (from Indeed.com).
Web Designer
Web designers are responsible for the overall look and feel of a website or webpage. Their overarching goal is to combine visual elements like the layout, colors, fonts, icons, and buttons in a functional and aesthetically appealing way while also serving the business's needs and goals.
Web designers work closely with graphic, UI/UX, and animation designers to create visually appealing website features that will catch the eye of potential buyers. Knowledge of basic coding (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) is usually necessary to perform this role independently.
Common tools used by Web Designers:
Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, WordPress, Squarespace, HTML, CSS and Javascript
Motion Graphic Designer
Motion graphics designers, sometimes called motion designers, create artwork for the web, television or film. They design graphics that are in motion. A motion designer is kind of a mix between a graphic designer and an animator. They can create animated designs for diverse media formats, from videos and Powerpoint presentations to digital ads and GIFs.
The main difference between these two types of designers is that motion graphics designers create moving images while animators are responsible for creating the entire story of an animated video.
Common tools used by Motion Graphic Designers:
Illustrator, After Effects, Animate, Premiere, Cinema 4D, Final Cut Pro, Mocha AE
Game Designer
A game designer is someone who conceptualizes game plots and storylines, levels and environments, character interactions, and other creative aspects. It’s their job to work with other specialists — like developers, artists, and others — to communicate ideas and then project manage those ideas through to game production.
The game design includes disciplines such as game writing, world, system, content, UX and UI, level, and audio design. The more complex a project is, the greater the variety of designers, writers, and producers needed.
As a game designer, you’ll bring ideas, build prototypes, create interactive narration and develop the game’s mechanics. You’ll design systems that are easily maintainable, expandable and comfortable to use while injecting fun into the user experience.
Common tools used by Game Designers:
I did not found specific tool in job desicripitions, happy to add the suggestions here
Design Researcher
Great research breeds great design. Design researchers carefully investigate human experience and behavior, and inspire teams and clients to address people’s needs through bold, optimistic design.
Design researchers are responsible for identifying and solving problems. They work with a variety of stakeholders — from designers to engineers to marketers — to identify gaps in the current design or development process.
Design researchers then use this information to create new solutions that will improve the overall user experience. This might include creating new product features, redesigning existing features, or even developing entirely new products.
Common tools used by Design Researchers:
Surveys, Card sorting, user interviews, usabitility testing, wireframe validation, prototype tests for these they use UserZoom, Maze, Typeform, Survey monekey, Miro, HotJar, Asana.
This was my finding about the trending designer role with their responsibilities.
Did you find this article insightful?
Consider sharing it :)
Thanks!
