Is UI/UX Design a Good Career? Complete Course Guide for 2024

So, you are considering a career in UI/UX design? We have some good news for you. Now is the perfect time to enrol in a UI/UX design course.

India is experiencing its ‘Digital Decade’ at an exponential rate. The digital economy’s contribution to the GDP is anticipated to be around 20% by the year 2026. India currently has over 5 billion active websites and 881 million internet users.

You must be wondering what this has to do with a career in UI/UX design.

UI and UX design are a vital part of India’s digital economy. These active websites are competing against each other to make a stand in this rapidly evolving industry. More and more users are demanding a fascinating and user-friendly digital presence across the internet. And UI/UX is a crucial element of the digital success.

Hence, the skyrocketed growth of the digital domain needs exceptional UI/UX designers.

Before you financially commit to a UI/UX design course, let us share the career guide. In this comprehensive read, we will explore the basics of the UI/UX course, the career opportunities, the job market and more. By the end of this blog, you will be able to soundly determine if UI/UX design is a good career.

The Basics of UI/UX Design

Despite being a soaring career option, there is still confusion regarding what UI/UX design is and what the career path looks like. It is essential to have the basics cleared to excel at a career in UI/UX.

UI and UX combine to create a visually appealing and user-friendly web presence. Here, the ‘U’ stands for users, and they determine the success of a UI or UX.

UI or User Interface focuses on the interface of the digital presence. It includes everything the user sees and interacts with – the buttons, the navigation, the layout, etc.

A quality interface focuses on the visual and appeal aspects and offers users a positive interaction. UI is broadly a technical approach and aims at developing usability. While in the design course, the candidate will learn to implement quality interface elements based on user behaviour research.

UX or User Experience focuses on creating a web presence that offers users a meaningful journey. It includes the entire journey of the user while interacting with the website. UX adds to the emotional appeal of the presence and establishes a holistic engagement. The course will teach candidates how to fine-tune the customer journey and minimize friction before they turn into customers.

For a better understanding of UI/UX design essentials, here is a quick difference of the two

• UI is the interaction element of a web presence, and UX is the overall interaction experience of the user.
• UI aims at alleviating the surface appearance and functions. The UX solves problems during the user’s journey.
• UI works around tangible elements of the design, and UX is a conceptual aspect that depends on customer behaviour.
• Checkboxes, lists, buttons, icons, sliders, and accordions are all part of UI, the structure, scope and strategy revolving around these elements is UX.
• UX is the first step in a design process, and UI is dependent on the UX structure.
• UX can be implemented in any aspect of a digital presence, and UI is specific to interaction and elements.

The course teaches a candidate to combine the UI/UX essentials to provide users with a seamless digital experience. It makes measurable differences in a business’s success.

It can impact a brand’s engagement rate and improve the overall performance. The enhanced usability offered by quality UI ensures the website is discoverable and aids SEO.

A great UI/UX designer improves a brand’s reputation and level of retention.

Now that the basics of UI/UX design are clear, let us get into a detailed understanding of a career in UI/UX design and the prospects within.

Career Prospects in UI/UX Design

The need for certified professionals in the field of UI/UX design has been made abundantly clear for the last few years. UI/UX design is a rapidly growing field that plays a crucial role in shaping users’ digital experience across brands. As technology continues to advance, companies recognize the importance of lucrative design structures.

The impact of a well-designed website on digital success is monumental. The success factor is dependent on several factors – user interface user engagement, customer satisfaction, and overall business success. And UI/UX designers make these websites possible.

Another significant factor that fortified the career paths in UI/UX design is the evolution of mobile technology. With the escalation of Smartphones and the widespread use of mobile apps in India, organizations are investing heavily in optimizing the mobile user experience.

It has created a high demand for UI/UX designers with expertise in mobile interface design, responsive layouts, and touch interactions.

We live in digitally amplified India. From e-commerce platforms to healthcare systems and banking to educational software, user-centric design is integral to creating competitive solutions.

As a result, professionally trained UI/UX designers with strong visual skills are highly demanded by companies striving to afloat in the digital landscape.

Furthermore, the job market for UI/UX designers is highly competitive and offers attractive remuneration. It coupled with the growth potential, makes the UI/UX design career an appealing choice for aspiring professionals.

So, Is UI/UX Design a Good Career?

Let us get over this burning question first. We have understood the basics of this discipline and the UI/UX career prospects. Here, are the factors that make UI/UX design a good career –

• Promising Discipline: With the increase in digitalization and the number of internet users, the demand for great design is at its height. More and more businesses are looking forward to creating compelling, user-friendly and intuitive websites for digital success. As a result, there has been a driving need for skilled UI/UX design professionals.
• Lucrative Remunerations: Several factors go into deciding the remuneration of a designer. Such as the industry condition, experience, company size, and job location. However, the average salary for UI/UX designers in India ranges from 2L to 12L per annum. Here are the segregations –
  • Entry Level UI/UX designer – 2 LPA to 3LPA
  • Mid Level UI/UX designer – 4 LPA to 6.5LPA
  • Senior Level UI/UX designer – 7 LPA and above
• Multidisciplinary Career Path: The UI/UX domain is ever-evolving, and several aspects work in tandem to bring about design success. The field combines the elements of storytelling, design thinking, visual design, graphics design, psychology, and informative architecture. These components complement each other to form successful designs. Hence, understanding each of these components is a must for candidates pursuing UI/UX design.
• Remote Work Opportunities: The UI/UX career provides much-needed job flexibility. Post the pandemic, several industries have comfortably switched to remote workspaces, including UI/UX. Candidates pursuing this career can utilize remote work experience with accelerated productivity and a healthy work-life balance.

Scope of evolving: Working as a UI/UX designer demands a creative edge. There are multiple ways to curate design structures that cater to positive user experience. A candidate in this field experiences a creative influx since no two designs are similar. There is always room for more creativity and further evolution.

• Fulfilling Job Experience: Job satisfaction for UI/UX designers has always been positive and offers a fulfilling experience. At the end of the day, their design ideas come to life and offer users a positive experience. From the business perspective, these digital structures bring in more traffic, ranking, revenue and digital success. Nothing feels greater to a UI/UX designer than a winning design.
• Versatility: UI/UX design provides a great deal of versatility. Designers work in various industries, ranging from technology and entertainment to healthcare and finance. This versatility allows UI/UX designers to explore multiple domains, tackle unique challenges, and contribute to impactful digital experiences across various sectors.
• Thriving Community: After completing a UI/UX design course, candidates can be part of multiple advancing communities of designers. These communities offer a wealth of knowledge, advanced techniques and future support. Valuable feedback from the existing experts of the community is essential for a new designer’s career growth. These communities also open doors to new opportunities and help build a successful network in the industry.

Based on these factors, the UI/UX career path is exceptionally bright. As companies continue prioritizing user-centric design, the need for talented UI/UX designers will only continue to grow. It is a dynamic and rewarding field that provides abundant opportunities for career advancement and professional fulfilment.

Let’s watch this video to know an incredible journey where this student named Keya Das turned into a UI/UX professional in 4 months

UI/UX Design Courses – An Overview

To become a successful UI/UX designer – the first step is a 360-degree understanding of the design domain. Excelling in a UI/UX design career also requires a firm grip on design thinking and a lot of practice.

While the importance of design thinking in UI/UX has been made profusely clear across the internet, there is not much talk about the need for a certified course.

Getting certified in UI/UX design is crucial! Do not get us wrong, there are ‘uncertified’ UI/UX designers with a job. However, at a certain point in time, they realize the massive knowledge gap and the inability to capture tasks with professionalism.

So, to become a good UI/UX designer to a great one – lies a certified design course.

Why do you need a UI/UX design course?

A UI/UX design career is fun and creative, but, also challenging. In most cases, it becomes extremely difficult to turn a concept into a functional wireframe. It is where a UI/UX design course comes into play.

By being mentored by professionals in a course, candidates can acquire a design mindset. The mindset helps build exceptional design strategies that adhere to UI/UX guidelines. A course teaches how to strike the perfect balance between creativity and usability.

Another extremely essential part of excelling as a UI/UX designer is engaging with seasoned professionals. And a course offers such a scope. In a self-study mode, it is tricky to comprehend the daily life of a UI/UX designer. With such a mystery, starting with a job can be stressful.

The best UI/UX design courses in Kolkata and other cities of India offer individualized mentorship. It means that candidates get 1-on-1 learning sessions and gather a better understanding of the domain. It is a necessary guidance phase during the learning stage, for taking up challenges later.

As a beginner in this career, you will have to put all your UI/UX design knowledge into practice.

However, practising UI/UX design requires access to several tools and a functional system. Design tools are expensive and underperform in an average computer system. For self-learning candidates, getting access to these tools can be a struggle. A course, on the other hand, offers the scope of practising with these tools under mentors.

Also, with real-time projects, case studies experience, and certification after completion, candidates become invaluable assets to hiring companies.

So, do you need a UI/UX design course? No.

But with a course, success is confirmed. The mentorship allows you to learn all the necessary elements of UI/UX. It also helps you build a portfolio and have a proper network. Some courses do offer guaranteed placement as well.

Career Paths in UI/UX Design

UI/UX design is a creative career and branches out into further creative options. As a new designer who recently completed the course, choosing a path can be daunting.

Here, we have discussed some of the most popular career paths in UI/UX design. We have highlighted the roles and responsibilities of each. These career paths are under the UI/UX umbrella, and taking up a course ensures you learn them all.

Without further ado, let us explore the list of paths and specializations. This will help you make an informed decision for a sturdy and enjoyable career ahead.

• UI Designer

A UI designer is responsible for the interface of a web presence. These interfaces are points where users interact. Either, they touch these points or click on them. The interfaces could vary from a button to a slider and from a dropdown to a scroll feature.

A UI designer ensures the interface is intelligible and smooth to interact with.

Responsibilities:

• • Understanding system flow
  • Building a navigation system
  • Prototyping
  • Designing interaction elements
  • Collaborating with UX designers

• UX designer

A UX designer conducts market research for a project and develops a design wireframe that aligns with customer needs. Their objective is to create a strategy that enhances user experience. They curate design flows that evoke emotions within the customer base. The wireframe they finalize is handed over to a UI designer for element research.

Responsibilities –

• • Perform customer research
  • Perform competitor research
  • Develop a design flow
  • Create wireframes
  • Collaborate with UI designers
  • Test the final design structure for experience enhancements.

• Visual Designer

Visual designers are artists of the project that overlook the aesthetic elements of a web presence. They are not responsible for the look and feel of the interaction. Their primary focus is planning fonts, colour schemes, typography, and visual effects that complement the brand.

Responsibilities –

• • Studying the brand and customer base
  • Creating mood boards
  • Designing aesthetic elements
  • Collaborating with UI and UX experts

• Interaction Designer

Interaction Designers are only responsible for the interaction elements that occur between the user and the web page. It includes transition elements, drags, drops and clicks. They are also responsible for how the screen appears after the interaction.

Responsibilities –

• • Create an interaction prototype
  • Analyse users
  • Plan and design interactions
  • Work with UI and UX designers

• Product Designer

A Product designer handles both the aspect of UI and UX of a product or feature. They are responsible for the end-to-end design process. It conducts market research, creates personas, and designs wireframes and elements. They contribute to the roadmap of the product to ensure a successful launch.

Responsibilities –

• • Perform customer research
  • Develop personas
  • Curate wireframes, prototypes and elements
  • Design interactions
  • Test the product

• UX Engineer

UX Engineers are UI/UX designers with coding skills. They translate the wireframe into a functional website with front-end coding. UX Engineers are hard to find; this is a highly marketable role.

Responsibilities –

• • Develop UI/UX for a project
  • Turn the wireframe into a functional front-end
  • Test for UI/UX glitches

Choosing any of these career paths is promising and creative as promised. Each of these can lead to further specialization and open doors to newer roles and responsibilities.

There are primarily 4 kinds of specialization in a design career – Management, Advanced, Freelancing, and Consulting.

• Management is when you have gained enough experience to manage multiple design projects and all the designers involved. There are several managerial roles, such as UX manager and UI manager.

Management roles require thorough skills in the design field and leadership abilities. They handle a group of designers and complete project deliverables.

• Advanced is when you have excelled at a particular role and can outmanoeuvre in that domain. For instance, say you have decided to go for the role of UI designer. Advanced specializations can lead you to roles like Senior UI Designer or UI Designer Head.

To go down this path requires upskilling and agility in handling the role.

• The freelancing path gives you the freedom of time management. Meaning you are not bound to a job or organization. You choose the clients you work with and decide upon your work hours.

Several designers go for this path when they have gained enough experience and have built a fruitful network.

• Consulting professionals are specialized design experts hired by well-established organizations to revamp their design strategies. Consulting individuals can choose to work freelance or in a consulting company.

Their responsibility involves offering design solutions to businesses to improve their presence and compel their clients. They are also adept at solving real-time problems.

To get into consulting, UI/UX designers require experience in handling multiple types of design projects across industries.

Watch the video to know how Sayan’s Career Transformed From Engineer To Designer

Investing in a UX Design Course

As we step into 2024, the decision to invest in a UI/UX design course emerges as a strategic leap towards a sure-footed career. As already highlighted, the demand for skilled UI/UX designers is on the rise. Hence, this is an opportune moment to plan a career around UI/UX designs.

Here are compelling reasons why investing in such a course can be a strategic move for anyone aspiring to flourish in this realm –

• Skill Development: A structured UI/UX design course provides a comprehensive curriculum tailored to industry needs. Investing in such a course allows individuals to acquire a diverse set of skills, ranging from user research and wireframing to prototyping and usability testing.
• Stay Updated with Industry Trends: The design landscape is ever-evolving. A UI/UX design course equips you with fundamental skills and ensures you stay abreast of the latest trends, tools, and technologies. This adaptability is crucial for success in an industry that constantly embraces innovation.
• Networking Opportunities: A UI/UX design course opens the door to a network of like-minded professionals. Collaborating with peers and mentors can provide valuable insights, feedback, and potential career opportunities. Networking is an integral part of the design community, and a structured course facilitates these connections.
• Portfolio Enhancement: A well-structured UI/UX design course often leads to the creation of a robust portfolio. This portfolio serves as tangible evidence of your skills and projects. In the job market, this is invaluable when seeking employment or opportunities. A strong portfolio sets you apart from the competition and showcases your ability to tackle real-world design challenges.

How a Structured Course Can Enhance Skills and Knowledge

UI/UX design courses are typically curated and delivered by industry experts. Learning from seasoned professionals provides valuable insights, real-world scenarios, and practical tips beyond what one might find in self-learning resources.

The well-defined curriculum offers a structured learning path. This sequential approach ensures learners grab foundational concepts before progressing to advanced topics. This course framework is instrumental in building a strong foundation and understanding of design principles.

Consider enrolling in a UI/UX design course that offers a placement guarantee. This feature ensures that the course is designed with industry relevance in mind, and successful completion increases your chances of securing a position in the competitive job market.

UI/UX Design Job Market

UI/UX experts are high in demand in Kolkata and other popular cities in India. The scope of this career field is diverse and financially lucrative. If you analyse the job market, there are many UX/UI design positions available at esteemed organizations that are seeking suitable applicants.

The competition among fitting candidates is steep in the industry as well. And the competition among employers for qualified candidates has resulted in a sharp increase in the salary structure.

You may find yourself surrounded by countless options after a career in UX design. With multiple opportunities, candidates are likely to try their hand at everything. The work of UI/UX designers may range from conceptualization to graphic designing daily.

All the available career paths and specializations have been aforementioned. Whichever career path you choose, there are two progressions to experience – technical and managerial.

The Technical progression entails the following responsibilities – customer behaviour research, profiling targeted interactive design, and so on. With time it would be necessary to brush up the skills to align with emerging trends.

Managerial progression comes as the next stage after mastering Technical. In this role, you’ll direct and supervise the UI/UX design process. Jobs like Design Manager, UX design VP, and Design Operations Manager fall under this progress.

It is important to note that in the design field, experience is measured by effort, skills, and contributions.

Salary for UI/UX Designers

UI/UX designers are the brains behind the visual elements and seamless experience of a web page. Their responsibilities revolve around conducting user research, creating user personas, and designing products that meet user needs. These professionals ensure they build a state-of-the-art digital infrastructure for businesses.

Once you complete a UI/UX design course and get hired, the salary you will receive is based on the role and level of experience. Let us have a look at the salary ranges for UI/UX designers in India –

1. Entry-level UI/UX Designer

Entry-level UI/UX designers just beginning their journey in the job market without experience can earn an average salary of around INR 2-3 Lakhs per annum. These designers are beginners and will be guided by seniors while working on a design process. They will learn to conduct research and craft wireframes under guidance.

2. Mid-level UI/UX Designer

Mid-level UI designers with a little market experience can earn salaries ranging from INR 4-6 Lakhs per annum. These seasoned designers are proficient in UI and UX design tools and can create visually appealing interfaces and intuitive user flows based on research.

3. Senior-level UI/UX Designer

Senior-level UI/UX designers are at the managerial level. They have several years of experience and expertise under their belt. Their salaries can range from INR 7-12 Lakhs per annum; sometimes even more. These senior-level designers are responsible for leading projects, mentoring entry-level designers, and ensuring consistency in design framework across web pages.

Job Satisfaction and Work Environment

There is more to a career and a job than the paycheck. The job you do, the people you work with and the purpose of it offer a sense of satisfaction in the day-to-day life. Let us discuss where the UI/UX design career stands in terms of job satisfaction.

We already know that the goal of UI/UX design is to offer a positive experience to users and make their interactions meaningful. What does this mean in terms of job satisfaction?

Choosing a career in UI/UX design means you get a scope to study users and their behaviours. Being able to bring your creativity to life that allows users a healthy experience is satisfactory. The artistic soul within you looks forward to this experience.

In a workspace, a UI/UX designer experiences a very busy day with artistic appeal. They work with other designers, developers and researchers to get their design brains to work.

Research and surveys of the digital job market have stated that 81% of UI/UX designers are satisfied with their choice of career. They also enjoy the work environment and teamwork that play a major part in the design process.

Another positive thing about this career is, that it is a fun opportunity for people who look forward to flexible careers. For example, women with children find it difficult to commit to roles that require long hours.

As well as, with travelling barriers several individuals find certain job roles to be difficult. UI/UX design is a flexible and fun career option. This domain does not fall short of remote working opportunities and flexible hours. The role is not gender specific and offers excellent pay.

Your Journey with a UI/UX Career

If you have been considering a UI/UX career, now you have a solid understanding of the industry. You will need three things to excel in this field –

• A design mindset
• A clear understanding of UI/UX basics
• A UI/UX design certification

It is also important to understand the job market and the prospects before financially committing to a career. UI/UX design has had a proven record of being a demandable career choice in India.

Begin your UI/UX journey with a comprehensive design course offered by a reputable academy. A course under the guidance of mentors will ensure a strong foundational understanding. Being under seasoned professionals, you get a scope of understanding the real-time industry and build a proper network. Prioritize courses that offer a placement guarantee.

At Webskitters Academy, gear up your artistic flair with the best UI/UX design course in Kolkata. Get guided by industry experts and learn to create exceptional designs that offer impeccable user experience and interface.

Learn the necessary techniques of UI and UX and get a scope to work on real-time design projects. We offer guaranteed placements and internships after successful completion of the course.

Join Today!