Over the last years, the design industry created many job titles. Before that, things were easier: we were called Graphic Designers, Web Designers or, simply, Designers.
Nowadays, we are adding many different words before 'Designer': Product, UX, UI, UX/UI, Visual, Service, Web, Digital are some examples
And this is good, right? It means that Designers are expanding the work they do. For instance, not only thinking about visual aspects, but also concerned about User Experience and Business.
But at the same time, these new titles become confusing and misleading (or even a joke).
The confusing roles of UX
The roles in the design industry are deep and overlapping. It’s why new designers often struggle to understand the…uxdesign.cc
This confusion reflects a bigger problem: do companies really know what it means to be a ‘UX Designer’ or a ‘Product Designer’?
As well said by Kate Conrick, a Service Designer in 🇦🇺: 'Industry is suffering from a lack of clarity about roles, skills and methods.'
While doing my research, I have found good articles on what it means each of the job titles for designers. I share the links at the end of this article.
All these articles cover only one side: what designers think about their profession. There is nothing wrong about that, as the years of experience from these authors are relevant and bring an excellent contribution.
I cover the other side with a data-driven approach: what companies think about designers. As companies are the ones recruiting and managing designers, what they think about job titles and qualifications is relevant for designers who want to get a job or progress in the design career.
And the 'data' in 'data-driven' are: job advertisements.
A job advertisement is the moment of truth, when a company describes their 'ideal candidate'. For example, if a company believes that designers should code, they will ask for HTML, CSS, or any other programming languages in the requirements list.
After all, this is why you read all the way until here, right? 😉
I wrote a separate article for each of the four job titles. Go ahead and read one (or all) of them following the links below.
A matrix to help you self-evaluate on 18 different skills a UX designer needs
by Daniel Birch
The hardest role in tech: Product Designer
The Ultimate Guide to Understanding UX Roles and Which One You Should Go For
by IDF