A UX Designer is responsible for making digital products useful, usable, and enjoyable for users. They research user needs and behaviours, turn those insights into flows, wireframes, and prototypes, and collaborate with product managers, developers, and stakeholders to refine the experience before and after launch. They think end-to-end—from first impression to task completion and support—designing interfaces, interactions, content structure, and feedback loops so users can achieve their goals with minimal friction and maximum clarity. A strong UX Designer balances user empathy with business goals and technical constraints, ensuring that what gets built actually works for real people.
Why in demand
User expectations keep rising – People now compare every product to the best apps they use daily; UX Designers are needed to meet these expectations with clean, intuitive experiences.
Digital is the primary channel for many businesses – As more services move online (banking, healthcare, education, government), good UX becomes critical to adoption, retention, and brand perception.
Complexity behind the scenes is growing – With AI, data, and integrations everywhere, UX Designers simplify complex workflows into clear, understandable interfaces.
UX directly impacts revenue and costs – Better UX reduces drop-offs, support tickets, and training needs while increasing conversion, loyalty, and satisfaction—clear business value.
Human-centred design for AI and automation – As AI features proliferate, UX Designers are essential to ensuring they are trustworthy, transparent, and controllable. Hence, users feel in charge, not confused or overwhelmed.
Problems Solved
UX Designers solve the problem of digital products being confusing, frustrating, or unusable for the people they’re meant to help. Without UX, businesses often ship features that are hard to find, hard to understand, and full of friction—leading to low adoption, high support costs, and lost revenue. A UX Designer brings user research, information architecture, interaction design, and testing together to ensure the product is intuitive, accessible, and aligned with both user needs and business goals.
- Reduce friction and confusion – Turn messy or technical workflows into clear, simple journeys with intuitive navigation, labels, and interactions so users can succeed without manuals or support.
- Make products usable for real people, not specs – Run interviews, research, and usability tests to uncover real user needs and pain points, then design flows and interfaces that match how people actually think and work.
- Increase conversion and engagement – Optimise key journeys (sign-up, onboarding, checkout, core tasks) so more users complete them successfully, directly improving adoption, revenue, and retention.
- Lower support and training costs – Design interfaces that prevent errors, explain next steps, and provide in-context help, so fewer users get stuck or need hand-holding from support teams.
- Align stakeholders around a clear experience – Use wireframes, prototypes, and design systems to give product, engineering, and business teams a shared, concrete picture of what’s being built and why.
- Ensure accessibility and inclusivity – Apply accessibility standards and inclusive design, so products work for users of different abilities, devices, and contexts, reducing risk and expanding the addressable audience.
Skills Needed
| Skill Category | Skills (comma-separated with importance /10) |
|---|---|
| Technical | UI design tools (Figma/Sketch/XD mastery) [10], Prototyping tools & methods (clickable, hi/lo-fi) [9], Design systems & component libraries [8], Basic HTML/CSS awareness for feasibility [5], Frontend coding beyond prototypes [2] |
| Digital & Data | Understanding of digital platforms (web, mobile, responsive) [9], Working with design tokens & handoff tools (Zeplin, Dev Mode) [7], Using analytics/heatmaps tools (GA, Hotjar) [6], Managing design files & version control [6], Advanced data engineering/BI tools [1] |
| Problem-Solving | Turning messy requirements into clear user flows [10], Simplifying complex interactions & journeys [9], Ideation & divergent/convergent thinking [8], Designing around constraints (tech, legal, brand) [7], Formal optimisation/OR methods [2] |
| Analytics | Interpreting UX metrics (drop-off, task success, time-on-task) [8], Using experiment/A-B test results to refine designs [7], Basic statistics literacy for research findings [5], Setting UX success criteria & KPIs [6], Advanced statistical modelling [2] |
| Communication | Clear visual communication via wireframes & prototypes [10], Writing UX documentation & specs [9], Presenting design rationale to teams & stakeholders [9], Crafting concise microcopy/UX writing [7], Public speaking/evangelising design externally [3] |
| Collaboration | Co-creating with product managers & engineers [10], Working closely with UI designers & researchers [9], Running workshops (journey mapping, ideation) [8], Collaborating with content, marketing & support [7], Organising social/team-building events [2] |
| Leadership | Advocating for user-centred design in decisions [9], Providing direction on UX standards & patterns [8], Mentoring junior designers [6], Leading cross-functional design sessions [7], Formal people management for a large org [3] |
| Business | Understanding product & business goals for each journey [9], Balancing user value with commercial constraints [8], Awareness of key business metrics (conversion, churn) [7], Reading basic dashboards/OKRs [6], Deep corporate finance or pricing strategy [2] |
| Strategic | Designing end-to-end user journeys across touchpoints [9], Contributing to product roadmap from a UX lens [8], Maintaining a long-term UX vision/design language [8], Prioritising UX work for impact vs effort [7], Owning full corporate strategy beyond product [1] |
| Customers | Deep user empathy & understanding real-world context [10], Planning & conducting user interviews/usability tests [9], Creating personas & journey maps [8], Incorporating feedback loops into the product [8], Running large-scale customer councils/events [3] |
| Stakeholders | Managing expectations on UX scope & timelines [8], Explaining trade-offs between options clearly [9], Handling conflicting feedback from different stakeholders [8], Aligning design decisions in reviews & critiques [7], Heavy political manoeuvring for its own sake [2] |
| Adaptability | Applying accessibility standards (WCAG) [9], maintaining design systems & documentation [8], Respecting brand, legal & privacy guidelines in UX [7], ensuring consistency across products & teams [7], personally drafting detailed legal/policy documents [2] |
| Governance | Applying accessibility standards (WCAG) [9], maintaining design systems & documentation [8], respecting brand, legal & privacy guidelines in UX [7], ensuring consistency across products & teams [7], personally drafting detailed legal/policy documents [2] |
