Is UI Design a Good Career?

Yes, UI design can be a very good career, providing ample opportunities and a competitive salary.

There are, in fact, quite a few benefits to a career as a UI Designer. If you have a fine eye for visuals and a strong creative impulse, UI design can be a great way to scratch that itch. As a UI Designer, you’ll be working in the world of shape and color, typography and layout, photos, and illustrations. But you’ll also be engaged on the technical, problem-solving side as you work to make your designs seamlessly functional. And when a project is done, you can step back and admire the fruits of your labors in the form of a tangible accomplishment.

In fact, that sense of accomplishment and making an impact with your work is one of the best parts about being a UI Designer. Websites, apps, and software are everywhere now, so UI Designers have a very real influence on the look and feel of the digital space. You’ll be working toward making your company and its product as successful as possible, while also making the world around us a little bit more functional and beautiful.

UI Designers, especially those with the ability to work remotely, work abroad, or even simply on a freelance or consulting basis, enjoy a great variety of working conditions. They can expect to enjoy a variety of work, as well—UI Designers contribute to a wide range of product types for an even wider range of clients, so there’s always something new to learn, and a new challenge to take on.

That same variety means UI Designers have plenty of opportunities to branch out, diversify, and work cross-disciplinarily. Tech is always changing, and new frontiers of UI design are being invented every day—working in different types of media, on different devices, and in different spaces. Whether you’re a generalist or an uber-specialist, the field of UI is wide and varied enough that you’ll never need to feel bored.

By the nature of their work, UI Designers also get to be very self-directed while also enjoying the feeling of being part of a team. As a bridge between aesthetics and function, UI design is highly collaborative, placing you at the center of the development process, where you’ll work closely with UX Designers, Content Writers, Graphic Designers and Illustrators, Project Managers, and potentially even users.

Last (but not least), UI Designers are in high demand, giving them better job security and more competitive salaries. For UI Designers with experience in the art of persuasion—advertising, marketing, and how to turn clicks into sales—the role may even be insulated from economic ups and down, as this specialty becomes even more crucial as overall development slows down.