Mega-List of Design Roles

In the digital design world change is constant and rapid. It can be overwhelming to try to stay up to date on everything from software to design patterns, and even to types of jobs. For this article, we’ve developed a list of all the types of roles in design that we know of. If you see a role missing, please shout it out in the comments.

Note: “Product” and “UX” are often used interchangeably with regard to design. For the sake of clarity, we will consider “Product Design” to be a type of work that iterates on living products (e.g. Spotify, Instagram, Slack, etc.). “UX Design” will, on the other hand, describes work done in an agency setting for clients.

Management

The head honchos. These folks often occupy middle-management positions leading teams of designers and researchers. Leadership is their super power. Experience is the core prerequisite.

Product Design Manager

Leads a team of designers, researchers, and writers to direct the best possible user experience for a product or suite of products. This person directs design at a high level. They communicate with other teams to ensure design is of the highest priorities.

UX Manager (Agency)

Directs a team of designers, researchers, and writers to create designs that clients love. Managing resources to maintain profitability is the challenge they often face.

Other Job Titles

You may come across other titles in management such as Director of UX, Director of Product Design, Head of UX, and Head of Product Design.

Design

These are the soldiers in the trenches. Designers produce real digital artifacts to be research, coded, or reviewed. Mastery of design heuristics is their strength. Software fluency is critical.

Product Designer

Keeps well informed on current research in order to craft delightful product designs. Just as a product can always be improved, the work of a product designer never ends. This is a core role in design.

UX Designer (Agency)

Takes client requests and turns them into beautiful user experiences. Balancing client demands and proper UX is a constant challenge. Thick skin required.

Visual Designer

Creates beautiful interfaces. Focuses less on user experience and more on color palettes, shapes and typefaces. Knowledge of design systems is a big plus.

Information Architect

Takes research and creates sitemaps, user flows or journey maps to visualize how a user will interact with a design. These roles are becoming less common as Product Designers are expected to have mastered these skills.

Brand Designer / Graphic Designer

Crafts visually stimulating graphics to be used across both product design and marketing. Their tools are visual design applications like Adobe Illustrator or InDesign. Their output is iconography, color palettes, photography, illustrations, and much more.

Growth Designer

Full-stack product designers that design for growth outcomes. Conversion of new customers is their charter. Growth Designers develop a deep understanding of customer needs and incorporate their knowledge into sites and interfaces. This is a new and exciting design role.

Other Job Titles

You may come across other titles in Design such as Interaction Designer, Interactive Designer, UX Architect, Art Director, Design Lead, UX Lead

Operations

As design teams grow, they need help coordinating the processes and communication surrounding design. Operations roles are created to help design teams do their work efficiently and effectively.

Design Ops Manager

Leads the processes, people, tools and projects of a design team. They ensure all members of the team are working in the most efficient way possible. Design Ops managers track team initiatives to make sure they are carried out.

Program Manager

The execution agents of Design Ops Managers. Program Managers support their team by streamlining the design process and facilitating communication within the team and across to other teams.

Research

Research drives meaningful user experience. Research provides the basis for new feature development and validates design decisions. Researchers work alongside designers to ensure design outcomes match user needs.

UX Research Manager

Leads the UX Research practice. Partners with teams across the organization to improve the quality of our products and interpret users’ needs into clear and actionable insights that help inform business decisions.

UX Researcher

The foundation of a high-performing UX team. UX Researchers conduct deep investigations into the user’s needs, wants, pain points and so much more. User research should be the impetus for any UX design update.

Writing

UX Writer

Authors the text the user reads when interacting with a user experience. We all have different ways of explaining things. A UX Writer must write statements that everyone can understand. Not an easy task.

Documentation Writer

Explains the user experience and writes understandable articles to guide and support the user. Complex software often requires additional support documentation. A “Docs” Writer’s job is critical in promoting proper use while decreasing costly support tickets.

Notice any roles we missed? Let us know in the comments.