When to call yourself a UXer?

Careers & Mentoring
#1

I’ve been given the opportunity to change my job title. Currently I am UI designer. My main options are: ‘Senior UI designer’, or ‘UX designer’.

My question to you is:
At what point would you start calling yourself a UX designer?

I have just come across this UX deliverables list in another topic. Because I work very closely with 2 brilliant BAs who do the user research, requirements, and user journeys side of things. I usually pick up from them at the point something needs putting down on paper. I analyse the requirements and ask questions to make sure I agree with whats been done, but I’m worried that because I miss out a lot of the UX deliverables I’m not a UXer.

What do you think?

#2

It sounds more like UI to me but I guess it also depends on where you want to head in the future. I think my job is a bit more UI than UX at times but UX is where I’m going so I’m happer to be designated as UX.

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#3

I would take the title of “Senior UI Designer” for one reason only-- the word “Senior” implies a level of management and responsibility absent in the “UX designer” role. This can make a difference when it comes to pay and promotions at future companies.

What’s more, the world between UI and UX is so muddled that many people don’t understand the nuances involved, and lump everyone using either title into the same boat. Fair or not, “UX Designer” and “UI Designer” is going to be viewed interchangeably by many of your future employers.

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#4

@jacquidow, this is a great question. I would still call it a UI position. When you are a UXer you have more responsibilities about the process and generating the knowledge about users interacting with your business, conducting user interviews and usability test sessions and all other kind of research tasks. That participation in data collection from the day first, engaging with users, flows, empathy maps and all other related deliverables can make it more toward UX, and I don’t see this happening much in what you described.

Asking “why” is still part of the UI Designers jobs as well as the UXers, and UI designers still need to know about UX journey and stuff like that, but what makes a difference is the one designer who researches and spends most of his/her time creating those (or has attempts to making those happen) with the other designer who is reviewing those and extracts more detail insights from that in order to create a unique user interface following the brand values and guidelines.

#5

I’d go with what is important to you. What will make you proud? What will assist you in getting the next job on your career ladder?

I agree with @dougcollins point about the word Senior. I think that’s important.

But you also have to be proud. That’s important too.

#6

That’s a really important thing to hear, I hadn’t really considered that. The more I think about this I think I’ll take the Senior UI Designer position and keep working towards turning this into a Senior UX position :slight_smile:

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