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Is UI/UX design a good career?

I plan to stay in the UK if that helps, and I do have interest in UI/UX but no matter how interesting a job is, it's an instant major turn-off if it doesn't pay well enough to live comfortably (not luxuriously, I must make clear) or has a bad life/work balance.
I'm also a fast learner and already have some basic understanding of design, I've taken coding classes before which I did well in but I've forgotten most of the content I learned since I didn't have the option to continue taking those classes. Basically, I think I wouldn't have much trouble trying to learn the skills needed.

Is the salary good? Should I steer away, or persist? What A-Levels would be helpful in pursuing these jobs?
Some pros and cons of the job would help.

For some extra context, I live in the south-west (so please don't come to me telling me if I want to survive in London I have to be a lawyer or doctor. I've heard it y'all.)
Original post by saisaisaisai
Is the salary good?

Your best bet here is to look at a mixture of job listings and websites designed to collate job info (glassdoor for example), but take the latter with a pinch of salt. Job listings will give you a nice idea of the sort of skills you'll need, which you can then work backwards to find a path. If for example jobs wanted to see CompSci, you could look at suitable unis for CompSci, check their entry requirements and choose A Levels based on that.

My answer to "is X good" always tends to be the same thing though. What defines good for you? It's all incredibly subjective.

Original post by saisaisaisai
For some extra context, I live in the south-west (so please don't come to me telling me if I want to survive in London I have to be a lawyer or doctor.

People actually say this? lol
Original post by AcseI
Your best bet here is to look at a mixture of job listings and websites designed to collate job info (glassdoor for example), but take the latter with a pinch of salt. Job listings will give you a nice idea of the sort of skills you'll need, which you can then work backwards to find a path. If for example jobs wanted to see CompSci, you could look at suitable unis for CompSci, check their entry requirements and choose A Levels based on that.

My answer to "is X good" always tends to be the same thing though. What defines good for you? It's all incredibly subjective.


People actually say this? lol

Hmm, that's a good place to start! Thank you, kind stranger.

Also, maybe it's just that I've met some real weirdos...Lol.
100% yes. My friend went to Glasgow Caledonian to study Digital Art (or was it Digital Design?), landed a £30k job as a UX designer straight out of university and then now 1 year later has landed a lead UX designer role with a £45k salary.

I'm seriously considering trying to learn stuff like this in my spare time as well as some coding etc.
(edited 3 years ago)
Original post by Quick-use
100% yes. My friend went to Glasgow Caledonian to study Digital Art (or was it Digital Design?), landed a £30k job as a UX designer straight out of university and then now 1 year later has landed a lead UX designer role with a £45k salary.

I'm seriously considering trying to learn stuff like this in my spare time as well as some coding etc.

Oh, that's awesome! Congrats to your friend, hope he's enjoying the job!
Coding for me was pretty fun, since it felt really rewarding when I learnt how to do certain things. Made me feel smarter than I actually am, y'know? Lol.
I think you should totally try learning some coding or tech skills if you have the time. Would probably be good decor on your resume, right?
Original post by saisaisaisai
Oh, that's awesome! Congrats to your friend, hope he's enjoying the job!
Coding for me was pretty fun, since it felt really rewarding when I learnt how to do certain things. Made me feel smarter than I actually am, y'know? Lol.
I think you should totally try learning some coding or tech skills if you have the time. Would probably be good decor on your resume, right?

She's loving her new job. :fluffy:

It would be a nice touch, for sure! I currently don't have many specific technical skills aside from my languages and video editing... :lol:
I studied Fine Art (BA) and it took me a few years to reach that salary.

Learning to code helps, but your portfolio is the thing that brings you attention - You will need to invest in a new Mac, iPad etc... to get testing with users on the latest tech.

Also, the research field you choose should be focused from the start.

Im moving into Big data
Yo bro, I've never heard of UX until recently when i saw advert after advert on youtube, you know the one that goes "take if from me UX is a good career" anyway do what you want i suppose bro because at the end of the day life revolves all around getting that dollar, big money dolla dolla bill yo. Also the government is shrinking 5g towers and putting them into pencils don't drink the water
Original post by saisaisaisai
I think you should totally try learning some coding or tech skills if you have the time. Would probably be good decor on your resume, right?

Original post by Quick-use
It would be a nice touch, for sure! I currently don't have many specific technical skills aside from my languages and video editing... :lol:

So an interesting thing about a lot of tech jobs. You often have technical people who do the practical work, and the soft skills people who do things like HR, sales, client relations, etc. The people who tend to excel on both sides are the ones that have a little bit of understanding how the other side works. Technical leads absolutely love it when the project manager has just a bit of technical knowledge, because it makes communication that much easier. And project managers love it when technical leads have soft skills because they're easier to liaise with. The technical and non-technical staff often work closely together, and even a small skills overlap can go a long way. Naturally this applies to UI/UX where you have both a technical implementation and a heavy people focused element.

So yes, I'd strongly recommend that people in non-technical roles pick up a handful of technical skills, and vice versa. There's nothing worse than a programmer that can't talk with a customer, or a project manager that doesn't know how to turn the computer on.
Original post by saisaisaisai
I plan to stay in the UK if that helps, and I do have interest in UI/UX but no matter how interesting a job is, it's an instant major turn-off if it doesn't pay well enough to live comfortably (not luxuriously, I must make clear) or has a bad life/work balance.
I'm also a fast learner and already have some basic understanding of design, I've taken coding classes before which I did well in but I've forgotten most of the content I learned since I didn't have the option to continue taking those classes. Basically, I think I wouldn't have much trouble trying to learn the skills needed.

Is the salary good? Should I steer away, or persist? What A-Levels would be helpful in pursuing these jobs?
Some pros and cons of the job would help.

For some extra context, I live in the south-west (so please don't come to me telling me if I want to survive in London I have to be a lawyer or doctor. I've heard it y'all.)

https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/ux-designer
This should help you.

UX/UI is a pretty diverse areas, you will have people completing for these positions from any degree background. I know some people who have an English / archaeology degree got into UX by just building a portfolio. Graduate roles role for these positions is generally low around 16-20k in UK if you don't have a least 1 year experience or a portfolio. Not everyone can go straight into 30k roles without experiences. You need both a strong degree (CS or related) plus a portfolio for this.

Keep in mind, a lot of people tend to prefer design over programming/coding. So frontend work(design) is generally less valuable than backend where you do all the coding and getting it to work.

You should cover Computer Science for A-level mainly because you will understand the fundamental of software(website/app) and from there you can get into full-stack developer so you will have experience from both frontend and backend. If you just go for a graphic design degree you will go into frontend and complete with people with Arts degree which isn't that good. Ppl tends to look down on people with Art degree and honestly, it's highly not recommended to take an A-level or a degree on this subject. better to go for CS,Math,physics, something that is more valuable in the current job market. If you have a strong background in development, you can always build up design skills at any time whether it's freelancing or just volunteering work, or hobby - you don't need a degree specifically in design/art. Development outweighs design always.

A lot of people chose CS but drop out in University because they didn't like coding, but I think it's something people will have to learn eventually as technologies are evolving. You don't have to do a coding job with a CS degree, but you can go into UX/UI with a CS degree and in fact, employers would choose someone with a CS degree than just purely an art/design degree. If you want to land a job at big tech companies within UX areas at Google/Microsoft. It's worth doing a subject in Computer Science. Big tech companies pay a lot, enough to survive in London.

Some good graduate jobs like 30k+ may require a CS or HCI(with programming background). A degree in BSc Computer Science (Human Computer Interaction) at Manchester University is quite good, you will definitely get into UX with this.
Original post by beyond21
https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/ux-designer
This should help you.

UX/UI is a pretty diverse areas, you will have people completing for these positions from any degree background. I know some people who have an English / archaeology degree got into UX by just building a portfolio. Graduate roles role for these positions is generally low around 16-20k in UK if you don't have a least 1 year experience or a portfolio. Not everyone can go straight into 30k roles without experiences. You need both a strong degree (CS or related) plus a portfolio for this.

Keep in mind, a lot of people tend to prefer design over programming/coding. So frontend work(design) is generally less valuable than backend where you do all the coding and getting it to work.

You should cover Computer Science for A-level mainly because you will understand the fundamental of software(website/app) and from there you can get into full-stack developer so you will have experience from both frontend and backend. If you just go for a graphic design degree you will go into frontend and complete with people with Arts degree which isn't that good. Ppl tends to look down on people with Art degree and honestly, it's highly not recommended to take an A-level or a degree on this subject. better to go for CS,Math,physics, something that is more valuable in the current job market. If you have a strong background in development, you can always build up design skills at any time whether it's freelancing or just volunteering work, or hobby - you don't need a degree specifically in design/art. Development outweighs design always.

A lot of people chose CS but drop out in University because they didn't like coding, but I think it's something people will have to learn eventually as technologies are evolving. You don't have to do a coding job with a CS degree, but you can go into UX/UI with a CS degree and in fact, employers would choose someone with a CS degree than just purely an art/design degree. If you want to land a job at big tech companies within UX areas at Google/Microsoft. It's worth doing a subject in Computer Science. Big tech companies pay a lot, enough to survive in London.

Some good graduate jobs like 30k+ may require a CS or HCI(with programming background). A degree in BSc Computer Science (Human Computer Interaction) at Manchester University is quite good, you will definitely get into UX with this.

Thank you! That's very helpful :^) I was already planning to take physics at A level so that shouldn't really be a problem - I'll have to see the possibilities I have of taking computer science. Fingers crossed that my school has it as an A level!
Original post by Quick-use
100% yes. My friend went to Glasgow Caledonian to study Digital Art (or was it Digital Design?), landed a £30k job as a UX designer straight out of university and then now 1 year later has landed a lead UX designer role with a £45k salary.

I'm seriously considering trying to learn stuff like this in my spare time as well as some coding etc.


was wondering if you ever did end up trying to get into the ui/ux design career or learnt coding that helped you get into a similar career?

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