Experience Designer Responsibilities

The role of experience designers has gained much more prominence in today's world, as it basically deals with the interaction between the user and the system. The emerging complexities of technology have made the experience designer responsibilities more difficult and challenging. In other words, it shows that this industry is booming and that it has got bright opportunities for those aspiring to make a career in this field.

Key Responsibilities of an Experience Designer

An experience designer helps in making the digital experience as simple and usable as possible, because usability is one of the prime things that need to be taken into consideration. The experience designer responsibilities cater to delivering consistent quality to its clients and aim at striking a chord with their sensibilities. They are professionals who function behind the scenes and play a role similar to that of a creative director. Here is a detailed description of the key responsibilities that need to be handled by experience designers:

1. To collaborate with the clients, understand the needs of the business as well as the user and collect the relevant information
2. To translate the client requirements as per the specifications mentioned and develop the product accordingly
3. To actively participate in the development of the concept and effectively create it and be responsible for the schematics, work flow, architecture, prototypes, etc.
4. To ensure that the design developed is in compliance with the standards of accessibility and usability
5. To interact with the visual designers and work in close association with developers, programmers, and engineers to develop ways of simplifying the complex information and making the user experience as interactive as possible in order to draw the attention and focus of the user, ensuring high quality of the final product
6. To research the competitive landscape and make recommendations to ensure the consistency by defining user interfaces that are innovative and will assist in improved productivity of the users

Thus, they help in designing the most impactful and influential user interface and help in the maintenance and development of design mock ups, specifications, design documents, prototypes, usage scenarios, etc. They work in close association with the software developers and ensure that quality is maintained throughout the implementation and testing processes. They help in developing guidelines for user experience and user specifications. Thus, they help in translating the business and marketing goals and make sure that the end user is completely satisfied.

Essential Skills

A successful experience designer would definitely have at least some of the following skills and abilities:

• Good problem solving ability with high degree of creativity
• Excellent communication and presentation skills with a keen eye for detail
• Passion to excel and meet the client requirements on a given deadline
• Should be an excellent team player and should be able to juggle priorities and deliver results even when he is required to work under stressful work conditions
• Should be updated with the current user interface trends along with strong visual designing skills and analytical skills
• Should be self confident, able to motivate others, result oriented with strong work ethics, etc.

Educational Background

A degree in psychology, communications, visual designing, interaction design, computer science, product or industrial design or any other relevant field would be preferred. Extensive knowledge of Java, HTML, Flash, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, etc., would prove to be beneficial. Demonstrated work experience in interaction design and delivering successful compelling designs with exceptional quality would help you in progressing your career.

Work Hours

The normal work schedule of an experienced designer requires him to work for thirty five to forty hours per week, Monday through Friday. He may need to work overtime depending on the priority of the work that needs to be completed on the given deadline.

Salary Details

The minimum salary that is being offered for entry level experience designers is close to $70,000. The experienced persons who are backed with adequate academic qualifications and skills will definitely get a better salary package in the range of $130,000 to $190,000.

Career Prospects

The career prospects for aspiring experience designers are really bright with more and more companies engaged in employing designers who are creative and are backed with a relevant academic background and demonstrated work experience.

Thus, if you are able to handle the experience designer responsibilities, you can be assured of a rewarding career ahead which will help you to develop personally and professionally and assist you in achieving new career heights.