Roles we recruit
Seven practices, 27 functions. Start at the practice when you cannot yet name the title; go straight to the function when you can.
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A UX designer works out how people get things done in your product or on your site: research, flows, wireframes and the testing that removes friction. Case studies tend to tell a tidy story, so we screen for research they ran themselves, decisions that changed because of it, and a number that moved after launch.
A UX hire earns trust by showing the team where users struggle, then fixing it. Each stage below has a signal that predicts it, and we test for that signal before you meet anyone.
The ramp, and the test behind each milestone
Weeks 1 and 2
The product, its analytics and funnels, support tickets and sales objections, plus time with product managers and engineers to learn what is planned and what is stuck.
On track looks like a short list of the flows where users drop off most, backed by data.
How we test for it before you meet them
A short exercise in our screen: one of your flows, twenty minutes. We score which problems they spot, how they rank them and what they would want to learn from users.
Weeks 3 and 4
Five or six usability sessions or interviews on the flow that matters most, with the team invited to watch, and a short readout of what users actually do.
On track looks like usability sessions run and a readout the product manager acts on.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask for research they planned and ran themselves: the questions, the participants and what changed because of it.
Weeks 5 to 8
Flows and wireframes for the fix, a clickable prototype tested with users before engineering starts, and changes made from what the tests showed.
On track looks like a tested prototype engineering can build from, with the evidence attached.
How we test for it before you meet them
We look at a case study and ask what the first version got wrong in testing. Designers who never found anything wrong are where we dig.
Weeks 9 to 13
The redesigned flow live, built with engineering, and measured against the starting numbers: completion, drop-off, time to value or support tickets.
On track looks like a measured change in the flow's numbers that the team can point to.
How we test for it before you meet them
A reference call with a product manager about one shipped change and the number it moved.
After day 90
Strong UX designers set up a steady research rhythm, share findings across teams and start shaping the roadmap with evidence rather than opinion.
On track looks like a monthly research cadence the product team relies on.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask what they would research first in your product and why. A sharp, specific answer predicts the designer who shapes the roadmap.
Five responsibilities. If the seat is mainly visual design and components, it is a UI designer; if it is mainly the marketing site, it is a web designer.
Interviews and usability tests that show how people actually use the product, shared with the team.
How screens connect and how content is organized so people find their way.
Low and high fidelity prototypes tested with users before engineering builds.
Sign-up, onboarding, checkout and core tasks redesigned where users drop off.
Setting a baseline and reading the numbers after launch to confirm the change worked.
Three neighboring seats absorb work people assume belongs here. Drawing the line wrong is how a UX hire ends up polishing screens or running A/B tests on the website.
That seat ownsThe visual layer of the product: screens, components, states and the design system.
Hire it instead whenpeople complete their tasks but the product looks inconsistent.
That seat ownsFriction on the marketing site: session analysis, usability tests and changes that lift conversion.
Hire it instead whenthe problem is the website’s conversion rather than the product.
That seat ownsPage designs for the marketing site and landing pages.
Hire it instead whenmost of the work is marketing pages rather than product flows.
The title stays the same; the depth does not. Pick the one that matches your team.
Owns flows for a product area, from research to tested prototype, alongside a product manager.
Leans toward research: interviews, usability programs and insight the whole team uses.
The first dedicated UX designer in a product team where engineers and PMs designed until now.
The questions we ask in our own screen. Use them in yours; the warning signs are as useful as the answers.
Every candidate we put forward is scored on these five, and the scores travel with the shortlist, gaps included. Four out of five with a named weakness beats a clean sweep you cannot verify.
| What we score | Weak evidence | Strong evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Research they ran | Case studies with research done by someone else, or none. | Interviews and usability tests they planned, ran and acted on. |
| Finding the real problem | Redesigns our flow from opinion. | Uses data and a hypothesis on our exercise, and ranks problems sensibly. |
| Testing before building | Prototypes go straight to engineering. | Prototypes tested with users, with changes made from what they saw. |
| A measured result | No number attached to any project. | A shipped change with a baseline and a measured improvement. |
| Working with product and engineering | Hands over files and moves on. | Plans with the product manager and works through the build, confirmed by a reference. |
Public US benchmarks, read October 2026. Salary.com pays UX above UI: its UX designer band starts at $106,694, against $77,020 for UI designers. Built In’s self-reported median base for UX designers is $90,000; its average additional cash for the title is an outlier, so the chart shows that median without a total ring.
Each bar runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile, the middle half of reported pay.
Base salaryWages including commission (BLS)Median base salaryAverage total pay, base plus variable
UX Designer
Salary.com base benchmark
$106,694 to $125,418 base
UX Designer, self-reported
Built In, self-reported median
$90,000 median base
Senior UX Designer
Built In, self-reported, the next seat
$117,000 median base$137,778 average total
UI Designer
Salary.com base benchmark, neighboring seat
$77,020 to $92,508 base
Web and digital interface designers
BLS, all industries
$73,290 to $158,820
UX Designer and UI Designer bars: Salary.com base salary, 25th to 75th percentile, United States, as of October 1, 2026. UX Designer and Senior UX Designer dots and ring: Built In median base salary and average total compensation (base plus additional cash, self-reported), reviewed October 6, 2026. Web and digital interface designers: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, annual wage at the 25th and 75th percentiles (SOC 15-1255), all industries. Public aggregates, not ZaphyrRecruit placement data.
A UX designer works out how people get things done in a product or on a site. They research how users behave, map flows and information architecture, sketch wireframes, build prototypes and test them with real users before engineering builds. Then they measure the result after launch. The job is to find friction in sign-up, onboarding and key tasks and remove it, using evidence rather than opinion.
Salary.com puts a UX designer at $106,694 to $125,418 base, with a median of $114,026 (October 2026). Built In’s self-reported median base is $90,000 for UX designers and $117,000 for senior UX designers. The BLS band for web and digital interface designers runs from $73,290 to $158,820 across all industries. Research depth and seniority move the number most.
A UX designer decides how a product works for the people using it: research, flows, wireframes and testing. A UI designer decides how it looks and behaves on screen: visual design, components, states and the design system. Many product designers cover both, and small teams often hire one person for each. If users cannot finish tasks, hire UX first; if the product looks inconsistent, hire UI.
A product manager decides what to build and why; a UX designer works out how it should work for users and tests that before engineering builds. Product managers can run some research, but without a designer the team usually ships flows that make sense to the people who built them and not to users. Once drop-off in key flows is costing you customers, the designer pays for themselves.
Process with evidence, not just final screens. Look for research they ran themselves, the problem it revealed, how the design changed after testing and a number that moved after launch. Ask what the first version got wrong. A case study where everything went to plan usually means the testing was light or the story has been tidied up.
An agency suits a one-off redesign or a research project with a clear scope. An in-house UX designer pays off when the product changes every sprint: they build a research habit, work with the same product managers and engineers every day and learn the users deeply. Many teams use an agency for a large study and keep the everyday work in-house. We recruit the in-house seat.
Ten working days from a signed brief to a shortlist of three to five calibrated designers, each with a portfolio review and our flow exercise scored. Interview speed decides the rest: good UX designers rarely run one process at a time, so a decision within a week of the first interview keeps them. Most can start two to four weeks after accepting.
Tell us about the product, the flows that worry you and who the designer will work with. We come back within one business day with how we would run the search and what the seat pays.
We build shortlists from people doing this work now, often before a seat is advertised. Set up a job alert for creative roles, or send your CV and portfolio link and we will come to you when a seat opens.
The UX designer is one of eleven seats in this function. If the gap sits elsewhere, start there.