This menu that opens when you hover your mouse over it, this green button that validates your basket order, these tabs that allow you to easily find the “about us”, “contact”, “our” sections on a website. offers”, the photos that scroll… Everything was imagined and designed by a User Interface (UI) designer.
An expert who has become indispensable.
But what exactly is its mission?
“A UI designer is above all a graphic designer who takes care of the design of an interface,” summarizes David Tardiveau, program manager at Gobelins, a renowned Parisian art school.
“It carries out the visual formatting of an information system,” explains Christian Porri, teacher in the same establishment and at the Higher School of Art and Design (Esad) in Reims (Marne).
It is what will make a website, a mobile app, software, a connected object and even the operating systems (OS) which govern our computers, smartphones, tablets, etc. readable, pleasant to look at and to use.
“You have to be curious and very observant”
This artistic dimension represents the essentials of a good UI designer.
“Mastery of software is one thing, but what counts is general and visual culture, reflection, perspective, creative gesture,” insists Christian Porri.
To practice this profession, you must be curious and very observant.
» Knowledge of art history is also required.
In this world, graphic designers who have years of experience on paper media (posters, brochures, magazines, etc.) start with a head start.
Indeed, “everything relating to typography, iconography, colorimetry, text/image ratio must be acquired,” underlines David Tardiveau.
“For people from a completely different world, it will be difficult, but with a lot of work and training, it is doable,” reassures Christian Porri for those who wish to retrain.
Also readCharacter designer, culinary designer...the professions of art and design
Photoshop, for processing images, and Illustrator, for creating vector drawings, are the two basic software programs to master.
But not only.
The UI designer's daily travel companion will also be called Sketch, Figma or XD.
These tools make it possible to first produce a black and white prototype of the website (wireframe) and present it to the client for validation.
It then remains to be finalized.
“We take the elements of the graphic charter of our interlocutor and we will dress the wireframe: choose the colors, the typos, the photos - including the framing and the processing -, the graphic principles such as the nets, the pictograms…” , explains Christelle Lézé, freelance UI designer.
Turnkey sites for SMEs
In the largest agencies and companies, the role of the UI designer ends there.
He then hands over to the developers or integrators who will code all the elements he has provided.
In theory, he therefore does not put his hands under the hood.
“But we teach a little code to students because the designer must have a vision of the developer’s challenges,” admits Christian Porri.
And this is all the more true for independents serving VSEs and SMEs with tight budgets.
“For a small structure, I initially carry out the competitive audit and the framing of the project,” explains Christelle Lézé.
Then I list the different types of content on the site, I organize them, it's
sorting the cards
and the tree structure.
Thirdly, I build the wireframes.
Once validated, I will dress them.
If you make very good choices of typography and colors, 90% of the work is accomplished!
And finally, I move on to integration and development using a solution like Word Press.
» In this case, the UI designer delivers a turnkey site.
“We communicate a lot with developers, so you need to have some knowledge of HTML/CSS integration and even have knowledge of Javascript
(computer languages)
in 2024, it is recommended,” she concludes.
The most ambitious will go so far as to learn how to use After Effects, graphic animation and special effects software, the famous motion design...
“It takes 10 years to become a good designer”
On the training side, students, preferably from technological baccalaureates such as STD2A, can then aim, in 3 years, for a national art diploma (DNA) from art schools, a bachelor's degree, a national diploma in crafts and design (DN MADE), then progress to the master's degree, in public or private establishments.
In any case, “it takes 10 years minimum to become a good designer,” believes Christian Porri.
In terms of salaries, an employed UI designer starts between 2,500 euros and 3,000 euros gross per month.
A senior can count on 3,800 euros to 5,000 euros gross per month.
Up to you :
Books: “UI-UX Design – Designing sites and apps for and with users”, by Didier Mazier, Ed.
ENI, September 2023, 276 p., 28.50 euros;
“Designing and Prototyping Interfaces with Figma” (in English), by Fabio Staiano, Ed.
Packt Publishing, March 2022, 382 p., 58.39 euros.
Sites:
www.cidj.com/metiers/designer-ux-ui
;
www.gobelins.fr/design-interactif/metiers/devenir-ui-designer
.
HE IS RECRUITING - “I still need 7 UI designers”
A thriving company with 1,350 employees specializing in the creation of digital experiences, Niji has a forecast turnover of 130 million euros in 2023 and is actively recruiting, particularly UI designers.
Yv Corbeil, managing director & chief creative officer at Niji, sets out his expectations.
POSTS.
“This year, I will need ten UI designers and I have already hired three,” announces Yv Corbeil.
The positions are all on permanent contracts, mainly for the Issy-les-Moulineaux headquarters but also the Lille agency.
Niji is also present in Rennes, Nantes, Bordeaux, and Lyon.
MISSIONS.
The UI designer will be responsible for building the interface (template design, use of the UI kit, etc.).
“He never works alone,” explains Yv Corbeil, “but in a team with the UX designer, supervised by the creative lead and in interaction with the integrators.
»
PROFILES.
“Curiosity is essential and it cannot be taught,” warns the creative director.
English is essential.
And the youngest must have absolute mastery of AI.
You must of course know how to use Figma perfectly.
We recruit at bac + 3, bac + 5 but I believe in the diversity of profiles.
I never hire based on school.
During the process, we test the candidate on the software, immediately speak to them in English and look at their portfolio.
It is necessary to have consideration for the colleagues who are next to them, to know how to give them a helping hand.
»
WAGES.
“On average, on our French sites, the salary ranges from 38,000 euros to 63,000 euros gross per year, over 12 months.
»
DEVELOPMENTS.
“There are several grades of UI with us, then you can become a creative lead who heads a UI team, then creative director.
»