UX engineers combine front-end engineering with UX principles and frequently collaborate with designers, researchers, and back-end engineers. Learn more about a career as a user experience engineer.
A user experience (UX) engineer builds and designs digital products like websites and apps using UX principles. UX engineers generally deal with the front end of these products—the user-facing parts that people interact with, like the buttons, layouts, and flow of the interfaces. They may work on both engineering and design teams or act as liaisons between the two.
Explore a job as a UX engineer, including the average responsibilities of the job and how much you can expect to earn.
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Get on the fast track to a career in UX design. In this certificate program, you’ll learn in-demand skills, and get AI training from Google experts. Learn at your own pace, no degree or experience required.
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Cross Platform Development, Presentations, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, Usability, Applicant Tracking Systems, User Research, Persona (User Experience), Usability Testing, Responsive Web Design, Wireframing, Information Architecture, UI/UX Research, User Experience Design, Design Reviews, Mobile Development, Data Ethics, User Story, Storyboarding, Figma (Design Software), Interviewing Skills, User Centered Design, Design Thinking, Sprint Retrospectives, Sprint Planning, Prototyping, Design Elements And Principles, Typography, Color Theory, Interaction Design, Mockups, Technical Communication, User Interface (UI) Design, Artificial Intelligence, Professional Development, UI/UX Strategy, Web Design, User Interface (UI), Problem Solving, Communication, Prompt Engineering, Personal Attributes, Generative AI, Ideation, Competitive Analysis, Human Centered Design, User Flows, Human Factors, Information Privacy, Research Design
As a hybrid between a developer and a UX designer, the work of a UX engineer includes both UX principles and engineering tasks. Explore a breakdown of what you might do as a UX engineer:
Plan and design web pages and apps: A UX engineer uses UX principles to create digital products. This can mean using wireframes, prototypes, and design tools to create blueprints for what a website or app will look like.
Program the front end: UX engineers are unique from UX designers because they can code. A UX engineer will use front-end programming languages like HTML, CSS, or Javascript to create layouts and interactive features or execute other design ideas.
Collaborate with UX and engineering teams: As a professional with both design and programming abilities, UX engineers often act as the bridge between the two teams. UX engineers can work with designers, back-end engineers, and writers to develop products. They may also conduct user testing, A/B testing, and other forms of research in collaboration with the UX team.
UX engineers may find their roles are similar to UX developers, front-end developers, product design engineers, or UI engineers, though each can differ slightly.
UX engineers in the US make an average base salary of $116,285 [1]. It’s a field that’s likely to see healthy growth in the future, with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projecting web developer and digital designer jobs to grow by 8 percent from 2023 to 2033 [2].
You can take several routes to becoming a UX engineer. Whether you’re a seasoned web developer who wants to make the leap into UX, fresh out of college, or somewhere in between, Explore some ways you can get started.
Your skills are important in convincing people to hire you as a UX engineer. Even if you don’t have all of the technical skills expected of the job, you can take many courses to learn the fundamentals. Some of the UX skills you’ll want to have and how you can get them include:
Programming languages: Because UX engineers tend to deal with the front-facing portions of websites and apps—the menus, layouts, and navigation pages—learning the coding languages that will allow you to build out the structure and style of your products will be crucial. These include:
HTML
CSS
Javascript
You can start learning HTML, CSS, and Javascript through an introductory course or pursue a full Specialization in web development.
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Do you realize that the only functionality of a web application that the user directly interacts with is through the web page? Implement it poorly and, to ...
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Interactive Design, Verification And Validation, HTML and CSS, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, Usability, Browser Compatibility, Javascript, Web Design and Development, Event-Driven Programming, Responsive Web Design, Wireframing, Application Frameworks, Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), User Interface (UI), Front-End Web Development, Bootstrap (Front-End Framework), Web Design, Code Review, Web Development, Cloud Hosting, Web Servers, Web Development Tools, Data Validation, Semantic Web, Debugging, Mobile Development Tools, Data Structures, Web Applications, Programming Principles
UX concepts: Knowing what UX is and how to implement those practices in your work sets UX engineers apart from front-end engineers. Knowing what user-centered design means, how to find pain points, how to prototype, and being able to conduct user research should be a priority if you aren’t familiar with it already. You can earn a Microsoft UX Design Professional Certificate that will introduce you to the essentials of the field and provide a chance to create your own UX portfolio.
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Launch Your Career in UX/UI Design. Build job-ready UX design skills through hands-on projects and learn to use industry leading tools like Figma. No degree or experience required.
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Human Centered Design, Artificial Intelligence, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, Usability, User Research, Persona (User Experience), Design Thinking, Prototyping, Usability Testing, Wireframing, User Interface and User Experience (UI/UX) Design, User Centered Design, Information Architecture, User Experience, Design, User Experience Design, Design Research, Interaction Design, Storyboarding, Figma (Design Software), Collaborative Software, Graphic and Visual Design, Mockups, Style Guides, User Interface (UI) Design, UI/UX Research, Creativity, Innovation
Sense of design and design tools: Having a sense of design isn’t necessarily something the artistically oriented are born with—many concepts can be learned. Getting a good grasp of design practices won’t just make you a better UX engineer; it’ll help you communicate with designers on your team. A few design tools and skills you can start with include:
Typography
Color theory
Imagemaking
Adobe Creative Suite
Figma
Sketch
Consider a Specialization in graphic design or interaction design if you’re in unfamiliar territory.
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Make Compelling Design. Learn and apply the principles of graphic design towards a comprehensive branding project.
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Graphic Design, Design Strategies, Visual Design, Design Elements And Principles, Graphic and Visual Design, Photo Editing, Branding, Style Guides, Design, Logo Design, Peer Review, Art History, Digital Design, Design Research, Photography, Creative Design, Design Software, Color Theory, Adobe InDesign, Typography, Storytelling, Creativity, Adobe Creative Cloud, Adobe Illustrator, Advertising, Culture, Adobe Photoshop, Brainstorming
Having a portfolio where you can showcase what you’re capable of can be a quick way to demonstrate you have what it takes to do the job. If you have a few projects under your belt, you can load them onto your LinkedIn. You can also create a portfolio with website hosting services like Wix or Squarespace. Customizable websites can be a good way to implement your UX engineering chops. Focus on clean, intuitive design, and make sure your code is functional and error-free.
When you're entering a new space, you will learn new jargon and tools. You can help yourself get used to the terminology, pain points, and the way people think in the UX world by joining networking groups, browsing forums, or finding resources like books and podcasts (logins may be required).
Once you grow more familiar with the field, you can consider reaching out to others to expand your professional network. Read more about networking to get interviews.
If you’re still in college or considering going back to school, a degree can be a structured way to build out UX engineering skills. Think about studying one of the following fields:
Computer science
Human-computer interaction
Design
Psychology
Is a degree not what you’re looking for? You can explore several UX certifications and boot camps that can act as a crash course in the UX world. Though they can cost several hundred—or even thousands—of dollars, they may still be less expensive than getting a full degree.
UX engineering is a new and growing role that combines artistic sensibility with your ability to code. If you know you want to become a UX engineer, you can start by filling any gaps in your skills, building a portfolio, and getting familiar with the space. Consider enrolling in the Google UX Design Professional Certificate. The first week is free.
professional certificate
Get on the fast track to a career in UX design. In this certificate program, you’ll learn in-demand skills, and get AI training from Google experts. Learn at your own pace, no degree or experience required.
4.8
(84,159 ratings)
1,241,564 already enrolled
Beginner level
Average time: 6 month(s)
Learn at your own pace
Skills you'll build:
Cross Platform Development, Presentations, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, Usability, Applicant Tracking Systems, User Research, Persona (User Experience), Usability Testing, Responsive Web Design, Wireframing, Information Architecture, UI/UX Research, User Experience Design, Design Reviews, Mobile Development, Data Ethics, User Story, Storyboarding, Figma (Design Software), Interviewing Skills, User Centered Design, Design Thinking, Sprint Retrospectives, Sprint Planning, Prototyping, Design Elements And Principles, Typography, Color Theory, Interaction Design, Mockups, Technical Communication, User Interface (UI) Design, Artificial Intelligence, Professional Development, UI/UX Strategy, Web Design, User Interface (UI), Problem Solving, Communication, Prompt Engineering, Personal Attributes, Generative AI, Ideation, Competitive Analysis, Human Centered Design, User Flows, Human Factors, Information Privacy, Research Design
Glassdoor. "User Experience Engineer Salaries, https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/user-experience-engineer-salary-SRCH_KO0,24.htm." Accessed February 26, 2025.
US Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Web Developers and Digital Designers, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/web-developers.htm." Accessed February 26, 2025.
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