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Home · Careers · Design & Creative

UX / Product Designer

Design & Creative

Design user experiences for software products. Hybrid of design + psychology + research.

What they actually do

UX designers research user behaviour, design wireframes + prototypes, run usability tests, and partner with PMs + engineers to ship products. Senior roles span design systems, design leadership, design strategy.

A typical day

  • User interviews + usability tests
  • Wireframing + prototyping (Figma)
  • Design review with PMs + engineers
  • Maintaining design system + component library
  • Cross-team design crits

How to become a UX / Product Designer

2 viable paths.

  • Class 12 → NID/IIT Design (BDes) → Product designer

    NID Ahmedabad, IIT-B IDC, Srishti Bangalore are the top design schools. CEED + UCEED entrance exams.

    Top design colleges →
  • Non-design degree → Bootcamp + Portfolio

    Common — engineers + marketers transition into UX via 6-12 month bootcamps + portfolio building.

Qualifications

  • BDes (preferred) or any bachelor's
  • Portfolio (mandatory)
  • Optional: MDes from IIT-B IDC, IIT-G, NID

Skills that matter

  • Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD
  • User research methods (interviews, surveys, usability testing)
  • Visual + interaction design fundamentals
  • Communication + presenting design decisions

Salary bands by experience

Wide bands — real salary depends on city, employer, performance. Pick the midpoint for planning.

  • Fresher (0-1 yr)₹5 - ₹15 LPA

    NID/IIT-IDC ₹15L+; bootcamp grads ₹5-8L.

  • 2-4 yr₹10 - ₹25 LPA
  • 5-8 yr₹20 - ₹50 LPA
  • 10+ yr₹40 LPA - ₹1.5 Cr+

    Design Lead, Principal Designer, Head of Design at unicorns/MNCs.

Career growth + employers

Designer → Senior Designer → Lead Designer → Design Manager → Principal Designer / Head of Design

Top employers (informational, not endorsement)

  • Atlassian, Microsoft, Google India (product MNCs)
  • Razorpay, CRED, Zomato, Swiggy (Indian product)
  • ThoughtBot, Inkredible, Lollypop (design consultancies)

Honest pros + cons

Pros

  • Career growing as Indian product companies mature
  • Senior designers earn close to senior engineers
  • Remote-friendly; foreign clients common

Cons

  • Junior pay below entry-level engineering at same companies
  • Need strong portfolio — degree alone doesn't open doors
  • Specialisations are real — UX research vs UI vs interaction

Demand outlook

Strong. Indian product companies + global remote work expanding senior design demand.

Related careers

  • Graphic Designer

    Visual design — branding, packaging, ads, social media. Portfolio-led career.

  • Product Manager

    Own product outcomes. Sit between users, engineering, design, business. Career-of-careers.

  • Software Engineer

    Build the systems people interact with daily — apps, websites, payment infra, AI products.