Guide
UX Design vs Web Design: A Helpful Guide for Beginners
Written By Jennifer Inglis
Edited By Jess Feldman
Last updated March 5, 2025
Written By Jennifer Inglis
Edited By Jess Feldman
Course Report strives to create the most trust-worthy content about coding bootcamps. Read more about Course Report’s Editorial Policy and How We Make Money.
Course Report strives to create the most trust-worthy content about coding bootcamps. Read more about Course Report’s Editorial Policy and How We Make Money.
If you’re a creative thinker and are looking for your niche in tech, you might consider becoming a designer. But you still have a few choices to make! Namely, should you choose web design or user experience (UX) design? While both are rooted in certain design principles, it’s important to understand what UX designers and web designers actually do in the real world. We’ll take a close look at the differences between web design and UX design, plus the typical responsibilities of each role and average salary for each career path.
User experience (UX) design involves all interactions a user has with a product, app, or service and optimizes it, ensuring that the user has the best experience possible. UX design takes into account the user's feelings, the interface’s appearance, and ease of use.
UX design can be applied to digital and physical products, software, mobile applications, websites, and more. The goal of UX design is to improve overall customer satisfaction and create seamless, pleasant interactions between the user and the product.
Web design refers to the creation of the front end (or “client side”) design of a website. In general, web designers focus on user experience and the visual aspects of a website rather than software development. It’s the process of designing and presenting content on an app or website so that it can be utilized online. Good web design combines the aesthetic and functional, incorporating color, fonts, graphics, and the user interface to enhance the overall performance of a website.
Web designers aren’t only creating desktop web browsers, though! They also take into consideration tablets and smartphones, so dynamic and responsive design principles are more important than ever to ensure that a user’s experience is top-notch no matter what application they’re using.
It may seem like there is quite a bit of overlap between UX Designers and Web Designers, and that’s because there is! While responsibilities will vary based on company, client, and project, in general, UX Designers and Web Designers both:
Despite the overlap, there are a few key contrasts between UX Designers and Web Designers. When choosing the right path for you, consider the following differences:
|
Web Design |
UX Design |
|
|
Focus on solving problems |
✅ |
✅ |
|
Platform-dependent |
✅ |
|
|
Considers the user’s journey |
✅ |
✅ |
|
Greater focus on technology |
✅ |
|
|
Considers the emotional impact to the user |
✅ |
✅ |
|
Need to know how to code |
✅ |
|
|
Utilizes visual design, psychology, and business |
✅ |
|
|
More focused on user |
✅ |
UX designers incorporate market research, product development, strategy, and design to create the finest user experience for products, services, and processes. Good UX design helps companies interpret and realize their target customer’s needs and wants.
Typically, a UX Designer’s responsibilities will include:
Creating user “personas”
Determining the information architecture of a digital product
Designing user flows and wireframes
Creating prototypes
Product testing with actual users
What is it like to work as a UX designer? Jenny, a Springboard graduate, sheds some light on what it looks like on the job: “The first project was pretty straightforward. The company wanted three months of one-on-one interviews with customers via Google Meet to determine how to change up their influencer platform to make it more convenient for influencers to use. They had a database of thousands of influencers to choose from and I was assigned an amount per week to interview, so we could get the insights that we needed. After the research was done, I created the user flow and gave a presentation of what should be immediately implemented, what could wait, and based on the cost and the timeframe, what is highly recommended.”
The design tools and programming languages a UX Designer uses vary, depending on the company and project. While a UX designer doesn’t need to know how to code, having an understanding of a developer’s programming languages can be helpful.
A UX Designer might use any of these tools:
Wireframing & prototyping tools:
WebFlow
JavaScript (jQuery, Bootstrap, Angular)
AI tools are now being used by UX designers to optimize their workflow. Depending on the project and company, UX designers may use ChatGPT, Uizard, Dall-E, and Miro Assist.
The demand for UX designers has never been higher, with nearly every industry utilizing UX design. In fact, statistics have shown that a well-designed UX interface can improve a website’s conversion rate by up to 200 percent! Moreover, 80% of consumers are willing to pay extra for a good user experience.
In the US, a UX Designer salary ranges from $94k to $171K with a median salary of $125K/year. A UI Designer salary, for comparison, has a median salary of $123K in the US.
Web design encompasses a wide variety of creative, technical, and process-related responsibilities. A web designer’s responsibilities will depend on the requirements of the company, client, or individual project. There may be some specialization as well—some web designers, for example, only create mock-ups, prototypes, website graphics, and visual designs, while others may focus on coding, front end development, user interfaces, and sometimes user research or testing.
In general, most Web Designers are responsible for:
Web designers use a variety of tools for designing and coding the front end of a website, such as:
Design Tools
Coding Languages
Web design is an important aspect of any business. Up to 95% of sales will be conducted via e-commerce by 2040, and 85% of consumers use the internet to discover and find local businesses. With over 1.7 billion websites in the world, web designers are needed in every industry.
On average in the United States, Web Designers earn $62K - $112K/year with a median salary of $82,000 per year. The overall job outlook is positive, too, with an increase of 8% over the next decade.
You don’t have to have a degree in computer science to start your career path in UX or web design. If you’re not sure which design path is right for your career goals, look into tutorials, which may be free or budget-friendly.
8 Online UX Design Tutorials
3 Online Web Design Tutorials
If you’re ready to take the leap into a new career, a web design or UX design bootcamp could be the right move!
Web Design Bootcamps
UX Design Bootcamps
Jennifer Inglis, Guest Editor
Jennifer Inglis is a freelance writer, editor, and content creator with extensive professional expertise in advertising, media analysis, teaching, writing, and literature. Prior to becoming a writer, Jennifer was a Media Analyst for ten years and then earned her master's degree in Teaching, instructing middle-school students in college/career readiness, writing, and public speaking..
Jess Feldman, Content Manager at Course Report
Jess Feldman is an accomplished writer and the Content Manager at Course Report, the leading platform for career changers who are exploring coding bootcamps. With a background in writing, teaching, and social media management, Jess plays a pivotal role in helping Course Report readers make informed decisions about their educational journey.
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