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    03.09.2020

    What It Takes to Be a UX Engineer: Skills and Salary Outlook

    By The Fullstack Academy Team

    Google UXE Tech Panel

    Last Updated 11/28/2023

    If you’re considering attending a coding bootcamp, you may be wondering what your career options are. Front-end or back-end engineers, mobile app developers, and video game programmers are just a few of the exciting opportunities within the field.

    Finding the right career path can be challenging, but the Career Success team at Fullstack Academy can help you navigate your first move and even introduce you to careers you might not have thought of.

    One role that graduates of Fullstack Academy or the Grace Hopper Program, a coding bootcamp for women and non-binary individuals, could pursue is UX engineering. Johanna Perez, a Grace Hopper Program graduate and senior UX engineer at Google, demystifies and discusses the field, and offers insight into the skills needed for the role, what the day-to-day is like, and more.

    UX Engineers speaking to audience

    What Does a UX Engineer Do?

    A UX engineer is a combination of a user-experience (UX) designer and a user interface (UI) developer. They’re a full stack developer who understands design principles. UX engineers, or UXEs, possess the skill set of a front-end or UI engineer, but they have a working knowledge of UX design principles.

    “To be a successful UX engineer, you need to always be thinking as a user. A user experience engineer is a developer who specializes in solving user-interface design and implementation problems for user-facing features in products,” Johanna says.

    Primarily focusing on the design/UI component layer of an application, UX engineers are needed in a variety of industries, from AR and VR to finance and commerce, and the day-to-day is never the same.

    “You need to be a JavaScript expert, as that is the web's front-end language, but you also need to have design sensibilities, meaning you understand how to see things with an eye for detail, flow, and usability for the user,” Johanna says.

    What Skills Does a UX Engineer Need?

    If you complete Fullstack Academy’s software immersive program or the Grace Hopper Program, you’ll already have many of the skills you need to be successful as a UX engineer.

    Common requirements for a UX engineering job include:

    • Collaborating with designers and stakeholders

    • Developing realistic digital prototypes that will be used to guide design decisions, user research sessions, and product demonstrations

    • Continuously iterating on prototypes based on feedback from research, product, and design

    • Proficiency in JavaScript, HTML, and CSS

    • Ability to develop independently with experience making decisions about which technology and frameworks to use for the goal of the prototype being built

    • Experience crafting prototypes across a variety of platforms

    Johanna also recommends being familiar with Material Library and other commonly used libraries, like Python, and having a website or portfolio to showcase your work.

    UX Engineer talking about career paths

    What Salary Can You Expect to Make as a UX Engineer?

    According to November 2023 data from Glassdoor, the average salary for a UX engineer in New York City is $117,003, while those interested in more senior-level UX engineering roles can expect salaries as high as $152,000.

    These numbers show that UX engineering can not only be a fulfilling career, but it can also help you achieve your financial goals.

    If you’re interested in helping design products that people love, UX engineering might be the perfect career for you.

    How to Become a UX Engineer

    The Fullstack Academy Software Engineering Immersive and the Grace Hopper Program will help you acquire the in-demand skills employers are looking for. Led by industry-experienced instructors, you’ll gain hands-on experience in software development that will open doors to a variety of careers within the field. Plus, you’ll work on real-world projects and create a portfolio of projects to demonstrate your abilities to potential employers. Ready to start your tech career? Apply today!

    Learn more about the many types of jobs available for people with software engineering training.

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