Hire the Best UI Designers without Risk. Toptal is an Exclusive Network of the Top UI and usability Designers. Our Team Hand-picks the Best Fit for your Project with a No-risk Trial.
Mariana is a passionate design professional who loves the dynamic, unique environments her work involves. She is a creative thinker with a keen eye for problem identification and solution generation, adept at storyboarding and user research, as well as visual and UI design.
Sajindas, who has worked with clients like Walgreens, Chase, Citi, HSN, and Metlife, is an accomplished product designer with 18+ years of experience. Leveraging user-centered design principles and a diverse skill set in wireframing, prototyping, and UI design, he creates high-impact experiences that increase customer satisfaction and drive business success. Sajindas's meticulous leadership skills, passion for his craft, and ability to tell compelling design stories make him a valuable asset.
Paresh has designed digital products on a freelance basis for over seven years, specializing in UI and mobile app design. He has recently led product designs for Apollo, Zencargo, and Flock and has done hands-on design work for brands such as Adobe, Groupon, and Salesforce. Paresh has helped companies kickstart concepts, accelerate design tracks focusing on innovation, and create design systems millions of people use.
Marcus is a designer with 12+ years of experience and has delivered multiple projects for companies such as adidas, Delivery Hero, Shopify, and CAT. He's helped various startups achieve successful project outcomes, which included research studies, design systems, prototypes, wireframes, and visual design direction.
Josh is an award-winning product design expert with 20 years of experience. He specializes in designing and modernizing enterprise-level, B2B applications for large organizations with complex architecture, data, and visualization needs. His long list of clients includes global brands such as Carrier, The US Army, Universal Studios, Morgan Stanley, ADP, Comcast, Nike, Bank of America, Fannie Mae, and AmerisourceBergen. Josh delivers outstanding customer experiences for today and tomorrow.
With 16 years of experience, Carolina has grown to the head of design, directing the evolution of design strategy and amplifying user experiences across digital products. She led a team growth from 4 to 25 individuals and shaped DesignOps for scale. She also implemented product discovery, empowering teams to build user-centered solutions. Carolina facilitated over 35 workshops, fostering innovation and collaboration and shipping faster. She led the implementation of design systems.
Tiffany is a passionate designer with over seven years of experience designing for both web and mobile platforms. Her body of work includes large-scale enterprise SaaS products to mobile apps for fast-growing start-ups. She spent the last two years at a Silicon Valley-based start-up, where she was the principal designer redesigning and building new tools in the health and fitness space.
Patrik is an independent designer, entrepreneur, and startup advisor with a passion for product and interface design. With more than 15 years of experience working with brands like The Ritz-Carlton, Porsche, ERSTE Bank, and multiple successful startups, he's also the founder of a healthcare company called Appointmed.
Rachel is a multidisciplinary designer working remotely. Whether designing products, visuals, or services, Rachel approaches her work with kindness and curiosity. Her non-traditional background, combined with the skills gained through client work, has turned her into a pragmatic and empathetic designer and subject matter expert who is always ready to bring a new perspective to product development, design reviews, client presentations, and workshops.
Jared has over 15 years of experience leading design teams to create products for global brands. He has employed and led over 100 creatives and directed hundreds of global scale marketing, digital design, branding, and motion projects. As the founder of multiple agencies, he has produced designs for international brands such as Ericsson, Fox, Incase, VM Ware, and others. He believes good design strikes the perfect balance of usability and aesthetic and has the power to shape the future.
Alex is a product designer who wants to work with you. He partners with startups, organizations, and agencies to rethink design strategies or invent new ones. Alex has helped startups receive collectively over $2 million in funding. He also co-operates a research and design collective called Collectively Made.
User interface designers are experts who create interface layouts and human-computer interactions for websites and mobile apps. This guide to hiring UI designers features an overview of relevant skills, job description tips, and interview questions and answers that will help you identify the best candidates for your company.
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Testimonials
Michael is an incredible designer, and has been a great fit for our project. He just gets it in a way that can’t be taught. My goal was to pay Toptal to find me a high quality designer for my project, and that is exactly what happened. It was easy. Being able to see the portfolio work on Toptal’s platform is what gave me the infomation I needed to choose Michael. I have nothing but good things to say about Toptal and am looking forward to using Toptal for other projects in the future.
Edward Daniel
Co-Founder
I've worked very closely with Martina for over a year and have to say she is one of the best people I have ever worked with. Instead of simply following instructions blindly, she thinks through the task at hand, becoming a thought partner to help with whatever the project may be. Besides being super talented at design, she possesses specific qualities that make her exceptional to work with given the fast paced nature of being a startup. I would definitely recommend her to anyone looking for a talented, professional designer who doesn't need much direction to hit the ground running.
Sahil Khanna
Sr. Manager, Marketing
Darko did a great job figuring out the user architecture for our concept, which led him to produce terrific wireframes. His knowledge of usability and design was a perfect match for the outside voice we needed to help jumpstart our project. We would certainly recommend him and work with him again in the future.
Rich Danker
Founder
Carlos has the unique talent of blending both quantitative and qualitative research to keenly identify UX challenges and opportunities. He thinks methodically, emphatically, and holistically to produce data-driven strategies and well-executed designs. Over the past 8 years of working with fully or partially distributed teams, Carlos manages working remotely far better than anyone I've encountered because of his strong communication and presentation skills. He is the first on my list the next time I need a UX designer.
Michelle Krogmeier
Project Manager
Rafael is an amazing designer. His aesthetic sense is spot on, and he seems to be able to anticipate our needs before we even know what they are. He's taken the time to understand both our company and our clientele, and his solutions are consistently in-line with our values, interests, and our customers' needs. He delivers on time (if not earlier), works quickly, is well organized, and very effective. He's a pleasure to work with, and we're very happy to have found him through Toptal.
Ethan Brooks
CTO
How to Hire UI Designers through Toptal
1
Talk to One of Our Industry Experts
A Toptal director of design will work with you to understand your goals, technical needs, and team dynamics.
2
Work With Hand-Selected Talent
Within days, we'll introduce you to the right UI designer for your project. Average time to match is under 24 hours.
3
The Right Fit, Guaranteed
Work with your new UI designer for a trial period (pay only if satisfied), ensuring they're the right fit before starting the engagement.
Find Experts With Related Skills
Access a vast pool of skilled designers in our talent network and hire the top 3% within just 48 hours.
The cost associated with hiring a UI designer depends on various factors, including preferred talent location, complexity and size of the project you’re hiring for, seniority, engagement commitment (hourly, part-time, or full-time), and more. In the US, for example, Glassdoor’s reported average total annual pay for UI designers is $130,000 as of August 2024. With Toptal, you can speak with an expert talent matcher who will help you understand the cost of talent with the right skills and seniority level for your needs. To get started, schedule a call with us — it’s free, and there’s no obligation to hire with Toptal.
How quickly can you hire with Toptal?
Typically, you can hire a UI designer with Toptal in about 48 hours. For larger teams of talent or Managed Delivery, timelines may vary. Our talent matchers are highly skilled in the same fields they’re matching in—they’re not recruiters or HR reps. They’ll work with you to understand your goals, technical needs, and team dynamics, and match you with ideal candidates from our vetted global talent network.
Once you select your UI designer, you’ll have a no-risk trial period to ensure they’re the perfect fit. Our matching process has a 98% trial-to-hire rate, so you can rest assured that you’re getting the best fit every time.
How do I hire a UI designer?
To hire the right UI designer, it’s important to evaluate a candidate’s experience, technical skills, and communication skills. You’ll also want to consider the fit with your particular industry, company, and project. Toptal’s rigorous screening process ensures that every member of our network has excellent experience and skills, and our team will match you with the perfect UI designers for your project.
What does a UI designer do?
A UI designer develops visually engaging and user-friendly interfaces for digital assets such as apps, video games, and websites. They work to combine fundamental design principles, user research, and industry best practices to craft layouts that are intuitive, responsive, and interactive. Their overall goal is to optimize user interaction and satisfaction while maintaining a high level of consistency with the brand identity. UI designers often work with cross-functional teams, which include UX designers, graphic designers, and developers, in order to ensure a seamless implementation of their designs. UI designers also continually fine-tune their work based on user feedback as a way to enhance the overall user experience design.
What qualities should I look for in a UI designer?
When hiring a UI designer, seek out qualities such as creativity, strong technical skills, and a user-centric mindset. An ideal UI design candidate should have a command over visual design principles, be proficient in design software tools, and possess the ability to design and execute intuitive interfaces. UI designers must be comfortable collaborating with partners in different disciplines and design teams, which reflects effective communication and problem-solving skills. Aside from a compelling portfolio, look for a UI designer who has a proven history of delivering successful and memorable end products. Soft skills such as empathy, adaptability, attention to detail, receptiveness to feedback, and drive are also markers of a qualified candidate.
How are Toptal UI designers different?
At Toptal, we thoroughly screen our UI designers to ensure we only match you with the highest caliber of talent. Of the more than 200,000 people who apply to join the Toptal network each year, fewer than 3% make the cut.
In addition to screening for industry-leading expertise, we also assess candidates’ language and interpersonal skills to ensure that you have a smooth working relationship.
When you hire with Toptal, you’ll always work with world-class, custom-matched UI designers ready to help you achieve your goals.
Can you hire UI designers on an hourly basis or for project-based tasks?
You can hire UI designers on an hourly, part-time, or full-time basis. Toptal can also manage the entire project from end-to-end with our Managed Delivery offering. Whether you hire an expert for a full- or part-time position, you’ll have the control and flexibility to scale your team up or down as your needs evolve. Our UI designers can fully integrate into your existing team for a seamless working experience.
What is the no-risk trial period for Toptal UI designers?
We make sure that each engagement between you and your UI designer begins with a trial period of up to two weeks. This means that you have time to confirm the engagement will be successful. If you’re completely satisfied with the results, we’ll bill you for the time and continue the engagement for as long as you’d like. If you’re not completely satisfied, you won’t be billed. From there, we can either part ways, or we can provide you with another expert who may be a better fit and with whom we will begin a second, no-risk trial.
Alejandro is a digital product designer specializing in user-centered design, UI/UX, and developing visual and interaction languages. He was the senior designer on projects with New Relic, Telefónica, and Personio. Alejandro holds a master’s degree in industrial and product design from the Scuola Politecnica di Design in Milan.
The demand for highly skilled user interface (UI) designers is on the rise. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that there were approximately 118,000 digital interface and web designers (which includes UI designers) in 2022, with a 15% growth rate projected from 2022 to 2032.
Despite a vast talent pool of UI designers, finding and hiring a high-level professional can be daunting. The difficulty arises not only from the growing demand for UI design services, but also from the rare attributes UI designers possess—a blend of creativity, web design proficiency, and industry experience. Further complicating the challenge is that companies seek full-time or freelance UI designers who have experience in particular business sectors, or delivery formats, such as mobile apps or e-commerce sites. Meanwhile, rapidly evolving technologies like generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and voice-based digital assistants are radically transforming the field, creating new business opportunities but exposing a sizable talent gap.
With business and technology needs shifting, it is more important than ever to hire highly qualified UI designers. By ensuring that digital interfaces are intuitive, accessible, and aesthetically pleasing, user interface designers can help engage users, maintain brand consistency, and boost profitability.
In this guide, we describe the attributes first-class candidates possess and provide suggestions for crafting a compelling job description and a focused set of interview questions to guide your hiring process.
What Attributes Distinguish Quality UI Designers from Others?
It’s no secret that hiring a proficient UI designer can have a significant impact on the long-term success of a digital product. In fact, Forbes, citing a 2016 Forrester Research report titled, The Six Steps for Justifying Better UX, notes that a well-designed user interface can raise conversion rates by up to 200%. But to achieve such high-impact results, you need to know the skills and attributes to look for in your search for qualified candidates. In general, outstanding UI designers share the following traits:
Command of Design and Developer Tools
The best UI designers show proficiency in the use of design tools such as Sketch, Figma, and UXPin. They understand the strengths and weaknesses of such platforms and can readily adapt to your company’s preferred software. Hiring a UI designer with a knowledge of HTML and CSS is an added bonus, as they tend to have a more holistic understanding of the development process and the technical vernacular to collaborate effectively with developers.
Mastery of Visual Design
To create products that prioritize accessibility and are visually compelling, a UI designer should have a solid foundation in graphic design principles and techniques. A strong grasp of color theory, layout principles, compositional balance, and visual hierarchy is essential to build functional, aesthetically pleasing digital assets.
In addition, UI designers should be familiar with fundamental design patterns, components, and input and selection controls for iOS, macOS, and Android. Highly qualified UI designers will align typography and iconography choices with brand standards, while ensuring legibility and appealing to users’ expectations for visual clarity and consistency. In your selection process, look for detail-oriented designers who have a discerning eye for the latest style trends and demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the World Wide Web Consortium’s (WC3) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1.
Knowledge of Interaction Design Principles
Experienced UI designers apply familiar interaction patterns and user flows to create interfaces that function intuitively and help users achieve their goals. They simplify the presentation of complex information by ensuring high-priority content lies “above the fold,” where it can be engaged without scrolling. Much like interaction designers, UI designers apply best-practice approaches for arranging and presenting call-to-action (CTA) buttons, error handling messages, status indicators, interactive states (such as “hover” states), and navigation and search tools. Highly skilled designers adhere to the principle of progressive disclosure, presenting information only when it best serves users.
Expertise in Responsive and Mobile Design
The data analysis firm Statista reports that approximately 59% of global web traffic is generated through mobile devices. To meet the needs of a massive mobile audience, a capable UI designer should be comfortable developing mobile-friendly, responsive designs that adjust their display to the screen size and orientation of tablets, mobile phones, and desktops. When hiring a full-time or freelance UI designer, consider their familiarity with adaptive layouts, fluid grids, media queries, usability testing, and performance optimization.
Proficiency in Prototyping and Wireframing
A skilled UI designer is capable of using prototyping and wireframing tools, such as Figma and Sketch, to efficiently arrange visual elements and communicate their design concepts. Being able to visualize a digital application allows stakeholders and developers to feel confident about the designer’s decisions and methods. During design reviews or team collaborations, an expert UI designer will often use interactive prototypes and wireframes to generate meaningful discussions around product use, development, and implementation.
How Can You Identify the Ideal UI Designer for You?
UI designers have varied levels of professional experience, and it’s important to decide whether a junior designer or a more seasoned professional best suits your needs. Several factors, including your budget, project requirements, timeline, workplace culture, and the design services your company specializes in will factor into your choice. As a first step, however, it’s useful to consider the distinctions between junior and senior UI designers.
Junior UI Designers
Junior UI designers typically have limited professional experience and only a few years of practical training. With limited time in the trenches, they may have only worked on smaller, less complex tasks—such as registration forms or landing pages—or assisted more established designers on larger projects. These designers are proficient in UI principles and can create high-quality wireframes, mock-ups, page layouts, and onboarding flows, but they may lack the intuition and professional experience to consider a design holistically.
Nevertheless, junior UI designers are considerably more affordable than senior designers and may be more malleable to your company’s standards and culture. They are also more likely to share design work exhibiting fresh ideas and show an eagerness to learn and take on responsibilities. Because of their flexibility and enthusiasm, junior UI designers are suitable for projects with evolving requirements, as well as technical tasks with hard deadlines and clearly scoped deliverables.
Senior UI Designers
Senior UI designers, on the other hand, tend to have robust knowledge spanning multiple industries, including SaaS and e-commerce, enabling them to create sophisticated, impactful interfaces aligned with business and brand objectives. Those with leadership experience can leverage their talent to rally teams around product design decisions that can be applied strategically across a platform—or multiple platforms—to satisfy users and deliver exceptional performance outcomes.
In addition, senior UI designers tend to work faster and more independently than earlier career professionals. With a keen understanding of the web development process, they are likely to view their work in the context of broader organizational goals. Collaborating closely with UX designers, growth strategists, and developers, they plan and conduct user testing, often using mock-ups, and design prototypes to gather feedback and insight. Applied strategically, these findings can inform interface refinements that help optimize acquisition, retention, and conversion rates.
Another benefit of hiring a senior UI designer is they often have a deep knowledge of design thinking, a methodology that emphasizes the importance of user behavior research. To tailor interface models to target audiences, a designer versed in design thinking might evaluate their decisions against industry benchmarks and use surveys, funnel analyses, and A/B testing to evaluate the effectiveness of their choices. This work is highly collaborative: Coordinating the workflows of multiple internal stakeholders and project teams requires exceptional communication skills and the project management experience of a senior UI designer. While more expensive than early career designers, hiring a senior UI designer is wise if you’re looking to grow and scale your platform.
Keep in mind, too, that hiring decisions are rarely a zero sum game. Often the best scenario for a company, whether it be a startup or established enterprise, is to build a well-rounded design team that includes a mix of junior and senior talent. By blending the enthusiasm of junior designers with the expert design skills and strategic insight of a senior UI designer, you will give UI design projects the best chances for success.
Strategic Factors to Consider
When evaluating candidates, several other considerations are worth noting. First, the best UI designers should be familiar with emerging technologies. As startups and large companies turn to Gen AI, voice user interfaces (VUIs), and VR/AR to engage users and deliver content in new ways, traditional formats and symbolic frameworks for interface design are changing. Even highly qualified candidates will have gaps in their knowledge base, but it’s important that they show an eagerness to learn and adapt to innovation. Look for UI designers who have experience designing contemporary or next-generation interface models your company is actively pursuing, whether that’s an AI-powered chat dialog, a contactless payment service, or a dark mode interface.
Second, highly qualified UI designers should understand how to use visual elements to capture users’ attention and direct it to key information and CTAs. According to DataReportal, an affiliate site of the data advisory group Kepios, Internet users spend 6 hours and 37 minutes per day, on average, engaging with screens. To command their attention, experienced UI designers optimize their page layouts using tools, such as in-app analytics, heat maps, scrollmaps, and session recordings. Understanding where a user’s eyes are directed and where they click and scroll is crucial to improving site experience. Look for UI designers who use empirical data to guide layout decisions.
Finally, there is a tendency to conflate UI and UX designer roles; however, these positions cater to different skill sets. The key distinction is that a UI designer focuses primarily on the visual appearance of a product. UX designers, by contrast, specialize in the holistic user experience and all that entails—typically user journey mapping, persona development, usability testing, and information architecture. Unless you are seeking a UX/UI candidate with a dual skill set, be sure not to filter out highly qualified UI designers by over-indexing user experience design in your search criteria.
How to Write a UI Designer Job Description for Your Project
Writing a compelling job description is crucial to attract top-tier UI design talent. Start with a clear, role-specific job title, such as “UI Designer,” “UI/UX Designer,” “User Interface Designer,” or “Visual Designer.” Define the role succinctly by outlining key responsibilities like designing intuitive interfaces, creating wireframes, developing prototypes, and collaborating with cross-functional teams.
In the body of the job description, highlight essential skills and qualifications. Be sure to emphasize proficiency in design tools such as Sketch, Figma, or Adobe XD, and request a resume and portfolio. You’ll also want to mention soft skills, such as strong communication, problem-solving abilities, and teamwork—important attributes for UI designers to have when collaborating with developers, product managers, and other stakeholders. Consider the following qualifications and requirements as a starting point for your job board posting:
Qualifications:
Proficiency in industry-standard design tools such as Sketch, Figma, and Adobe XD.
A strong portfolio showcasing design work that demonstrates their expertise in user-centric design principles.
Solid understanding of user research, interaction design, mobile app design, and responsive design.
Excellent communication and problem-solving skills, with a proven ability to work collaboratively on a design team.
Responsibilities:
Translate user needs and business requirements into engaging visual solutions.
Develop and maintain design systems and style guides.
Work closely with developers to ensure seamless implementation of designs.
Stay up-to-date with the latest UI trends, techniques, and technologies.
Remember, an expertly written job description doesn’t just attract the right candidates; it also sets clear expectations for the role, ensuring a smoother hiring process and better alignment between the designer and your company’s goals. Before posting to a job board, make sure to describe your company’s vision and culture to give candidates a sense of what it’s like to work there. Clearly state the experience level required, along with the desired years of experience, and any specific industry expertise, for instance SaaS or e-commerce, that’s relevant to your company. Conclude the post with a succinct call to action, encouraging qualified candidates to apply.
What Are the Most Important UI Designer Interview Questions?
The following interview questions can help you hold productive discussions and make well-informed decisions:
Can you explain your design process?
While individual project goals vary, a skilled designer will strive to meet high standards throughout their design process. Listen for answers that touch on conducting user research, exploring user behavior patterns, brainstorming functional design concepts, prototyping, seeking feedback, and maintaining brand consistency. The creative design process can be highly personal, but collaboration and communication are broadly applicable keys to success.
How do you incorporate accessibility into your designs?
Accessibility should be fundamental to any UI designer’s approach. Ensuring a broad range of users can access your application, whether it be a SaaS, e-commerce, or healthcare-related product, is not only ethical, it is good business practice; a thoughtful UI designer should be committed to implementing accessibility standards in their work. Listen for responses that speak to semantic markups, screen readers, responsive design, color contrast, alt text, keyboard navigation, and W3C accessibility standards.
How do you stay updated on the latest UI trends and technologies?
Taking a proactive approach to learning allows a UI designer to be aware of new innovations, best-practice design solutions, and industry insights. Listen for answers that mention reading (or subscribing to) design-related publications, participating in conferences or attending webinars, joining in-person or online design communities, taking courses to stay updated and adaptable, or networking with cross-disciplinary professionals.
Can you describe a project where you improved the user experience significantly?
A skilled UI designer will be able to provide an answer that highlights a professional project with tangible, real-world results that leaves their client satisfied. Answers will vary, but a strong response might touch on acquiring insights through user research and testing, collaborating with colleagues to identify and address pain points, making a site responsive across devices, or improving user engagement by refining the visual organization of a page or introducing interactive elements.
What metrics do you use to evaluate the success of your design?
When evaluating design work, a qualified UI designer will use both qualitative and quantitative metrics. They might assess a web experience with user satisfaction surveys, gather feedback from customer success representatives or product managers, or use web analytics tools to measure click-through rates, users’ average time on a page, or registration or sales conversion percentages. Regardless of the methods they use, a strong candidate will be able to articulate a clear connection between data and design decisions.
Why Do Companies Hire UI Designers?
In a competitive digital landscape where companies are in a daily contest for users’ attention and trust, UI designers play an indispensable role, bridging the gap between users and technology. They provide design services that help companies deliver exceptional digital product experiences by ensuring that interfaces are not only functional but also intuitive, visually appealing, and responsive to multiple screen sizes and orientations. As research has shown, UI designers’ work to optimize interfaces can have a direct impact on user engagement and retention, thereby driving business growth.
But hiring highly skilled full-time or freelance UI designers is becoming increasingly difficult. Today, finding proficient candidates requires persistence and a sharp eye for the attributes that help transform complex ideas into user-friendly interfaces aligned with business goals. Technical expertise in user research, visual hierarchy, and interaction design is part of what companies seek when hiring UI designers, but qualified candidates also need to keep pace with emerging technologies. Moreover, they need to be able to organize information effectively, communicate clearly with stakeholders, and ensure front-end applications are broadly accessible and inclusive for users. These skills, while rare, are crucial to help businesses stay competitive.
As digital transformation continues to evolve, the demand for skilled UI designers is only likely to increase, underscoring their crucial role in shaping the future of digital experiences. Companies interested in capturing the attention of specific audiences, standing out from competitors, and increasing brand loyalty and sales are wise to hire top-tier UI designers.
