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Welcome back.

So far, we've discussed why user experience is important,

the job responsibilities of a UX designer, and

the teams that UX designers often work with. Now we're going to

explain the types of companies you could work at as a UX designer,

and how your job may differ depending on that company's size and industry.

Say you're hired by a startup or a small business.

First, what's a startup?

Well, in simple terms,

a startup is a new business that wants to develop a unique product or service and

bring it to market. Startups generally have tight budgets and few employees.

So each person has to perform a variety of jobs and move quickly.

If you're a UX designer at a startup or other small businesses,

you'll likely be a generalist. Designers at companies with fewer employees get

involved in many parts of the business. You might be responsible for

both interaction and visual design, conduct user research, or

even help with marketing. Talk about having a lot of jobs to do!

Working at a startup or small business can be stressful but also very rewarding.

You'll learn quickly,

so it can be a great way to launch your career.

Another job a lot of UX designers start out in is freelance.

Freelancers work for themselves and

market their services to businesses to find customers.

As a freelancer, you get to pick projects that interest you,

make your own schedule, and work with a lot of different brands.

Another common place UX designers work is at advertising agencies.

Advertising agencies are teams of creatives hired by clients to build

marketing campaigns.

For example, a beverage company might hire an ad agency to create a campaign for

a new soda. As a UX designer, you might be responsible for developing wireframes and

designs for digital products for the new campaign. You may also do

work that's outside of the usual UX design tasks, like graphic design or

writing. Working at an ad agency is a lot like freelancing in that you get to

work with a bunch of different brands, but you'll be employed by the agency,

instead of being self-employed, and you'll be part of a team.

Design agencies and design studios are another option for jobs.

A design agency provides a one- stop-shop for the look of brands,

products, and services. They're usually more specialized than ad agencies

because they focus on design and branding.

Your average day working at a design agency is a lot like working at a startup.

You'll probably be a generalist and the only designer on the project.

You'll be exposed to a lot of different industries and

get to solve unique problems.

But since design agencies work with multiple clients,

you might not work on a project from beginning to end.

UX designers at design agencies regularly move between teams and

work on different stages of a product's development.

Finally, you can work as a UX designer at a big company, like Google.

Big companies have thousands of employees working on lots of different projects.

UX designers are typically specialized in their work and

focus on one project from beginning to end.

Working at a big company is a great way to learn about a specialization within

UX design. Plus, you get to learn from other experts.

One trade-off is that you might have fewer options to gain skills outside of your

specific role, so a desire to specialize is key. Now that you know what's out

there, which types of companies are you most excited about working at?

If you're inspired, share it with other learners in the discussion forum.