Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

Digital games designer to user interface designer

A digital games designer already meets 56% of what the user interface designer role asks for. The move turns on 16 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From digital games designer
56 % overlap
Partial match
To user interface designer
61 You already bring
16 Still to learn
95 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance Substantial retraining

59/ 100

1 How much of what a user interface designer is expected to do is already part of a digital games designer’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the user interface designer role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

A user interface designer role treats 11 of its required skills as things a digital games designer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • ICT security legislation
  • application usability
  • define technical requirements
  • design graphics
  • design process
  • interactive media

What stands in the way is 16 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 61 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A user interface designer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a digital games designer background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held software interaction design information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held Rapid application development information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held Spiral development information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held Waterfall development information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held incremental development information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held iterative development information and communication technologies (icts)

All 61 carried skills, including the 11 the user interface designer role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 34 missing skills fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.

Skill to pick up Tier
01 communication, collaboration and creativity 7 required
  • still to learn design user interface required
  • still to learn interact with users to gather requirements required
  • still to learn use methodologies for user-centered design required
  • still to learn build business relationships required
  • still to learn develop creative ideas required
  • still to learn draw design sketches required
  • still to learn translate requirements into visual design required
02 information and communication technologies (icts) 5 required, 8 supplementary
  • still to learn ICT accessibility standards required
  • still to learn graphics editor software required
  • still to learn human-computer interaction required
  • still to learn software UI design patterns required
  • still to learn World Wide Web Consortium standards required
  • optional, not held Adobe Illustrator optional
  • optional, not held Adobe Photoshop optional
  • optional, not held GIMP (graphics editor software) optional
  • optional, not held Microsoft Visio optional
  • optional, not held SketchBook Pro optional
  • optional, not held Synfig optional
  • optional, not held web based collaborative platforms optional
  • optional, not held screen reader optional
03 working with computers 2 required, 2 supplementary
  • still to learn create website wireframe required
  • still to learn use an application-specific interface required
  • optional, not held use query languages optional
  • optional, not held perform online data analysis optional
04 information skills 1 required
  • still to learn test system accessibility for users with special needs required
05 management skills 1 required
  • still to learn assess users' interaction with ICT applications required
06 business, administration and law 6 supplementary
  • optional, not held Agile project management optional
  • optional, not held ICT project management methodologies optional
  • optional, not held Process-based management optional
  • optional, not held business process modelling optional
  • optional, not held lean project management optional
  • optional, not held quality standards optional

2 further areas in the appendix

Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a user interface designer role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 61 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held ICT security legislation knowledge
  • already held application usability knowledge
  • already held define technical requirements skill
  • already held design graphics skill
  • already held design process skill
  • already held interactive media knowledge
  • already held manage online content skill
  • already held software interaction design knowledge
  • already held task algorithmisation knowledge
  • already held use markup languages skill
  • already held web programming knowledge
  • already held ABAP knowledge
  • already held AJAX knowledge
  • already held APL knowledge
  • already held ASP.NET knowledge
  • already held Agile development knowledge
  • already held Assembly (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held C# knowledge
  • already held C++ knowledge
  • already held COBOL knowledge
  • already held CoffeeScript knowledge
  • already held Common Lisp knowledge
  • already held DevOps knowledge
  • already held Erlang knowledge
  • already held Groovy knowledge
  • already held Haskell knowledge
  • already held Java (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held JavaScript knowledge
  • already held Lisp knowledge
  • already held MATLAB knowledge
  • already held ML (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held Objective-C knowledge
  • already held OpenEdge Advanced Business Language knowledge
  • already held PHP knowledge
  • already held Pascal (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held Perl knowledge
  • already held Prolog (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held Prototyping development knowledge
  • already held Python (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held R knowledge
  • already held Rapid application development knowledge
  • already held Ruby (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held SAP R3 knowledge
  • already held SAS language knowledge
  • already held Scala knowledge
  • already held Scratch (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held Smalltalk (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held Spiral development knowledge
  • already held Swift (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held TypeScript knowledge
  • already held VBScript knowledge
  • already held Visual Basic knowledge
  • already held Waterfall development knowledge
  • already held analyse business requirements skill
  • already held augmented reality knowledge
  • already held computer programming knowledge
  • already held create software design skill
  • already held incremental development knowledge
  • already held iterative development knowledge
  • already held manage localisation skill
  • already held software design methodologies knowledge
The 2 learning areas not shown above
Skill to pick up Tier
07 arts and humanities 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held natural language processing optional
08 social sciences, journalism and information 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held cognitive psychology optional
18 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • optional, not held Adobe Illustrator optional
  • optional, not held Adobe Photoshop optional
  • optional, not held Agile project management optional
  • optional, not held GIMP (graphics editor software) optional
  • optional, not held ICT project management methodologies optional
  • optional, not held Microsoft Visio optional
  • optional, not held Process-based management optional
  • optional, not held SketchBook Pro optional
  • optional, not held Synfig optional
  • optional, not held business process modelling optional
  • optional, not held lean project management optional
  • optional, not held natural language processing optional
  • optional, not held use query languages optional
  • optional, not held web based collaborative platforms optional
  • optional, not held cognitive psychology optional
  • optional, not held perform online data analysis optional
  • optional, not held quality standards optional
  • optional, not held screen reader optional
35 held skills the user interface designer role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role 3D lighting knowledge
  • not needed by the target role 3D texturing knowledge
  • not needed by the target role CryEngine knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Frostbite (digital game creation systems) knowledge
  • not needed by the target role GameSalad knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Gamemaker Studio knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Havok Vision knowledge
  • not needed by the target role HeroEngine knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT performance analysis methods knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Microsoft Visual C++ knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Project Anarchy knowledge
  • not needed by the target role RAGE (digital game creation systems) knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Shiva (digital game creation systems) knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Source (digital game creation systems) knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Unity (digital game creation systems) knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Unreal Engine knowledge
  • not needed by the target role animate 3D organic forms skill
  • not needed by the target role apply 3D imaging techniques skill
  • not needed by the target role compose digital game story skill
  • not needed by the target role computer graphics knowledge
  • not needed by the target role create 3D characters skill
  • not needed by the target role create 3D environments skill
  • not needed by the target role create concept of digital game skill
  • not needed by the target role create digital game characters skill
  • not needed by the target role digital game creation systems knowledge
  • not needed by the target role digital game genres knowledge
  • not needed by the target role estimate duration of work skill
  • not needed by the target role formulate game rules skill
  • not needed by the target role hardware platforms knowledge
  • not needed by the target role id Tech knowledge
  • not needed by the target role operate 3D computer graphics software skill
  • not needed by the target role perform resource planning skill
  • not needed by the target role principles of animation knowledge
  • not needed by the target role specify digital game scenes skill
  • not needed by the target role systems development life-cycle knowledge
21 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to pick up Tier
  • still to learn ICT accessibility standards required
  • still to learn graphics editor software required
  • still to learn human-computer interaction required
  • still to learn software UI design patterns required
  • still to learn World Wide Web Consortium standards required
  • optional, not held Adobe Illustrator optional
  • optional, not held Adobe Photoshop optional
  • optional, not held Agile project management optional
  • optional, not held GIMP (graphics editor software) optional
  • optional, not held ICT project management methodologies optional
  • optional, not held Microsoft Visio optional
  • optional, not held Process-based management optional
  • optional, not held SketchBook Pro optional
  • optional, not held Synfig optional
  • optional, not held business process modelling optional
  • optional, not held lean project management optional
  • optional, not held natural language processing optional
  • optional, not held web based collaborative platforms optional
  • optional, not held cognitive psychology optional
  • optional, not held quality standards optional
  • optional, not held screen reader optional
Index

Other moves recorded from digital games designer

Full index of moves from digital games designer

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can a digital games designer become a user interface designer?

Yes, and it is a substantial move. A digital games designer already covers 56% of what a user interface designer is expected to do: 61 skills carry over, 11 of which the user interface designer role treats as required.

What skills does a digital games designer need to become a user interface designer?

16 required skills are missing, plus 18 optional ones. They fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is ICT accessibility standards.

How hard is the move from digital games designer to user interface designer?

Its learning distance is 59 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.