Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

Digital media designer to user interface developer

A digital media designer already meets 55% of what the user interface developer role asks for. The move turns on 12 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From digital media designer
55 % overlap
Partial match
To user interface developer
62 You already bring
12 Still to learn
98 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance Substantial retraining

59.2/ 100

1 How much of what a user interface developer is expected to do is already part of a digital media 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 developer role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

A user interface developer role treats 5 of its required skills as things a digital media designer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • computer programming
  • design graphics
  • graphics editor software
  • style sheet languages
  • web programming

What stands in the way is 12 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 62 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A user interface developer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a digital media designer background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held WordPress information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held LESS information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held Sass information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held style sheet languages information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held CSS information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held JSSS information and communication technologies (icts)

All 62 carried skills, including the 5 the user interface developer role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 36 missing skills fall into 5 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 working with computers 4 required, 10 supplementary
  • still to learn analyse software specifications required
  • still to learn develop software prototype required
  • still to learn use an application-specific interface required
  • still to learn use software libraries required
  • optional, not held debug software optional
  • optional, not held design interaction model optional
  • optional, not held use automatic programming optional
  • optional, not held use concurrent programming optional
  • optional, not held use functional programming optional
  • optional, not held use logic programming optional
  • optional, not held use object-oriented programming optional
  • optional, not held use query languages optional
  • optional, not held use scripting programming optional
  • optional, not held utilise computer-aided software engineering tools optional
02 communication, collaboration and creativity 4 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn design user interface required
  • still to learn use methodologies for user-centered design required
  • still to learn use software design patterns required
  • still to learn draw design sketches required
  • optional, not held create flowchart diagram optional
03 information and communication technologies (icts) 3 required, 12 supplementary
  • still to learn integrated development environment software required
  • still to learn software UI design patterns required
  • still to learn World Wide Web Consortium standards required
  • optional, not held Ajax Framework optional
  • optional, not held Drupal optional
  • optional, not held Eclipse (integrated development environment software) optional
  • optional, not held ICT debugging tools optional
  • optional, not held JavaScript Framework optional
  • optional, not held KDevelop optional
  • optional, not held NoSQL optional
  • optional, not held Vagrant optional
  • optional, not held Xcode optional
  • optional, not held human-computer interaction optional
  • optional, not held software interaction design optional
  • optional, not held screen reader optional
04 information skills 1 required
  • still to learn interpret technical texts required
05 business, administration and law 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held ICT project management optional
Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a user interface developer 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 62 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held computer programming knowledge
  • already held design graphics skill
  • already held graphics editor software knowledge
  • already held style sheet languages knowledge
  • already held web programming knowledge
  • already held ABAP knowledge
  • already held AJAX knowledge
  • already held APL knowledge
  • already held ASP.NET knowledge
  • already held Adobe Illustrator knowledge
  • already held Adobe Photoshop knowledge
  • already held Ansible knowledge
  • already held Apache Maven knowledge
  • already held Assembly (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held C# knowledge
  • already held C++ knowledge
  • already held COBOL knowledge
  • already held CSS knowledge
  • already held CoffeeScript knowledge
  • already held Common Lisp knowledge
  • already held Erlang knowledge
  • already held GIMP (graphics editor software) knowledge
  • already held Groovy knowledge
  • already held Haskell knowledge
  • already held JSSS knowledge
  • already held Java (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held JavaScript knowledge
  • already held Jenkins (tools for software configuration management) knowledge
  • already held LESS knowledge
  • already held Lisp knowledge
  • already held MATLAB knowledge
  • already held ML (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held Microsoft Visio knowledge
  • already held Microsoft Visual C++ 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 Puppet (tools for software configuration management) knowledge
  • already held Python (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held R knowledge
  • already held Ruby (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held SAP R3 knowledge
  • already held SAS language knowledge
  • already held STAF knowledge
  • already held Salt (tools for software configuration management) knowledge
  • already held Sass knowledge
  • already held Scala knowledge
  • already held Scratch (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held SketchBook Pro knowledge
  • already held Smalltalk (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held Swift (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held Synfig knowledge
  • already held TypeScript knowledge
  • already held VBScript knowledge
  • already held Visual Basic knowledge
  • already held WordPress knowledge
  • already held augmented reality knowledge
  • already held tools for software configuration management knowledge
  • already held use markup languages skill
24 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • optional, not held Ajax Framework optional
  • optional, not held Drupal optional
  • optional, not held Eclipse (integrated development environment software) optional
  • optional, not held ICT debugging tools optional
  • optional, not held ICT project management optional
  • optional, not held JavaScript Framework optional
  • optional, not held KDevelop optional
  • optional, not held NoSQL optional
  • optional, not held Vagrant optional
  • optional, not held Xcode optional
  • optional, not held debug software optional
  • optional, not held design interaction model optional
  • optional, not held human-computer interaction optional
  • optional, not held software interaction design optional
  • optional, not held use automatic programming optional
  • optional, not held use concurrent programming optional
  • optional, not held use functional programming optional
  • optional, not held use logic programming optional
  • optional, not held use object-oriented programming optional
  • optional, not held use query languages optional
  • optional, not held use scripting programming optional
  • optional, not held utilise computer-aided software engineering tools optional
  • optional, not held create flowchart diagram optional
  • optional, not held screen reader optional
41 held skills the user interface developer role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role 3D printing process knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Capture One knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT software specifications knowledge
  • not needed by the target role WebCMS knowledge
  • not needed by the target role adobe creative suite knowledge
  • not needed by the target role analyse business requirements skill
  • not needed by the target role apply technical communication skills skill
  • not needed by the target role audio editing software knowledge
  • not needed by the target role authoring software knowledge
  • not needed by the target role build business relationships skill
  • not needed by the target role conduct content quality assurance skill
  • not needed by the target role convert into animated object skill
  • not needed by the target role copyright legislation knowledge
  • not needed by the target role create website wireframe skill
  • not needed by the target role define technical requirements skill
  • not needed by the target role develop digital content skill
  • not needed by the target role digital content creation skill
  • not needed by the target role digital media knowledge
  • not needed by the target role digital systems knowledge
  • not needed by the target role digitization knowledge
  • not needed by the target role edit recorded sound skill
  • not needed by the target role give live presentation skill
  • not needed by the target role integrate content into output media skill
  • not needed by the target role interactive media knowledge
  • not needed by the target role manage online content skill
  • not needed by the target role multimedia systems knowledge
  • not needed by the target role perform image editing skill
  • not needed by the target role perform online data analysis skill
  • not needed by the target role perform resource planning skill
  • not needed by the target role perform video editing skill
  • not needed by the target role problem-solving with digital tools skill
  • not needed by the target role provide multimedia content skill
  • not needed by the target role publishing strategy knowledge
  • not needed by the target role study media sources skill
  • not needed by the target role take pictures skill
  • not needed by the target role task algorithmisation knowledge
  • not needed by the target role use content management system software skill
  • not needed by the target role use e-services skill
  • not needed by the target role use presentation software skill
  • not needed by the target role visual presentation techniques knowledge

1 further entry not listed here

16 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 integrated development environment software required
  • still to learn software UI design patterns required
  • still to learn World Wide Web Consortium standards required
  • optional, not held Ajax Framework optional
  • optional, not held Drupal optional
  • optional, not held Eclipse (integrated development environment software) optional
  • optional, not held ICT debugging tools optional
  • optional, not held ICT project management optional
  • optional, not held JavaScript Framework optional
  • optional, not held KDevelop optional
  • optional, not held NoSQL optional
  • optional, not held Vagrant optional
  • optional, not held Xcode optional
  • optional, not held human-computer interaction optional
  • optional, not held software interaction design optional
  • optional, not held screen reader optional
Index

Other moves recorded from digital media designer

Full index of moves from digital media designer

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can a digital media designer become a user interface developer?

Yes, and it is a substantial move. A digital media designer already covers 55% of what a user interface developer is expected to do: 62 skills carry over, 5 of which the user interface developer role treats as required.

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

12 required skills are missing, plus 24 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by working with computers. The single most important is analyse software specifications.

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

Its learning distance is 59.2 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.