Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

User interface designer to digital media designer

A user interface designer already meets 50% of what the digital media designer role asks for. The move turns on 15 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From user interface designer
50 % overlap
Partial match
To digital media designer
57 You already bring
15 Still to learn
103 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance Substantial retraining

63.9/ 100

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

Why

Why this move works

A digital media designer role treats 9 of its required skills as things a user interface designer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • create website wireframe
  • design graphics
  • graphics editor software
  • interactive media
  • manage online content
  • task algorithmisation

What stands in the way is 15 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 57 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A digital media designer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a user interface designer background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held create website wireframe working with computers
  • already held web based collaborative platforms information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held perform online data analysis working with computers
  • already held manage online content working with computers
  • already held task algorithmisation information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held interactive media arts and humanities

All 57 carried skills, including the 9 the digital media designer role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 46 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 working with computers 6 required, 6 supplementary
  • still to learn digital content creation required
  • still to learn integrate content into output media required
  • still to learn provide multimedia content required
  • still to learn develop digital content required
  • still to learn perform image editing required
  • still to learn use e-services required
  • optional, not held edit recorded sound optional
  • optional, not held perform video editing optional
  • optional, not held problem-solving with digital tools optional
  • optional, not held conduct content quality assurance optional
  • optional, not held use content management system software optional
  • optional, not held use presentation software optional
02 information and communication technologies (icts) 5 required, 16 supplementary
  • still to learn adobe creative suite required
  • still to learn tools for software configuration management required
  • still to learn authoring software required
  • still to learn digital systems required
  • still to learn style sheet languages required
  • optional, not held Ansible optional
  • optional, not held Apache Maven optional
  • optional, not held CSS optional
  • optional, not held Capture One optional
  • optional, not held ICT software specifications optional
  • optional, not held JSSS optional
  • optional, not held Jenkins (tools for software configuration management) optional
  • optional, not held LESS optional
  • optional, not held Microsoft Visual C++ optional
  • optional, not held Puppet (tools for software configuration management) optional
  • optional, not held STAF optional
  • optional, not held Salt (tools for software configuration management) optional
  • optional, not held Sass optional
  • optional, not held WebCMS optional
  • optional, not held WordPress optional
  • optional, not held audio editing software optional
03 arts and humanities 2 required, 3 supplementary
  • still to learn publishing strategy required
  • still to learn digital media required
  • optional, not held 3D printing process optional
  • optional, not held visual presentation techniques optional
  • optional, not held multimedia systems optional
04 communication, collaboration and creativity 1 required, 2 supplementary
  • still to learn convert into animated object required
  • optional, not held apply technical communication skills optional
  • optional, not held give live presentation optional
05 business, administration and law 1 required
  • still to learn copyright legislation required
06 information skills 2 supplementary
  • optional, not held study media sources optional
  • optional, not held perform resource planning optional

2 further areas in the appendix

Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a digital media 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 57 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held create website wireframe skill
  • already held design graphics skill
  • already held graphics editor software knowledge
  • already held interactive media knowledge
  • already held manage online content skill
  • already held task algorithmisation knowledge
  • already held use markup languages skill
  • already held web based collaborative platforms 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 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 Erlang knowledge
  • already held GIMP (graphics editor software) 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 Microsoft Visio 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 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 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 analyse business requirements skill
  • already held augmented reality knowledge
  • already held build business relationships skill
  • already held computer programming knowledge
  • already held define technical requirements skill
  • already held perform online data analysis skill
The 2 learning areas not shown above
Skill to pick up Tier
07 social sciences, journalism and information 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held digitization optional
08 working with machinery and specialised equipment 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held take pictures optional
31 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • optional, not held 3D printing process optional
  • optional, not held Ansible optional
  • optional, not held Apache Maven optional
  • optional, not held CSS optional
  • optional, not held Capture One optional
  • optional, not held ICT software specifications optional
  • optional, not held JSSS optional
  • optional, not held Jenkins (tools for software configuration management) optional
  • optional, not held LESS optional
  • optional, not held Microsoft Visual C++ optional
  • optional, not held Puppet (tools for software configuration management) optional
  • optional, not held STAF optional
  • optional, not held Salt (tools for software configuration management) optional
  • optional, not held Sass optional
  • optional, not held WebCMS optional
  • optional, not held WordPress optional
  • optional, not held edit recorded sound optional
  • optional, not held perform video editing optional
  • optional, not held problem-solving with digital tools optional
  • optional, not held study media sources optional
  • optional, not held take pictures optional
  • optional, not held visual presentation techniques optional
  • optional, not held apply technical communication skills optional
  • optional, not held audio editing software optional
  • optional, not held conduct content quality assurance optional
  • optional, not held digitization optional
  • optional, not held give live presentation optional
  • optional, not held multimedia systems optional
  • optional, not held perform resource planning optional
  • optional, not held use content management system software optional
  • optional, not held use presentation software optional
38 held skills the digital media designer role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role Agile development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Agile project management knowledge
  • not needed by the target role DevOps knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT accessibility standards knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT project management methodologies knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT security legislation knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Process-based management knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Prototyping development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Rapid application development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Spiral development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Waterfall development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role World Wide Web Consortium standards knowledge
  • not needed by the target role application usability knowledge
  • not needed by the target role assess users' interaction with ICT applications skill
  • not needed by the target role business process modelling knowledge
  • not needed by the target role cognitive psychology knowledge
  • not needed by the target role create software design skill
  • not needed by the target role design process skill
  • not needed by the target role design user interface skill
  • not needed by the target role develop creative ideas skill
  • not needed by the target role draw design sketches skill
  • not needed by the target role human-computer interaction knowledge
  • not needed by the target role incremental development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role interact with users to gather requirements skill
  • not needed by the target role iterative development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role lean project management knowledge
  • not needed by the target role manage localisation skill
  • not needed by the target role natural language processing knowledge
  • not needed by the target role quality standards knowledge
  • not needed by the target role screen reader knowledge
  • not needed by the target role software UI design patterns knowledge
  • not needed by the target role software design methodologies knowledge
  • not needed by the target role software interaction design knowledge
  • not needed by the target role test system accessibility for users with special needs skill
  • not needed by the target role translate requirements into visual design skill
  • not needed by the target role use an application-specific interface skill
  • not needed by the target role use methodologies for user-centered design skill
  • not needed by the target role use query languages skill
28 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 adobe creative suite required
  • still to learn publishing strategy required
  • still to learn tools for software configuration management required
  • still to learn authoring software required
  • still to learn copyright legislation required
  • still to learn digital media required
  • still to learn digital systems required
  • still to learn style sheet languages required
  • optional, not held 3D printing process optional
  • optional, not held Ansible optional
  • optional, not held Apache Maven optional
  • optional, not held CSS optional
  • optional, not held Capture One optional
  • optional, not held ICT software specifications optional
  • optional, not held JSSS optional
  • optional, not held Jenkins (tools for software configuration management) optional
  • optional, not held LESS optional
  • optional, not held Microsoft Visual C++ optional
  • optional, not held Puppet (tools for software configuration management) optional
  • optional, not held STAF optional
  • optional, not held Salt (tools for software configuration management) optional
  • optional, not held Sass optional
  • optional, not held WebCMS optional
  • optional, not held WordPress optional
  • optional, not held visual presentation techniques optional
  • optional, not held audio editing software optional
  • optional, not held digitization optional
  • optional, not held multimedia systems optional
Index

Other moves recorded from user interface designer

Full index of moves from user interface designer

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can a user interface designer become a digital media designer?

Yes, and it is a substantial move. A user interface designer already covers 50% of what a digital media designer is expected to do: 57 skills carry over, 9 of which the digital media designer role treats as required.

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

15 required skills are missing, plus 31 optional ones. They fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by working with computers. The single most important is adobe creative suite.

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

Its learning distance is 63.9 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.