User interface developer to mobile application developer
A user interface developer already meets 77% of what the mobile application developer role asks for. The move turns on 5 required skills not yet in the profile.
35.5/ 100
1 How much of what a mobile application developer is expected to do is already part of a user interface developer’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 mobile application developer role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A mobile application developer role treats 13 of its required skills as things a user interface developer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- ICT debugging tools
- analyse software specifications
- computer programming
- create flowchart diagram
- debug software
- develop software prototype
What stands in the way is 5 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 69 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A mobile application developer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a user interface developer background worth leading with.
- already held Xcode information and communication technologies (icts)
- already held use concurrent programming working with computers
- already held use functional programming working with computers
- already held KDevelop information and communication technologies (icts)
- already held use logic programming working with computers
- already held use object-oriented programming working with computers
All 69 carried skills, including the 13 the mobile application developer role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 19 missing skills fall into 6 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.
- still to learn Internet of Things required
- still to learn mobile operating systems required
- optional, not held Android (mobile operating systems) optional
- optional, not held BlackBerry optional
- optional, not held Joomla optional
- optional, not held SPARK optional
- optional, not held iOS optional
- optional, not held mobile device software frameworks optional
- optional, not held object-oriented modelling optional
- optional, not held software anomalies optional
- optional, not held digital systems optional
- still to learn collect customer feedback on applications required
- optional, not held identify customer requirements optional
- still to learn migrate existing data required
- optional, not held integrate system components optional
- still to learn develop automated migration methods required
- optional, not held adapt to changes in technological development plans optional
- optional, not held develop creative ideas optional
- optional, not held ICT security legislation optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a mobile application developer role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 Internet of Things study this
- 02 develop automated migration methods practise this
- 03 migrate existing data practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 69 skills that carry over
- already held ICT debugging tools knowledge
- already held analyse software specifications skill
- already held computer programming knowledge
- already held create flowchart diagram skill
- already held debug software skill
- already held develop software prototype skill
- already held integrated development environment software knowledge
- already held interpret technical texts skill
- already held tools for software configuration management knowledge
- already held use an application-specific interface skill
- already held use software design patterns skill
- already held use software libraries skill
- already held utilise computer-aided software engineering tools skill
- already held ABAP knowledge
- already held AJAX knowledge
- already held APL knowledge
- already held ASP.NET 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 CoffeeScript knowledge
- already held Common Lisp knowledge
- already held Eclipse (integrated development environment software) 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 Jenkins (tools for software configuration management) knowledge
- already held KDevelop knowledge
- already held Lisp knowledge
- already held MATLAB knowledge
- already held ML (computer programming) 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 Scala knowledge
- already held Scratch (computer programming) knowledge
- already held Smalltalk (computer programming) knowledge
- already held Swift (computer programming) knowledge
- already held TypeScript knowledge
- already held VBScript knowledge
- already held Visual Basic knowledge
- already held World Wide Web Consortium standards knowledge
- already held Xcode knowledge
- already held augmented reality knowledge
- already held design user interface skill
- already held screen reader knowledge
- already held use automatic programming skill
- already held use concurrent programming skill
- already held use functional programming skill
- already held use logic programming skill
- already held use object-oriented programming skill
- already held use query languages skill
14 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held Android (mobile operating systems) optional
- optional, not held BlackBerry optional
- optional, not held ICT security legislation optional
- optional, not held Joomla optional
- optional, not held SPARK optional
- optional, not held adapt to changes in technological development plans optional
- optional, not held iOS optional
- optional, not held integrate system components optional
- optional, not held mobile device software frameworks optional
- optional, not held object-oriented modelling optional
- optional, not held software anomalies optional
- optional, not held develop creative ideas optional
- optional, not held digital systems optional
- optional, not held identify customer requirements optional
29 held skills the mobile application developer role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role Adobe Illustrator knowledge
- not needed by the target role Adobe Photoshop knowledge
- not needed by the target role Ajax Framework knowledge
- not needed by the target role CSS knowledge
- not needed by the target role Drupal knowledge
- not needed by the target role GIMP (graphics editor software) knowledge
- not needed by the target role ICT project management knowledge
- not needed by the target role JSSS knowledge
- not needed by the target role JavaScript Framework knowledge
- not needed by the target role LESS knowledge
- not needed by the target role Microsoft Visio knowledge
- not needed by the target role NoSQL knowledge
- not needed by the target role Sass knowledge
- not needed by the target role SketchBook Pro knowledge
- not needed by the target role Synfig knowledge
- not needed by the target role Vagrant knowledge
- not needed by the target role WordPress knowledge
- not needed by the target role design graphics skill
- not needed by the target role design interaction model skill
- not needed by the target role draw design sketches skill
- not needed by the target role graphics editor software knowledge
- not needed by the target role human-computer interaction knowledge
- not needed by the target role software UI design patterns knowledge
- not needed by the target role software interaction design knowledge
- not needed by the target role style sheet languages knowledge
- not needed by the target role use markup languages skill
- not needed by the target role use methodologies for user-centered design skill
- not needed by the target role use scripting programming skill
- not needed by the target role web programming knowledge
12 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn Internet of Things required
- still to learn mobile operating systems required
- optional, not held Android (mobile operating systems) optional
- optional, not held BlackBerry optional
- optional, not held ICT security legislation optional
- optional, not held Joomla optional
- optional, not held SPARK optional
- optional, not held iOS optional
- optional, not held mobile device software frameworks optional
- optional, not held object-oriented modelling optional
- optional, not held software anomalies optional
- optional, not held digital systems optional
Common questions about this move
Can a user interface developer become a mobile application developer?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A user interface developer already covers 77% of what a mobile application developer is expected to do: 69 skills carry over, 13 of which the mobile application developer role treats as required.
What skills does a user interface developer need to become a mobile application developer?
5 required skills are missing, plus 14 optional ones. They fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by information and communication technologies (icts). The single most important is Internet of Things.
How hard is the move from user interface developer to mobile application developer?
Its learning distance is 35.5 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
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.