Hire UX designers who can prove the design works.
TekRecruiter is a UX design recruiting agency focused solely on technology and engineering roles at tech and SaaS companies. We walk every designer through the research, usability tests and engineering trade-offs behind work that shipped, so you hire someone who knows your users and turns that into a product people can actually use. Beyond skills and experience, we look for HEARTThe HEART standardHHigh agencyEExecutionAAccountabilityRResourcefulnessTTransparencyWhat we look for, beyond skills →.
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What is a UX designer?
A UX designer shapes how a product works for the people who use it. They research users, structure information, design flows and interactions, and test them with real people so the product is useful, usable and accessible. UX is broader than UI design, which owns the visual layer, and narrower than product design, which adds product strategy and business outcomes to both.
- UX designer
- Researches users and designs flows, structure and interactions, then tests them until they work.
- UI designer
- Designs the visual interface: layout, typography, color and components, usually within a design system.
- Product designer
- Owns UX and UI end to end and shares accountability for product outcomes with product and engineering.
What companies hire UX designers to do.
UX has a method behind it. These are the six mandates behind most of the design searches we run.
01 · User research
Know the user before you design for them.
Interviews, contextual inquiry and surveys that show who the users are, what they’re trying to get done and where the product gets in the way.
- Personas and journey maps built from evidence, not assumptions
- Research that changes a roadmap decision, not a slide in a deck
- Dovetail
- UserTesting
- Lookback
- Maze
- Miro
02 · Information architecture
Structure the product so people find what they need.
Navigation, content hierarchy and flows designed around how users think, then validated before a line of front-end code is written.
- Card sorting and tree testing to settle the navigation
- Task flows that remove steps instead of adding screens
- Optimal Workshop
- FigJam
- Whimsical
- Figma
03 · Interaction design
Prototype it and test it before engineering builds it.
Clickable prototypes that behave like the real product, covering the states engineers ask about: empty, loading, error and edge cases.
- High-fidelity prototypes used in real sessions with users
- AI-assisted prototyping to test more ideas in less time
- Figma
- ProtoPie
- Framer
- Figma Make
04 · Usability testing
Measure whether the design works.
Moderated and unmoderated tests with clear tasks, plus product analytics after launch, so design decisions rest on evidence.
- Task success, time on task and System Usability Scale scores
- Funnels and session replays that show where users drop off
- Maze
- UserTesting
- Hotjar
- FullStory
- Amplitude
05 · Design systems
One design system, shipped as code.
Tokens, components and patterns built with front-end engineers, so every team ships a consistent product without redesigning the button.
- Figma libraries that map one to one to coded components
- Governance for how components are added, changed and retired
- Figma
- Storybook
- Tokens Studio
- Zeroheight
06 · Accessibility
Accessible from the first wireframe.
Designs that meet WCAG 2.2 AA from the start: contrast, focus order, keyboard paths, touch targets and screen-reader labels.
- Accessibility annotations handed to engineering with every design
- Testing with assistive technology, not only automated checks
- axe DevTools
- Stark
- WAVE
- VoiceOver
- NVDA
What to know before you hire a UX designer.
Whether or not you work with us, these are the questions worth settling before a design search begins.
UX designer, UI designer or product designer?
Name the gap first. If nobody knows why users struggle or drop off, you need a UX designer with real research and testing practice. If the flows work but the interface looks inconsistent, you need UI and design-system skills. If you want one designer to own the experience and share the product outcome, hire a product designer.
What does a UX designer cost?
We don’t publish our own UX pay figures yet. As neutral context, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $104,000 for web and digital interface designers, the federal category that includes UX and UI designers (BLS, May 2025).
How should you evaluate a UX portfolio?
Look past the final screens. A strong case study shows the problem, who the users were, the research, the options explored, what testing changed and the result after launch, ideally with a number. Ask the designer which decision they would make differently now. A portfolio of polished shots with no process is a UI showcase, not UX evidence.
How should you interview a UX designer?
Have them walk through one shipped project in depth, then critique a flow in your own product. Listen for how they would learn about your users, what they would test first and how they would work with your engineers. Ask how they handled a stakeholder who wanted a feature the research didn’t support.
Is UX design becoming part of product management?
We’re seeing it. Since AI took on much of research synthesis and most UI production, there are fewer standalone UX and UI roles, and more product owners who prototype with AI themselves. The designers worth hiring can also wear a product hat. But UX is still a discipline with deep method, and many product owners don’t know how to research, test or advocate for the user the way a strong designer does.
UX researcher or UX designer?
A UX researcher plans and runs studies, from interviews to usability tests, and turns findings into insight for the whole product team. A UX designer does research too, but mainly to inform the designs they own. Hire a dedicated researcher when several teams need evidence; most startups start with a designer who researches well.
Why UX searches go wrong.
Design is easy to judge on looks and hard to judge on results. These are the misses we hear about most.
- 01
Beautiful mockups, no evidence.
The screens looked great. Nobody tested them with a user.
- 02
Designs that didn’t survive the build.
Handoffs engineering couldn’t build, and no design system to hold it together.
- 03
Accessibility found at the end.
WCAG gaps surfaced after launch and had to be retrofitted.
- 04
No one speaking for the user.
Without a designer’s method, the user’s voice lost every roadmap debate.
UX is a method, not a mood board.
UX is still about the user experience, and there’s real science behind it. We walk every designer through shipped work: who the users were, what the research showed, what testing changed and how they built it with engineering. We look for designers who advocate for the user and can think like product owners, and every designer we present meets our HEART standard.
- Research that changed the design: what they learned from users and the decision it overturned.
- Evidence it worked: how they tested and measured usability before and after launch.
- Built with engineering: buildable handoffs, design-system components and the trade-offs they negotiated.
- An advocate with a product hat: how they defended the user in a roadmap call and shaped what got built.
| A generalist creative staffing firm | TekRecruiter |
|---|---|
| Judges the portfolio on polish | Asks what research and testing changed in the design |
| Treats UX, UI and product design as one keyword | Scopes which designer your product needs |
| Matches on Figma | Checks design systems built with engineering and shipped as code |
| Skips accessibility | Asks how they design to WCAG from the first wireframe |
| Ignores how AI changed the role | Asks where they use AI in research and prototyping, and where they don’t |
The HEART standard
What we look for beyond skills and experience, in every candidate we present.
- High agencyPeople who see what needs to be done and act without waiting to be told.
- ExecutionPeople who turn ideas into results.
- AccountabilityPeople who own the outcome, not just their piece of the work.
- ResourcefulnessPeople who figure things out when the answer isn’t obvious.
- TransparencyPeople who communicate clearly, honestly, and early.
What we screen out.
The patterns that separate a designer who improves the experience from one who decorates it.
Screens without a story
Final shots only: no problem, no process and no result.
Research as a checkbox
Ran a survey once, but can’t name a decision it changed.
Never watched a user struggle
No usability testing, so the design is still a guess.
Over the wall to engineering
Hands off files and disappears, with no idea how the design was built.
Accessibility as an afterthought
Can’t talk through contrast, focus order or screen-reader behavior.
Taste over evidence
Defends choices with personal preference instead of what users did.
Senior, staff and principal UX designers.
Level is about scope, not years. Here is what each level should own.
Senior
Owns the experience of a product area end to end.
- Runs research and usability testing independently
- Ships designs engineering can build without guesswork
- Mentors designers on craft and method
Staff
Sets design direction across several teams.
- Owns the design system and its standards
- Aligns research across teams so evidence is shared
- Partners with product and engineering leads on strategy
Principal
Shapes how the whole company designs.
- Defines the experience vision across products
- Builds research and accessibility into how the company ships
- Advises leadership on where the product should go for users
We don’t publish UX pay by level yet. The BLS median for web and digital interface designers is $104,000 (BLS, May 2025). See the 2026 Salary & Rate Guide for product pay.
UX designer vs. UI designer vs. product designer.
| UX designerYou are here | UI designer | Product designer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Focus | How the product works for users | How the interface looks and feels | The whole experience and the product outcome |
| Core work | Research, information architecture, flows, usability testing | Visual design, components, design systems | UX and UI, plus product strategy with PM and engineering |
| Deliverables | Research findings, flows, wireframes, prototypes | High-fidelity screens, UI kits, style guides | Shipped features, from discovery to launch |
| Measured by | Task success, usability scores, drop-off | Consistency, accessibility, visual quality | Adoption, retention and product metrics |
| Hire when | Users struggle and nobody knows why | Flows work but the interface is inconsistent | You want one designer to own experience and outcome |
How to hire UX designers with us.
Direct hire
A permanent designer to own your users’ experience for the long run, backed by a 90-day guarantee.
Direct hireStaff augmentation
A contract designer for a redesign, a design-system build or an accessibility push with a defined end.
Staff augmentationContract-to-hire
Start on contract, see how they work with your product and engineering teams, then convert.
Contract-to-hire
UX design hiring questions, answered.
What is the difference between a UX designer, a UI designer and a product designer?
A UX designer researches users and designs how the product works: structure, flows and interactions, tested with real people. A UI designer owns the visual interface: layout, type, color and components. A product designer does both and shares accountability for product outcomes with product management and engineering.
How much does a UX designer cost?
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $104,000 for web and digital interface designers, the federal category that includes UX and UI designers (BLS, May 2025). TekRecruiter doesn’t publish its own UX pay figures yet.
What should a UX portfolio show?
Case studies, not just screens. Each should show the problem, the users, the research, the options explored, what usability testing changed and the result after launch. Strong designers can explain what they would do differently and how they worked with engineers to ship it.
Should we hire a UX researcher or a UX designer?
Most startups should start with a UX designer who researches well, because they need someone to turn evidence into designs. Add a dedicated UX researcher when several product teams need studies run, synthesized and shared, or when the research questions are too big for designers to handle alongside their own work.
Should we hire a contract or full-time UX designer?
Contract fits a defined piece of work: a redesign, a design-system build or an accessibility remediation. Full-time fits a product that needs someone to own the user experience and the research practice over years. Contract-to-hire lets you see how a designer works with your team before you commit.
Is demand for UX designers going down?
Standalone UX and UI roles have declined as AI took on much of research synthesis and most UI production. Demand has shifted toward designers who know the user deeply, prototype quickly with AI and can help lead product decisions. The method still matters: research, testing and accessibility don’t happen by themselves.
Why do you call it UX design, not UX/UI?
Because UI is part of user experience, and AI now handles much of UI production. The skill that decides whether a product works is understanding the user and proving the design with evidence, so that is what we recruit for.
What accessibility standard should UX designers work to?
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 from the W3C, usually at level AA. A strong designer builds contrast, focus order, keyboard access, touch targets and screen-reader labels into the design from the start, and annotates them for engineering, instead of leaving them to a late audit.
What is the HEART standard?
HEART is the standard we screen every candidate against, beyond skills: high agency, execution, accountability, resourcefulness and transparency. It describes people who take ownership, turn ideas into results and move the business forward. See the standard.
1 UX pay context from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook (BLS: Web Developers and Digital Designers (median pay, May 2025), W3C: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2), reviewed September 2026.
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Let's find the designer who knows your users.
Tell us the product, the users and the team. You'll talk with our founder, Ron Smith.
