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Game designer vs user interaction designer

The differences between game designers and user interaction designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a game designer and a user interaction designer. Additionally, a game designer has an average salary of $87,645, which is higher than the $82,651 average annual salary of a user interaction designer.

The top three skills for a game designer include unity, UI and game development. The most important skills for a user interaction designer are UI, sketch, and UX.

Game designer vs user interaction designer overview

Game DesignerUser Interaction Designer
Yearly salary$87,645$82,651
Hourly rate$42.14$39.74
Growth rate3%13%
Number of jobs45,22754,146
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Average age4437
Years of experience44

What does a game designer do?

A video game designer is responsible for making a concept of a video game and creating the storylines, scenarios, maps, character development, user interfaces, and in-game objectives. Typical responsibilities include adding computer scripting using computer software, which will then generate events, objects, commands, and characters that end-users can choose from to interact with during the game. Additionally, you will write code using different computer programming languages and designing characters, animation, and levels. To become a successful video game designer, you must be creative, innovative, and ambitious.

What does a user interaction designer do?

A User Interaction Designer works with product management to develop and implement innovative solutions for product direction and visuals. They execute all visual design stages.

Game designer vs user interaction designer salary

Game designers and user interaction designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Game DesignerUser Interaction Designer
Average salary$87,645$82,651
Salary rangeBetween $60,000 And $127,000Between $59,000 And $114,000
Highest paying CityReno, NVSan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateNevadaCalifornia
Best paying companyMetaGoogle
Best paying industryTechnologyAutomotive

Differences between game designer and user interaction designer education

There are a few differences between a game designer and a user interaction designer in terms of educational background:

Game DesignerUser Interaction Designer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common majorGraphic DesignGraphic Design
Most common collegeStanford UniversityUniversity of Pennsylvania

Game designer vs user interaction designer demographics

Here are the differences between game designers' and user interaction designers' demographics:

Game DesignerUser Interaction Designer
Average age4437
Gender ratioMale, 88.2% Female, 11.8%Male, 66.7% Female, 33.3%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%Black or African American, 6.5% Unknown, 6.5% Hispanic or Latino, 12.0% Asian, 16.0% White, 58.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage11%9%

Differences between game designer and user interaction designer duties and responsibilities

Game designer example responsibilities.

  • Lead brainstorming meetings to develop new ideas and concepts.
  • Manage the bug tracking database for the entire design team.
  • Lead the design of world-class social games on the Facebook platform.
  • Manage creative team including lead illustrator, lead painter, animation and sound design.
  • Manage QA and drive testing plans, which deliver a high quality product on time.
  • Design the project's path, and manage an android programmer, a graphic designer and a musician.
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User interaction designer example responsibilities.

  • Manage and implement all code changes via SVN.
  • Work closely with ASP.NET developer to attain refine results.
  • Used CSS3 media queries to achieve the responsiveness of the user interface.
  • Lead a remote team of web designers and developers to redesign brands and websites for local small businesses.
  • Manage few mobile iPhone App projects on iOS6 and iOS7, some of which seamlessly complement desktop applications.
  • Used SVN as source control management giving a huge speed advantage on centralize systems that have to communicate with a server.
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Game designer vs user interaction designer skills

Common game designer skills
  • Unity, 10%
  • UI, 6%
  • Game Development, 6%
  • Game Mechanics, 6%
  • C++, 5%
  • Math, 4%
Common user interaction designer skills
  • UI, 16%
  • Sketch, 14%
  • UX, 6%
  • Html Css, 4%
  • User Experience, 4%
  • Visual Design, 4%

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