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The differences between instructional systems designers and designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become an instructional systems designer, becoming a designer takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a designer has an average salary of $66,347, which is higher than the $65,907 average annual salary of an instructional systems designer.
The top three skills for an instructional systems designer include subject matter experts, instructional design and smes. The most important skills for a designer are sketch, customer service, and graphic design.
| Instructional Systems Designer | Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $65,907 | $66,347 |
| Hourly rate | $31.69 | $31.90 |
| Growth rate | 7% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 104,993 | 52,433 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Average age | 44 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 12 |
An instructional systems designer specializes in developing training solutions in adherence to the objectives of a program or project. Their responsibilities include identifying the needs of projects and programs, performing extensive research and analysis, gathering and analyzing existing systems' data to identify their strengths and weaknesses, studying feedback from various parties, and developing test structures. Moreover, an instructional systems designer must maintain an active communication line with the instructional systems team, coordinating while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.
A designer is someone who creates a master plan of the look or workings of something before it will be made. It could be tangible or intangible objects, products, procedures, laws, events, games, graphics, services, and even experiences. Designers are creative thinkers with a great eye to configure the skeletal and structural properties of the targeted output. They work in several fields, such as fashion, architecture, web graphics, and user experience. In spite of the variety of professionals in the design industry, all of them are artistic, passionate, inspiring, and emotionally connected to their projects and brands.
Instructional systems designers and designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Instructional Systems Designer | Designer | |
| Average salary | $65,907 | $66,347 |
| Salary range | Between $46,000 And $93,000 | Between $45,000 And $97,000 |
| Highest paying City | Baltimore, MD | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | Washington |
| Best paying company | Parsons | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between an instructional systems designer and a designer in terms of educational background:
| Instructional Systems Designer | Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Most common major | Business | Graphic Design |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between instructional systems designers' and designers' demographics:
| Instructional Systems Designer | Designer | |
| Average age | 44 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 64.6% Female, 35.4% | Male, 56.9% Female, 43.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 12.4% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 16.0% Asian, 5.3% White, 61.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 10.4% White, 70.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 16% | 13% |