Cobbling together a click-and-build website is fine for a blogger or home business, but launching a career as a professional web developer requires technical insights and expertise best acquired through formal education, such as the online Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Digital Technology and Design with a Concentration in Web Design program from Arkansas State University (A-State).
Enterprises require a robust, well-designed web presence for various reasons. Perhaps the most important is projecting brand identity and reputation into the global market. Websites also meet customers where they are: 2.64 billion people — one-third of the world’s population — buy online, and another 100 million will become e-commerce shoppers by 2025.
Conducting business online is fast becoming the norm, particularly as corporate purchasing and sales demographics continue trending to professionals who grew up with the internet.
The benefits of B2B e-commerce include:
- 24/7 availability of product documentation, purchase operations and customer service
- Automated invoicing that reduces human error
- Opportunities for digital marketing that typically delivers a higher return on investment than traditional channels
- Content marketing integrated with social media that extends reach, increases impressions and establishes thought leadership
The value of B2B e-commerce is growing faster than that realized by traditional channels, according to Eltrino, which states that “the window of possibilities” will close once those with initiative corner the market.
Businesses’ rush to establish or grow their online profiles has created a sellers’ market for web designers in roles that pay an average of $80,730 annually, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
What Critical Skills Do Professional Web Designers Need?
Webflow’s list of essential technical skills for career web designers includes design principles, software and coding, copywriting, and user experience (UX) and user interface (UI).
UX and UI are related but distinct disciplines, each essential to keep visitors on the website and moving through it. Abandoning a site too quickly is recognized by search engine crawlers, which can result in depressed search-engine optimization, making the site difficult for potential customers to find.
What Is User Experience Design?
UX leverages visitors’ psychological and aesthetic responses to website pages and their elements.
UX considers the user’s response to elements of the webpage, including:
- Ease of use, such as visitors quickly finding what they want on the landing page or clear directions on how to locate it
- Interactive, engaging elements and visuals
- Content and colors that support the company’s brand identity
Best practices for optimized UX include a logically organized and uncluttered layout, an intuitive design that is relational rather than overtly transactional, and graphics and content specific to the company’s main demographic.
What Is User Interface Design?
If UX focuses on the “art” of a website, UI is the “science” of its functionality and how it keeps visitors engaged.
Designing for UI often begins with a full-site wireframe, a blueprint of all the site’s pages, how they relate to one another and how the navigation enables visitors to move seamlessly through the site. In short, UI provides a smooth, glitch-free, full-site experience.
A website with a well-designed UI is simple, consistent and visitor-centric and has the following functions:
- Enables intuitive navigation
- Maintains an organized messaging and visual hierarchy
- Uses legible fonts
- Supports responsive design for usability on desktop and mobile devices
“You need to cover both (UX and UI),” LogRocket advises future website designers.
Why Study Digital Technology and Design Online at A-State?
A-State’s online B.S. in Digital Technology and Design – Web Design program provides graduates with the high-demand skills technical skills that can launch a career in professional website development.
The program engages students in the essential skills and industry knowledge for real-world, user-focused web designs such as websites, apps and other emerging digital products. Courses immerse students in all facets of customer-facing UI & UX design, including:
- Design literacy
- Interaction design
- Human-centered design and cultural psychology
- Programming fundamentals, such as coding with the Swift platform and Kotlin for Android
BLS predicts that demand for web developers and digital designers will grow by 16% annually — much higher than the job growth rate in all other careers — as employers add nearly 35,000 positions annually through 2032. The A-State online B.S. in Digital Technology and Design – Web Design program prepares students for promising futures in this in-demand field.
Learn more about A-State’s online Bachelor of Science in Digital Technology and Design with a Concentration in Web Design program.