The UX/UI Designer is the designer who shapes both the experience of a digital product (UX, user experience: journeys, logic, ease of use) and its visual interface (UI, user interface: screens, components, typography, colors). The title combines two specialties that are often separate in larger teams.
On the UX side, they interview users, map journeys, design wireframes and test prototypes. On the UI side, they produce the final screens and often maintain a design system shared with front-end developers, most of the time in Figma.
The combined profile is common in startups and small companies, where a single designer covers everything. As teams grow, they often split the roles (UX Designer, UI Designer, UX Researcher) or group them under the Product Designer title.
Why it matters when hiring
A UX/UI Designer almost always leans one way: check which one in the portfolio. A portfolio made only of beautiful screens signals a UI profile. A strong UX profile shows their reasoning, their research and what changed after testing. In a product startup, the Product Designer title is often more accurate and attracts more complete profiles.