What does a User Experience Design Manager do?

Design managers manage a design or graphics team, collaborate on projects with colleagues, delegate tasks, and check projects for quality and consistency. Design managers often apply their artistic nature in corporate environments. They also collaborate with marketing, sales, and product engineer teams to check designs, ensure they succeed, and ensure messages land appropriately with customers. They develop and implement successful design strategies by outlining how the design team will create the project’s deliverables. They often manage several designers and evaluate individual design deliverables alongside team performance, delivering critical feedback when necessary.

Design managers encourage team members throughout a project. They collaborate with other teams, often marketing and development teams, to ensure the product’s looks and presentation are sufficient. They represent strategies to upper management and speak to specific numbers and expected outcomes for the product. When finalized, design managers track and collect product feedback by filtering through customer service responses and checking in with focus groups to gain an overall picture of how well the design performs. Design managers need a master's degree in graphic design from a visual arts program or other related fields and at least seven years of design experience or three years of design management experience.