UX designers are common at smaller companies with fewer employees, as these companies don’t have big design departments. You might have to wear many hats. A generalist might be responsible for a combination of user research, branding, user flows, UX writing, visual design, prototyping, production design, information architecture, and usability testing, among other things. Most generalists start their roles knowing about one or two of these topics. They learn about other areas on the job from their colleagues or mentors. UX generalists can also continue their education through professional development, doing their own research to keep up with industry trends, and participating in online UX communities to learn from other designers.
On the other hand, if you become really interested in one part of UX design, you might find your niche as a specialist. A specialist dives deep into one particular UX design role, like interaction, visual, or motion design. While a generalist has a breadth of knowledge, a specialist has more depth of knowledge in one kind of UX design. Specialists usually work at large companies where the organization can afford to have a big team of UX designers.
