How statistics are calculated
We count how many offers each candidate received and for what salary. For example, if a Immersive Experience Designer (AR/VR/MR/Metaverse) developer with Figma with a salary of $4,500 received 10 offers, then we would count him 10 times. If there were no offers, then he would not get into the statistics either.
The graph column is the total number of offers. This is not the number of vacancies, but an indicator of the level of demand. The more offers there are, the more companies try to hire such a specialist. 5k+ includes candidates with salaries >= $5,000 and < $5,500.
Median Salary Expectation – the weighted average of the market offer in the selected specialization, that is, the most frequent job offers for the selected specialization received by candidates. We do not count accepted or rejected offers.
Trending Immersive Experience Designer (AR/VR/MR/Metaverse) tech & tools in 2024
Immersive Experience Designer (AR/VR/MR/Metaverse)
Immersive Experience Design
Virtual Reality (VR) Design
Virtual Reality (VR) design is one of the fastest growing fields in the world today. It mainly refers to the designing of immersive computer-simulated environments. This could be:
- Matchless gaming worlds
- Entertaining hologram characters in the entertainment industry
- Pioneering visual demonstrations in university curriculum or learnings
An avid VR worker’s day might be filled with:
- Designing scenes for games
- Treating or training patients
- Reviewing animation sets
- Creating custom hardware
- Developing interactive tools
- Solving VR communication issues
Augmented reality (AR) is a subfield in which real-world situations merge with virtual elements.
Meaning and Definitions of Virtual Reality and AR
AR is defined as ‘a technology consisting of the superposition of a computer-generated image on a user’s view of the real world, thus providing a composite view’.
VR is defined as ‘a computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional environment, facilitating interaction with that world through sensors, which particularly provide a user with appropriate auditory and visual feedback.’ (‘Virtual reality’ and ‘augmented reality – their definitions’, June 2017)
Although VR and AR both seek to increase a user’s immersion, VR involves entirely virtual environments, while AR aims to add layers to the real world.
Evolution of Virtual Reality Design
The concept of VR was developed in the 1960s, but the first VR headsets from the 1990s and the rise of VR gaming in the early 2000s (e.g., Second Life and World of Warcraft) meant that this area had been around for about 40 years before many people started to experience it. Since then, VR has evolved beyond gaming and is now used in other areas such as architecture, product design, and healthcare.
Nature and Features of Interior Designing
Interior designing involves designing interiors efficiently to fulfill a specific function and meet the aesthetic criteria and requirements of individuals living or working in the space. It involves planning, supervision, and coordination of construction works to ensure quality work. Initially, interior designing was limited to providing efficient and good-looking living spaces, but with the evolving times and the increasing use of modern construction materials, the scope of this field has expanded. Now, interior designers can create completely immersive experiences using virtual reality for their clients.
Using this technology, a designer may mimic all the nuances of rendering a space: walls, windows, furnishings, even the texture and hue of carpet and light on the floor. This interaction may lead to an unexpected modification of the production world, with the client saying: ‘Just move the window over towards the garden please.’
Scope of Designing in Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
The creative possibilities of VR and AR are huge and diverse:
- Architecture: VR provides a way to develop immersive, walk-through models of buildings and spaces that are extremely detailed, allowing clients to explore buildings that exist only as ideas.
- Product Design: VR makes it possible for designers to create prototypes that can be tested and refined before being made.
- Healthcare: VR is used to recreate therapeutic environments for people suffering from anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Other Critical Application Areas for Designing in VR and AR
- Virtual Reality Home Design: Techniques for creating and modeling homes and interiors using VR technology, allowing users to see and interact with their space in detail and in a natural way in advance.
- Virtual Reality Prototype Design: Prototyping products or systems in a virtual space, where they can be tested and developed without being physically made.
- VR Interior Applications: Using VR technologies to design interiors, allowing designers and clients to interact with a virtual version of the space.
- Multimedia: Using VR in design for animation, computer games, and films to create 3D environments with sound, motion, and feedback.
- Tools for VR and AR: Software and hardware tools that enable design in VR and AR, including headsets, controllers, cameras, game engines, 3D tools, and animation tools.
- Virtual Reality Room Design: Designing and creating rooms and spaces using VR technology, allowing users to ‘decorate’ their rooms with preferred furniture, accessories, colors, and textures.
- Virtual Reality Experience Designer: Responsible for designing content, interface, interaction, feedback, and immersion in VR and AR applications across various fields like entertainment, training, marketing, and education.
Major Innovations in VR and AR Designing
Breakthroughs in VR and AR technologies include affordable VR headsets like Oculus Go and Google Daydream, and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning models to better simulate realistic interactions.
How to Make a Career in VR and AR Designing
Making a career in VR and AR designing is competitive, requiring a combination of technical and creative skills:
- Technical skills: C++, Java, Python, 3D Modeling Software (Blender, Maya), game engines (Unity, Unreal Engine)
- Literacy in human-computer interaction and user experience design
Various courses and training programs exist for aspiring designers, including several online courses.
Where is Figma used?
Design Jamboree
- Party time for pixels! Design teams boogie down by collaborating on UI/UX projects in real-time, swiping bugs away like pesky mosquitos.
Prototype Disco
- Where wireframes waltz and prototypes pop & lock, Figma becomes the dance floor for showing off interactive design moves without coding a beat.
User Testing Rave
- Glow sticks out! Figma lets design DJs test run user experiences, gathering crowd feedback faster than free t-shirts at a concert.
Asset Hoedown
- Yeehaw! Round up those design assets and corral them into a shared library, making lassoing logos and icons faster than a jackrabbit on a date.
Figma Alternatives
Adobe XD
Adobe XD is a vector-based user experience design tool used for creating high-fidelity wireframes, prototypes, and screen designs for digital products.
- Integration with Adobe Creative Cloud
- Voice prototyping capabilities
- Coediting features for real-time collaboration
- Can be less intuitive for new users
- Performance issues with larger files
- Lacks advanced animation features found in Figma
Sketch
Sketch is a digital design toolkit, primarily focused on the user interface and user experience design for websites and mobile apps.
// Example: Adding a rectangle in Sketch
var newShape = new Shape({
parent: myArtboard,
frame: new Rectangle(0, 0, 100, 100)
});
- Robust symbol system
- Large plugin ecosystem
- Focus on UI/UX design
- Exclusively available on macOS
- No built-in prototyping; requires plugins or external tools
- Lacks real-time collaboration features
InVision Studio
InVision Studio is a screen design tool that allows for rich interactive prototyping, responsive design, and advanced animation creation.
- Advanced animation options
- Powerful prototyping features
- Integrated with Invision's cloud platform
- Less widespread community compared to Figma
- Can be resource-intensive
- Occasional bugs and stability issues
Quick Facts about Figma
The Dawn of Collaborative Design - Figma Enters the Fray
Launched from the creative cauldron in 2016 by Dylan Field and Evan Wallace, Figma splashed onto the scene with a kerfuffle by becoming the first browser-based interface design tool. Its spiffy real-time collaboration feature had designers dumping their solitary ways and high-fiving over the interwebs. Picture it—the Google Docs for design, but with more pizzazz and less chance of getting your foot stuck in a bucket while carrying your hefty desktop app.
The Version Evolution - Keeping It Fresh
While version numbers might sound as exciting as watching paint dry, Figma's snazzy updates could make a sloth do the samba. Hopping from version sprees since its alpha release in December 2015, this software is sleeker than a greased otter sliding through version changes. Each update brought features so nifty, they might even tempt grandma to start prototyping her dream cookie shop.
Auto Layout Wizadry - The Magic Touch
.deliver {
display: flex;
align-items: center;
justify-content: space-between;
}
Behold the conjuring of Auto Layout, Figma’s spell-binding trick unleashed in 2019. This feature waved its magic wand and "poof!" - designers could align their mystical UI elements with the ease of a wizard brewing a potion. Flexbox got a run for its money with this bit of hocus-pocus, letting layout components stretch and shrink like an accordion in a polka band.
What is the difference between Junior, Middle, Senior and Expert Figma developer?
Seniority Name | Years of Experience | Average Salary (USD/year) | Responsibilities & Activities |
---|---|---|---|
Junior | 0-2 years | $40,000-$60,000 |
|
Middle | 2-5 years | $60,000-$85,000 |
|
Senior | 5-8 years | $85,000-$120,000 |
|
Expert/Team Lead | 8+ years | $120,000+ |
|
Top 10 Figma Related Tech
JavaScript (The Frontend Whisperer)
Imagine talking to your app and having it respond; that's what JavaScript does with Figma! It's the chatty chameleon of coding languages, morphing to whatever the design demands. Need to automate repetitive tasks or create fancy plugins? JavaScript to the rescue! It's not just for programmers - it's for any design wizard who wants to make Figma sit, roll over, and fetch data with a flick of their code wand!
React (The UI Building Blocks)
If components were Lego, then React would be that nifty booklet showing you how to build the Millennium Falcon. This library is all about snapping together UI pieces in Figma faster than you can say "prototyping". It's the secret sauce for making interactive design elements feel like they're part of the family, all while keeping things as tidy as your sock drawer.
{`function FigmaComponent() {
returnHello, Figma!
;
}`}
HTML/CSS (The Fashionistas of Web Design)
Now, don't be fooled by their old-school vibe; HTML and CSS are the haute couture and bespoke tailoring of web design. They turn the drab sketches of your imagination into the runway models of browsers everywhere. Want to take those Figma designs and dress 'em up for the web prom? These are the friends with benefits (mostly visually).
{`Make this look fabulous, darling!
`}
TypeScript (JavaScript's Smarty Pants Cousin)
TypeScript is like JavaScript after it got a scholarship and went off to an Ivy League - more structured, a bit uptight, but undeniably sharp. It helps you catch those sneaky little bugs before they become butterflies of chaos in your Figma plugin. Plus, it's like having a helpful robot that whispers sweet nothings of type safety and documentation into your ear as you code.
{`let design: Figma.Design = {
name: "My Awesome Design",
width: 800,
height: 600
};`}
REST APIs (The Digital Postmen)
Ring a ding ding! REST APIs are your digital postmen, delivering precious data parcels from the world wide web right to the doorstep of your Figma files. Need user info from Spotify or weather updates for your app mockup? Just holler at a REST API, and it'll trundle down the internet lanes, fetching whatever your design heart desires.
GraphQL (The Pickier Sibling of REST API)
API queries can be like those all-you-can-eat buffets - overwhelming and stuffed with stuff you don't want. Enter GraphQL, the choosy eater. It only asks for the data salad it likes, no extra croutons, please. Tell it exactly what your Figma designs must feast on, and it’ll leave all the unwanted bytes on the server's plate.
Node.js (The Server Side Magician)
Ever wonder how to pull the backend strings while playing puppeteer with your Figma designs? Node.js is the answer. It's the accomplice that hides behind the curtain, making complex operations look smooth as butter. Whether it's managing databases or making servers dance the tango, all you need is a dash of Node.js.
{`const http = require('http');
http.createServer((req, res) => {
res.write('Magic');
res.end();
}).listen(8080);`}
Webpack (The Packing Wizard)
Webpack is the whimsical wizard of the web world, taking all your messy trinkets of JavaScript, CSS, and image files, and packing them into a neat little bundle ready for the browser journey. Imagine Mary Poppins' carpet bag, but for code efficiency. It might be a bit complex to master, but once you do, it's bibbidi-bobbidi-boo to clean project structures!
Sass (The Stylish Spell-Caster)
For those who find plain old CSS a tad too muggle-like, Sass swoops in on its broomstick, adding a sprinkle of magic with variables, mixins, and nested rules. It's like a glam squad for your stylesheets, ensuring that your Figma prototypes strut their stuff with panache and precision. Just a few lines of Sass, and pow! Instant elegance.
Git (The Time-Traveling Historian)
Git is like that meticulous historian with a time machine, keeping track of every tiny change in your project. Made a mistake? Zap back in time and pretend it never happened! Want to see how your Figma plugin looked last Tuesday? Git's got the deets. Just a few commands, and you can navigate the rivers of time like a pro.
{`git commit -m "Brilliant Figma update"`}