Title Inflation in UX: Do We Really Need ‘Engineers’?

How the UX industry’s obsession with job titles is creating unnecessary divisions and illusions of prestige

Once upon a time, UX job titles were simple. You were a UX Designer, maybe a Product Designer, or if you were lucky, a Senior UX Designer. But then, the industry caught a case of title inflation, and suddenly, we had UX Strategists, UX Architects, UX Evangelists, and now, the latest addition to the club: UX Engineer.

That sounds impressive. “Wow, I’m a UX engineer now. I finally have ‘engineer’ in my title, so I must be doing something important!” But let’s pause momentarily and ask: What does a UX Engineer do?

Engineering or Just Fancy UI Work?

The word “engineer” carries weight. It implies precision, deep problem-solving, and complex systems. A software engineer builds scalable, efficient systems that power applications behind the scenes. A mechanical engineer ensures that planes don’t fall out of the sky. But a UX Engineer?

Well… they often adjust border-radius values, align buttons to follow the latest UI trend, and implement components in a front-end framework.

Is that engineering or just sophisticated decoration?

Let’s be honest — many “UX Engineers” are front-end developers with a design focus. And that’s great! But calling it engineering feels like an attempt to elevate the role to something it’s not.

The tech industry loves fancy job titles. Calling someone a “designer” isn’t enough anymore. We need to make it sound bigger, fancier, and more exclusive.

UX Designer → Not enough prestige.

Senior UX Designer → Getting there, but not at the “engineering” level.

UX Engineer → Ah, now we’re talking! This sounds important!

But here’s the irony: no matter the title’s grand, the work often remains the same. You’re still balancing stakeholder opinions, tweaking UI elements, and navigating never-ending feedback loops. The reality of UX work hasn’t changed — just the packaging.

The biggest issue with UX Engineer as a title is that it creates unnecessary gatekeeping. Yet, the best UX solutions come from collaboration, not title hierarchies. A great user experience isn’t built solely by “engineers” or crafted by designers or researchers. It’s a collective effort.

No matter what’s on your LinkedIn profile — UX Engineer, UX Strategist, or even Pixel Wizard Extraordinaire — your real value isn’t in the title. It’s in how well you solve problems for users.

So, whether you’re tweaking rounded corners to follow the latest trend or building scalable design systems, remember: it’s not the title that makes the impact — it’s the work.

And if “UX Engineer” makes you feel important? Great! Just don’t forget — real engineering is crafting experiences that matter.