What Are the Different Types of Software Designer Jobs?

While there are many different types of software designer jobs available, many of them can be classified within a few basic categories. Systems engineer positions usually involve software designers who are responsible for developing and overseeing computer systems for a particular company. Application engineers are software designers responsible for creating new computer software, utilities, and applications, often by creating and testing code for a new software program throughout the development process. There are also a number of software designer jobs within certain specialized fields, such as game development, website creation and administration, and within specific aspects of software development such as user interface (UI) design.

Software designer jobs can cover a wide range of fields and processes, depending on the type of software a designer wants to develop. Many of these jobs require a systems engineer, who is a software designer responsible for the development and oversight of software and computer systems within a company. A retail company, for example, might use a basic commercial software program to track sales and record budgets for the company. Some companies, however, have software designer jobs available for someone who creates new software for the company to use, customized to meet the particular needs of that company and developed and overseen by the designer.

There are also software designer jobs for designers interested in creating new software programs at a software company, often called application engineers. These designers create code for a new program, using a design document to guide the development of the software. This development process usually goes through multiple steps as additional utilities and features are added to the core software. Many of these companies also have software designer jobs for testers, who use the software in an effort to find bugs and errors that need to be fixed prior to commercial release of a program.

Many software designer jobs are similar to application engineering, but are oriented to a particular industry within software development or one facet of such development. Programmers within the game industry, for example, are typically software designers with an interest in developing software for gaming, often including artificial intelligence (AI) programming and other aspects of game development. There are also designers who focus on a particular aspect of development and choose to specialize in that area. Software designer jobs for these individuals can be found in specialized fields such as UI design and development, which requires an understanding of how people interface and interact with technology.