Why are there so many levels of UX, and which profession of UX do I choose in this fluorishing innovative space that will keep me safe from layoffs?

This has been one of my most recent questions from a student I mentor. I believe this a powerful question to be shared to all soon to be working professionals joining our UX Digital world. The answer isn't simple, its a bit more complex and goes deep into a few thoughts. I will try to break it down.

First, a little bit of a history lesson on Computer Graphics.

You may be asking why "Graphic Design? What does that have to do with any of this?"

Well, simply put, artists that liked the digital industry and wanted more knowledge in computer graphcis went to school. Graphic Designers going to school were to be the first (round - no one expected this at the time) of designers with an education that was tackling the print world and the digital space. Graphic Design degrees encompass the foundations of proportions, color theory, math, balancing a composition, the use of different mediums to create texture in prints and patterns, some foundational coding, and new emerging softwares like Adobe Suites and much later Figma, and much more. They were given a set of instructions(requirements) and then let loose to allow their imagination to capture the digital canvas. When I was engulfed in my GD Degree at Rutgers University, and while tackling my job, clients used to ask me to just make their websites pretty and trendy. Being a GD 15 to 20 years ago was pretty much placing make up(Java and CSS) over an old face(old html websites). Nowadays, GD get a rep about just making things look pretty when in reality they do have the founding basics of great theories from other great graphic designers such as: Paula Scher, Massimo Vignelli, Alan Fletcher, Milton Glaser, Paul Rand, and Saul Bass, just to name a few. Know the I love NY t-shirts? well that was Milton Glaser. Brilliant, yet so simple in the design that it still goes strong in todays market.

Lots of mind maps, mood boards, word association, rapid ideation, and thumbnail sketching. But as the digital world started to over come the print space, more and more companies had the need to build out more complex websites and portals, software systems, and now with the most fast advancing technology, AI things are more complex. Its no longer just Websites and portals, we are building service products that are solely digital.

Now lets talk about the need for expansion on Computer Graphics.

As technology advanced, organizations realized that aesthetics weren’t enough. Products needed to be usable, accessible, scalable, and deeply human-centered. That’s when UX evolved, and it didn’t stop at a single definition. There are many UX hats for designers to wear. As digital ecosystems became more complex, UX split into multiple disciplines:

• UX Researcher: uncovering user behavior through qualitative & quantitative studies.

• Interaction Designer (IxD): crafting flows, microinteractions, and behaviors.

• Information Architecture (IA): organizing complex content and systems.

• Service Designer: mapping the entire journey, across apps, call centers, and physical touchpoints.

• Product Designer (UX/UI hybrid): balancing business goals with user needs.

• Design Ops & Systems Designer: scaling design practices and ensuring consistency.

• Specialty Designers: Accessibility (ADA/508), Conversational AI/Voice UX, Motion/Prototyping, Data Visualization.

A few years back it was easier for a UX Designer to do little of each in speciality of a product life cycle because products lacked indepth research and knowing what user all painpoints where, with todays complex digital eco-systems and with the integration of AI its almost impossible to execute them all as one designer. No single person can do it all at scale anymore. Each specialty reflects the growing complexity of digital products.

So, now that we have answered why there are so many divisions in UX, lets answer which is most reliable when it comes to layoffs.

At the end there is no saftey net when if comes to layoffs. Those happen because of a multidute of factors. Money being the first. However, if your goal is resilience against layoffs, the safest paths are those that sit at the intersection of business impact, adaptability, and innovation.

From my expereinces, here are the areas I see as the most stable:

1. Service Design / End-to-End Experience

   • Focused on customer journeys across multiple touchpoints.

   • Difficult to automate with AI because it requires systems thinking and cross-team facilitation. <--key word right here!

2. UX Research with Quantitative + AI Edge

   • AI can’t replace human insight into why behaviors occur.

   • Designers who pair qualitative interviews with quantitative analytics will always bring value. Think about it, even with advanced AI, machines can't tell you what users pain points are at a new product launch or concept.

3. Design Systems & Operations

   • Enables consistency and efficiency across products. Until we resolve why AI all looks the same in design branding, this is here to stay.

   • A cost-saving function, which makes it less likely to be cut. Research and strategic analitical profiling finds ways to bring cost down, AI can;t do that 100%.

4. Healthcare & Regulated Industry UX

   • Compliance-driven work (like ADA/508 accessibility or FDA/NIH standards) is hard to replace and always in demand. We can build compliance in the AI however there will always be a need to fact check because of the high fines companies don't want to be hit with if something slips.

5. AI/Conversational Design

   • Teaching AI to “speak human” through IVR, chatbots, and multimodal design is a growing need. This is emerging now but already proving sticky.

My Guidance for the Next Wave of UX Professionals:

Don’t chase titles, focus on capabilities. Become T-shaped: broad UX knowledge, with a deep specialization. Degrees from University like MICA give an excellent well-rounded UX Design degree with a product management focus.

Pair design craft with business fluency. Show how your work saves money, increases retention, or drives engagement. Companies LOVE these skills/abilities.

Embrace AI as a collaborator. Learn prompting, evaluation, and integration of AI tools into workflows. Because AI is here to stay get knowledgable in AI, get a quick certification in the foundations. I'm not asking you to become an engineer, just know how AI works.

Anchor your work in human-centered design. No matter how advanced technology becomes, empathy and storytelling will always differentiate great designers. AI may come close at doing some methodologies for us but at the end HUMAN-centered Design is just that HUMAN. No machine will ever know or possibily know enough to make the best human answer, it can only give a formulation at what could be, not what is.

The Takeaway

UX will continue to evolve, but the safest paths are those that connect human insight to business value. If you focus on service design, research, systems, healthcare/regulation, and AI, you’ll not only stay employable, you’ll become indispensable. And that’s the advice I give every student stepping into our world, the same advise I give myself: Be flexible, stay curious, and always design for people, not just pixels.