UX designer vs web designer vs developer: who do I hire to fix my website or app?

What each one does

A developer builds and fixes things. They write the code that makes a website or app work, connect it to payments, bookings and databases, and fix it when it breaks. Good developers build exactly what's specified. Most don't decide what should be built or how it should feel to use.

A web designer designs and sets up websites, usually on a platform like WordPress, Squarespace, Wix or Shopify. They're strongest on look and feel: layouts, colours, photos and getting a site live. Many work from templates, which keeps costs down.

A UX designer (user experience) works out how people use your site or app: what they need, what order things should happen in, what each button says, and where people get stuck. They use analytics, research and testing to make it easier to use and to turn more visitors into customers.

A UI designer (user interface) designs what each screen looks like: type, colour, spacing, buttons and components, so it looks credible and consistent.

A product designer does UX and UI together, usually for apps and websites that keep changing, and ties the design to business goals: more sign-ups, more enquiries, fewer support calls.

Who to hire for your problem

• The site is down, broken or slow: a developer.
• You need a simple website live soon, on a small budget: a web designer.
• It looks dated or AI-generated: a web designer for a refresh, or a UI designer if it needs to look as established as your business is.
• People visit but don't enquire or buy: a UX designer, starting with a review of what's stopping them.
• App users sign up then disappear, or the same support questions keep coming: a UX or product designer.
• It was built quickly with an AI tool and customers are finding the gaps: a UX/UI designer to fix the flows and the look, then a developer (or the same person) to build it.
• Every new feature makes it harder to use: a product designer, often with a small design system.

Do you need more than one?

For a small-business website, often not. One person who designs and builds can cover it, and that's how I work on most website projects: I design the new site and can build it too, or hand it to your developer if you have one. Larger sites and apps usually need a designer and a developer working together, because the design work and the engineering are both bigger jobs.

If you're weighing up a freelancer, an agency or a hire for the design side, I've compared freelance vs agency vs in-house as well.

Questions to ask before you hire anyone

Whatever the title, these questions tell you what you're actually getting:

• Can you show me a before and after, and what changed for the business?
• What exactly will you do: research, design, build, or all three?
• Who will I deal with day to day? Is any of the work handed to someone else?
• Who owns the domain, hosting, design files and code at the end? (It should be you.)
• Will I be able to update the site myself, and will you show me how?
• Is the price fixed, and what would cost extra?

If the answers are vague, keep looking.

Where I fit

I'm a Sydney-based product designer working with businesses across Australia, and you deal with me directly from the first call to launch. Most clients come to me with one of the problems above: a site that gets visitors but no enquiries, an app people find confusing, or something built fast with AI that now needs to work properly. You can see all my services, or read about my app and website design work, which covers redesigns, new sites and apps.

The short answer

Developers build, web designers make sites look good and get them live, and UX/UI designers make websites and apps easier to use and better at turning visitors into customers. Hire for the problem you have, not the title, and ask what they'll actually do before you sign anything.