UX Designer

The craft is flow before pixel. A feature gets a map of states, entry points and failure cases, then wireframes, then a prototype that can be put in front of someone. Research belongs to the role where a studio runs it: playtests, interviews and funnel data decide whether a flow fails on comprehension or on motivation, and guessing between those two is expensive.

Platform and business model set the constraints. A live title needs progression, shop and offer screens that stay readable under time pressure; a premium game puts weight on diegetic interfaces and controller navigation; mobile adds thumb reach and one-handed use as hard limits.

UI designer is the closest neighbour and owns look, layout and assets, while a user researcher owns the studies and a technical UI designer implements screens in the engine. Where UX and UI are one position, the job text says how far it reaches.