Freelance/ UI/UX Designer

RKS Design; Thousand Oaks (CA); On-site; USD 83,000 - 124,000; Full time

Job summary

RKS Design seeks a mid-level UI/UX Designer for freelance consultation across embedded touchscreens, device displays, companion apps, and web platforms. You will translate research into intuitive experiences, applying Psycho-Aesthetics and Eydora to guide design direction.

Collaborate with Industrial Design, Engineering, Research, and Strategy to carry human insights through concept development, testing, and implementation, delivering end-to-end interfaces that reflect brand and hardware

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in UX/Interaction Design, Graphic Design, HCI, or related field.
• 5+ years of professional UI/UX design experience in agencies or consultancies.
• Strong portfolio across mobile, web, and embedded interfaces.
• Expert proficiency in Figma; experience with ProtoPie and Principle.
• Solid understanding of accessibility, usability, and IA principles.
• Experience building and maintaining design systems.
• Usability testing experience and applying findings to design decisions.

Responsibilities

• Understand users’ needs, motivations, and environments.
• Create end-to-end UX including flows, IA, wireframes, and prototypes.
• Incorporate Eydora and Psycho-Aesthetics into design decisions.
• Craft polished UI and interaction details aligned with brand.
• Design for connected products across screens and hardware.
• Collaborate with designers, engineers, researchers, and clients.
• Prepare developer handoff with specs and assets.

Skills

User research

Interaction design

Design systems

Accessibility

Usability testing

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Figma

ProtoPie

Principle

Job description

Job Summary

We are seeking a mid-level UI/UX Designer to consult on a freelance basis who understands people as deeply as interfaces. At RKS, human-centered design begins with understanding people’s needs, motivations, aspirations, and behaviors—and translating that understanding into experiences that are intuitive, meaningful, and emotionally engaging.

You will apply Psycho-Aesthetics® (P/A), RKS’s proprietary human-centered design strategy methodology, alongside Eydora, our AI-powered strategy and decision-support platform, to turn research into clear design direction. This requires looking beyond usability to understand how an experience builds confidence, expresses identity, earns trust, and helps people achieve their goals. (eydora.ai)

Working across embedded touchscreens, device displays, companion mobile apps, web platforms, and software tools, you will connect digital interactions with the physical products and services around them. You will collaborate with Industrial Design, Engineering, Research, and Strategy to carry human insights through concept development, testing, and implementation.

What You’ll Do

• Understand people and context: Explore users’ needs, behaviors, emotional motivations, and aspirations, including the environments in which they interact with products.


• Apply Psycho-Aesthetics®: Translate research, personas, P/A mapping, and opportunity insights into interface priorities, interaction behaviors, and experience journeys.


• Incorporate Eydora into the design process: Use Eydora to support research synthesis, explore opportunities, examine assumptions, and inform design decisions, applying professional judgment and validating ideas with users.


• Design end-to-end experiences: Create user flows, information architecture, wireframes, and interactive prototypes for apps, web platforms, and on-device interfaces.


• Craft purposeful UI: Develop polished visual designs, icons, and interaction details that support accessibility, reflect each client’s brand, and connect with the product’s physical design language.


• Design for connected products: Create coherent experiences across embedded displays, touchscreens, physical controls, and companion applications, working within hardware and technical constraints.


• Build and maintain design systems: Develop reusable components, interaction patterns, style guides, and specifications that keep experiences consistent and scalable.


• Test functional and emotional outcomes: Evaluate whether people can use an experience effectively and whether it creates the intended understanding, confidence, trust, and engagement.


• Collaborate through implementation: Work closely with designers, engineers, and software developers to preserve the human-centered intent as concepts become working products.


• Prepare developer handoff: Deliver clear specifications, annotated designs, and assets, and support developers through implementation and design verification.


• Communicate design rationale: Present concepts in client workshops and design reviews, connecting recommendations to human insights, P/A strategy, business goals, and testing findings.


• Type: Freelance / Contract


• Location: In office, Thousand Oaks, CA

Requirements

What We’re Looking For

• Bachelor’s degree in Interaction Design, UX Design, Graphic Design, HCI, or a related field.


• 5+ years of professional UI/UX design experience, ideally within a design agency or consultancy.


• Strong portfolio showing end-to-end UX process and polished UI work across mobile, web, and/or embedded interfaces.


• Expert proficiency in Figma; experience with prototyping tools such as ProtoPie, Principle, or similar.


• Solid understanding of interaction design, information architecture, accessibility, and usability principles.


• Experience building and working within design systems.


• Experience conducting usability testing and applying research findings to design decisions.


• Strong communication and presentation skills; comfortable collaborating with designers, engineers, developers, and clients.


• Ability to work independently and manage multiple project-based engagements.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience designing interfaces for physical or connected products (IoT, consumer electronics, appliances, medical devices)


• Experience with medical device UI and usability / human factors standards a plus


• Basic front-end knowledge (HTML/CSS) a plus


• Consulting / Agency experience is highly preferred