Can I be a UI designer without UX?
You can certainly focus on being a UI (User Interface) designer without being deeply involved in UX research or strategy.
In many companies, there are roles specifically for UI designers whose primary responsibility is the visual design of the interface – choosing layouts, colors, typography, and creating high-fidelity mockups and prototypes. These roles might be titled Visual Designer or UI Designer, distinct from UX roles.
While you can do the job by concentrating on visual and interactive aspects, it's beneficial to have at least a basic understanding of UX principles. Knowing about user flows, usability, and user needs will inform your UI decisions (for example, where to place a button or how to make a call-to-action stand out). But you don’t necessarily need to conduct UX research or create personas if that’s not your focus.
In summary, you can specialize in UI design alone – delivering polished screens and style guides – and collaborate with UX designers who focus on structure and research. Many successful designers do exactly that.
Just remember that even as a UI specialist, empathy for the user (a UX mindset) will improve your work.