Full Version February 15, 2008 promoting usability concepts and techniques worldwide 140 North Bloomingdale Road Bloomingdale, IL 60108 1017 Phone: +1.630.980.4997 Fax: +1.630.351.8490 www.usabilityprofessionals.org office@usabilityprofessionals.org
Table of Contents Executive Summary... 3 Salary Levels from 2005 to 2007... 3 Areas of Greatest Change... 3 The Respondents... 4 Country... 4 US Region... 5 Age... 6 Highest Degree Held... 7 Experience... 8 Current Organization... 9 Current Position... 9 Job Title... 10 Employment Level... 11 Techniques... 12 Technique Usage Change Over Time... 14 Salary Comparisons... 15 Overall... 15 Salary Change Over Time Overall and By Gender... 15 By Years in Field... 16 By Country... 17 Salary Change Over Time By Country... 18 By Region Within the US... 18 Salary Change Over Time By Region Within the US... 19 Management and Individual Contributors... 19 Salary Change Over Time Management and Individual Contributors... 20 By Education Level... 20 Salary Change Over Time Education Level... 21 About The... 22 Acknowledgments... 23 Page 2 of 23
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY During the fall of 2007 the surveyed members of the user experience field to learn who our respondents are, where they work, what they do, and how much they are paid. We received a total of 1,523 responses. Of these, 877 were UPA members. The 877 UPA members included 336 people who were affiliated with a local UPA chapter in their area, and 541 who were not. Of the 646 respondents who were not UPA members, 110 were actually affiliated with a local UPA chapter. The respondents were nearly equally split between females (730) and males (777). Sixteen respondents did not report their gender. Salaries for all respondents outside the US were converted to US dollars. Respondents entered salary information in their local currency, and all non-us salaries were converted to US currency at the exchange rates prevailing on January 20, 2008. Salary Levels from 2005 to 2007 Overall, salaries increased by about $5,000 USD in the two years since UPA last surveyed the UX field in 2005. Increases were seen across nearly all comparison groups, job descriptions, and employment levels. Areas of Greatest Change Women s salaries increased more than did men s salaries over the past two years. Women s average salary rose about $6,500 USD, compared to $2,000 USD for men. For countries where cross-time comparison was possible (i.e., Canada, UK, and the US), salaries increased more outside the US than within the US. In Canada and the UK, salaries rose about $14,000 USD, while in the US salaries increased approximately $7,500 USD. Within the US, the Northeast and the Southwest showed the greatest increase in average and median salaries over time, increasing between $10,000 and $13,000 since 2005. Page 3 of 23
THE RESPONDENTS Country We received responses from people in 34 countries. The majority of respondents were from the United States (999), Spain (86), Canada (75), the United Kingdom (74), India (66), and Australia (51). A number of responses were also received from Brazil (22), New Zealand (21), Germany (16), Israel (15), and Switzerland (10). Count By Country Country Count Argentina 5 Australia 51 Belgium 1 Brazil 22 Canada 75 Chile 3 China (except Hong Kong) 4 Denmark 3 Finland 4 France 4 Germany 16 Hong Kong 7 India 66 Ireland (Rep.) 2 Israel 15 Italy 2 Japan 1 Luxembourg 1 Mexico 2 Netherlands 5 New Zealand 21 Nigeria 1 Norway 2 Other (please specify) 12 Poland 1 Portugal 2 Singapore 5 South Korea 1 Spain 86 Switzerland 10 Taiwan 3 UAE 1 UK 74 USA 999 Venezuela 1 Page 4 of 23
US Region The respondents from the US were mostly from the Northeast (323) and the Midwest (252). Approximately 18% of the US respondents (163 total) were from the western part of the country; the rest were from the Southeast (90 respondents) and the Southwest (65 respondents). The states included in each region are indicated in the table below. Country and Percent By US Region US Region Count Percent Midwest 219 22% Northeast 267 27% Southeast 188 19% Southwest 115 11% West 215 21% Northeast Southeast Midwest Southwest West Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont Alabama, Arkansas, the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin Arizona, southern California, southern Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, southern Utah Alaska, Arizona, northern California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, northern Nevada, Oregon, northern Utah, Washington, Wyoming Page 5 of 23
Age Our profession has a preponderance of people under the age of 45. More than half of the respondents were under the age of 35 at the time of the survey (October 2007). Almost half (45%) of respondents reported their age as between 26 and 35; 31% were between 36 and 45. About 12% reported their age as between 46 and 55. About 7% were between 18 and 25, and 4% were between 55 and 65. Age by Category Age Count Percent 18-25 102 7% 26-35 680 45% 36-45 469 31% 46-55 184 12% 56-65 62 4% Over 65 12 1% Page 6 of 23
Highest Degree Held The respondents are a highly educated group. Approximately 10% of the respondents hold a PhD; more than half (55%) hold a Master s or greater; and 92% of the respondents reported having a Bachelor s degree or higher. Education Level Highest Education Obtained Count Percent Ph.D. (Doctorate) 144 10% Master's Degree 677 45% College or University (Bachelor's degree) 555 37% Technical or Associates Degree 50 3% High School ('A' level, GCSE, Baccalaureate) 58 4% Not applicable 7 <1% Blank 31 2% Page 7 of 23
Experience Almost 60% of respondents reported between 0 and 7 years experience in the UX field. About one-third (32%) reported 8 to 15 years in the field, and 9% reported working in the field for 16 or more years. Years of Experience Experience Count Percent 0-1 years 124 8% 2-4 years 405 27% 5-7 years 357 23% 8-10 years 280 18% 11-15 years 207 14% 16-20 years 67 4% Over 21 years 62 4% Not applicable 4 <1% Page 8 of 23
Current Organization The largest group of respondents (28%, or 413 respondents) reported working for a software corporation or other type of corporations (33%, or 483 respondents). A large group of respondents (18% or 266 total) worked for a usability consulting firm. One hundred and twenty respondents, or 8% of the total, worked at a full-service advertising or design firm. The rest of the fulltime employees worked for non-profit, government/military, or educational institutions. Organization Type Organization Count Percent Full service ad agency or design agency 120 8% Government or military 51 3% Non-profit organization 26 2% Software company 413 28% University or college 37 3% User experience consulting firm (1-4 employees) 84 6% User experience consulting firm (5-10 employees) 35 2% User experience consulting firm (10+ employees) 147 10% Other corporation 483 33% Other 76 5% Current Position Most of the respondents (1349) indicated that they currently hold full-time permanent jobs. Only 104 respondents reported working as contractors or independent consultants. The rest were either employed part-time, unemployed, or currently students. Current Position Position Count Contractor / Freelance / Solo consultant 104 Full-time employee (30 or more hours per week) 1349 Part-time employee (less than 30 hours per week) 18 Student 6 Unemployed 4 Other 3 Page 9 of 23
Job Title The respondents reported a variety of job titles. The most prevalent titles were User Experience Practitioner (240), Interface Designer (146), Usability Practitioner (126), UCD Practitioner (122), Information Architect (116), and Usability Manager (108). A number of programmers, technical writers, and people from other related disciplines responded to this survey as well. Page 10 of 23
Employment Level Over half (52%) of respondents are currently in a mid- or senior-level contributor position. More than one-third of the respondents (35%) indicated that they were in a supervisory or executive position. A small number of respondents indicated that they are currently in an entry-level position. Employment Level Level Count Percent Entry-level 94 6% Mid-level, non-supervisory 403 26% Mid-level, supervisory 214 14% Senior-level, non-supervisory 394 26% Senior-level, supervisory 226 15% Executive 85 6% Not applicable to me 54 4% Blank 53 3% Page 11 of 23
Techniques Respondents also indicated which techniques they used in the course of their job tasks. The techniques used most often included informal usability testing (used by about 77% of respondents), heuristic / expert review (also 77%), user research such as interviews and surveys (74%), and interface / interaction design (73%). Also widely used were persona and user profile creation (66%), requirements gathering (63%), information architecture techniques (63%) and task analysis (60%). The least prevalent techniques were eye tracking, accessibility review and testing, and web development. Page 12 of 23
UX Techniques Used Technique Count Percent Heuristic or expert review 1178 77% Usability testing (informal) 1173 77% User research (e.g. interviews & surveys) 1124 74% Interface / interaction design 1114 73% Creating prototypes (wireframes or low-fidelity) 1105 73% Personas & user profiles 1005 66% Requirements gathering 967 63% Information architecture 959 63% Task analysis 919 60% Usability testing (in a lab) 817 54% Card sorting 787 52% Surveys or other online research 721 47% Contextual enquiry / ethnography 700 46% Benchmarking or competitive studies 677 44% Remote usability testing 638 42% Creating prototypes (high-fidelity) 635 42% Focus groups 622 41% Visual design 540 35% Satisfaction surveys 528 35% Analyze web metrics/logs 440 29% Market research 359 24% Technical writing 357 23% Web development 344 23% Accessibility testing 291 19% Accessibility expert reviews 285 19% Eye tracking 199 13% Other (please specify) 101 7% Page 13 of 23
Technique Usage Change Over Time Overall, the prevalence of use for various user experience and user-centered design techniques has been relatively stable. The data indicate that eye tracking and contextual inquiry/ethnography have become somewhat more popular over the past two years, followed by information architecture techniques, prototyping, persona/profile creation, and analysis of web metrics. We have indicated those techniques with changes of greater than 5% in bold in the table below. Change in Techniques Used 2005-2007 Technique 2005 2007 Change Heuristic or expert review 76% 77% + 1% Usability testing (informal) 75% 77% + 2% User research (e.g. interviews & surveys) 73% 74% + 1% Interface / interaction design 70% 73% + 3% Creating prototypes (wireframes or low-fidelity) 66% 73% + 7% Personas & user profiles 60% 66% + 6% Requirements gathering 64% 63% - 1% Information architecture 55% 63% + 8% Task analysis 60% 60% Usability testing (in a lab) 53% 54% + 1% Card sorting 46% 52% + 6% Surveys or other online research 44% 47% + 3% Contextual inquiry / ethnography 37% 46% + 9% Benchmarking or competitive studies 37% 44% + 7% Remote usability testing 37% 42% + 5% Creating prototypes (high-fidelity) 36% 42% + 6% Focus groups 37% 41% + 4% Visual design 33% 35% + 2% Satisfaction surveys 35% 35% Analyze web metrics/logs 23% 29% + 6% Market research 24% 24% Technical writing 24% 23% - 1% Web development 24% 23% - 1% Accessibility testing 18% 19% + 1% Accessibility expert reviews 19% 19% Eye tracking 5% 13% + 8% Other (please specify) 6% 7% - 1% Page 14 of 23
SALARY COMPARISONS Overall The average salary for all respondents was $83,297. (The median salary was $80,643.) Males earned about $5,000 more per year on average than did women, with males earning $85,760 and females earning $80,680. (The median salaries were $85,000 for males and $79,000 for females.) Average and Median Salary - Respondents by Gender All Female Male Average $83,297 $80,680 $85,760 Median $80,643 $79,000 $85,000 n 1312 636 676 Salary Change Over Time Overall and By Gender Average and median salaries rose overall since the last UPA salary survey in late 2005. The average salary in 2005 was $78,466 (median = $75,000); in 2007 the average salary was $83,297 (median = $80,643), representing an increase of $4,831. (The median salary overall increased $5,643.) The data also suggest that the gender gap - the difference in average and median salaries between men and women has narrowed. The average salary for men increased $2,878 from late 2005 to late 2007; women s average salary rose more than twice this amount, or $6,384. (Median salary for men increased $5,000; for women, $7,000.) Change in Average and Median Salary 2005-2007 All Female Male 2005 2007 Change 2005 2007 Change 2005 2007 Change Avg $78,445 $83,297 + $4,852 $74,316 $80,680 + $6,364 $82,882 $85,760 + $2,878 Median $75,000 $80,643 + $5,643 72,000 $79,000 + $7,000 $80,000 $85,000 + $5,000 n 1329 1312 na 659 636 na 647 676 na Page 15 of 23
By Years in Field As found in the previous survey, the salary data showed a linear pattern when analyzed by length of time working in the user experience field. The average salary for respondents who were just starting their career in the field was $45,901 (median=$51,650). Respondents with 2-4 years of experience averaged $61,612 (median=$65,000). People with 5-7 years of experience reported an average salary of $82,822 (median=$82,500). Those with 8-10 years in the field averaged $97,271 (median=$95,177). People with 11-15 years in the field averaged $106,246 (median=$102,690). Respondents with 16-20 years averaged $115,118 (median=$111,500); and respondents with 21 or more years in the field averaged $140,723 (median=$130,000). Average and Median Salary By Years Working in Field 0-1 years 2-4 years 5-7 years 8-10 years 11-15 years 16-20 years 21+ years n/a Avg $45,901 $61,612 $82,822 $97,271 $106,246 $115,118 $140,723 $58,680 Median $51,650 $65,000 $82,500 $95,177 $102,690 $111,500 $130,000 $58,680 n 106 361 317 250 171 58 49 11 Page 16 of 23
By Country We were able to compare salaries across several countries. While averages for countries represented by more than 30 or 40 respondents were relatively stable, we do not have great confidence in the averages and medians for those countries with less than 30 respondents. Despite this caveat, we did find fairly large salary differences for UX professionals in different countries. According to our data, US-based user experience professionals earned the highest average salary in 2007 ($94,341), followed by UX professionals in the UK ($87,379), Australia ($85,007), and Canada ($75,118). (Note that Germany-based professionals actually averaged $95,237, but the total sample size was only 14.) Salary By Country, In USD (n>10) Australia Brazil Canada Germany India Israel New Zealand Spain UK US Avg $85,007 $23,665 $75,118 $95,237 $18,031 $25,957 $63,291 $47,322 $87,379 $94,341 Median $75,055 $21,166 $73,275 $99,022 $13,462 $22,525 $70,680 $41,076 $78,307 $90,000 n 39 16 70 14 59 13 18 64 56 907 For reference, below we provide a table of salaries in their original currencies. Salary By Country, Original Currencies (n>10) Australia Dollars Brazil Reais Canada Dollars Germany Euros India Rupees Israel New Shekels New Zealand Dollars Spain Euros UK Pound US Dollars Avg 94,095 33,350 76,279 64,919 698,730 110,671 126,050 34,092 44,874 94,341 Median 85,000 35,000 75,000 67,500 525,000 111,500 93,000 28,000 42,000 90,000 n 39 16 70 14 59 13 18 64 56 907 Page 17 of 23
Salary Change Over Time By Country We were able to perform a comparison between the prior survey and this survey for three countries with sufficient sample sizes. Across the two year period from 2005 to 2007, we found that the average salary for US-based UX professionals increased by $7,652. The data also indicate that average salaries also increased by about $15,000 in the UK and Canada. Salary By Country 2005-2007 (n>50) Canada UK USA 2005 2007 Change 2005 2007 Change 2005 2007 Change Avg $59,729 $75,118 + $15,389 $72,435 $87,379.23 + $14,944 $86,689 $94,341 + $7,652 Median $59,241 $73,275 + $14,034 $67,574 $78,307.50 + $10,734 $80,000 $90,000 + $10,000 n 76 70 na 91 56 na 763 907 na By Region Within the US There were sufficient data from US respondents to allow within-us regional comparisons. US respondents indicated what region of the United States they worked in by choosing Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, or West. Average salaries were highest in the West ($102,692) and Northeast ($99,632), followed by the Southwest ($97,519), Southeast ($86,732), and Midwest ($84,004). Median salaries were fairly close to the average values for these groups, although the Southeast and Southwest groups average salaries were about $7,000 higher than the respective median salaries. Average and Median Salary By US Region Midwest Northeast Southeast Southwest West Avg $84,004 $99,632 $86,732 $97,519 $102,692 Median $80,000 $96,000 $80,000 $90,000 $99,000 n 208 238 171 105 185 Page 18 of 23
Salary Change Over Time By Region Within the US Salaries across the various US regions rose between 2005 and 2007. Average salaries increased $7,633 in the Midwest (median increase = $7,000), and almost $14,000 in the Southwest (median increase = $8,750.) The data indicated that average salary decreased almost $10,000 in the Southeast, but inspection of the 2005 data indicated that several respondents from the Southeast were highly compensated individuals. So we place more confidence in the median as an accurate measure of central tendency for this particular analysis. The median salary for respondents in the Southeastern US did not change from 2005 to 2007. Average and Median Salary by US Region 2005-2007 Midwest Northeast Southeast Southwest West 2005 2007 Change 2005 2007 Change 2005 2007 Change 2005 2007 Change 2005 2007 Change Avg $76,371 $84,004 + $7,633 $89,540 $99,632 + $10,092 $96,524 $86,732 - $9,792 $83,569 $97,519 + $13,950 $93,902 $102,692 + $8,790 Median $73,000 $80,000 + $7,000 $83,000 $96,000 + $13,000 $80,000 $80,000 $0 $81,250 $90,000 + $8,750 $90,000 $99,000 + $9,000 n 222 208 na 266 238 na 79 171 na 54 105 na 133 185 na Management and Individual Contributors As expected, managers and directors had the highest salaries; Usability Managers averaged $87,886 (median = $87,000), UX managers averaged $94,752 (median = $93,750), and UX Directors averaged $121,269 (median = $115,000). Among individual contributors, User Researchers had the highest average salary ($83,161), followed by UX Practitioners ($81,413), UCD Practitioners ($79,274), Information Architects ($78,755) and Interface Designers ($62,623). UX Practitioner Interface Designer Average and Median Salary by Job Title (n>50) UCD Practitioner Information Architect UX Manager UX Director Usability Manager User Researcher Avg $81,413 $62,623 $79,274 $78,755 $94,752 $121,269 $87,886 $83,161 Median $80,000 $67,000 $78,000 $78,000 $93,750 $115,000 $87,000 $82,000 n 219 131 105 101 100 78 59 58 Page 19 of 23
Salary Change Over Time Management and Individual Contributors For the 2007 survey we changed some of the job titles to be more representative of the titles in common use. From 2005 to 2007 three job titles remained unchanged; these were Information Architect, Interface Designer, and Usability Manager. When we looked at salaries for these titles across the two-year period we found that IA s average salary increased from $71,709 to $78,755, and the Usability Managers average salary decreased from $91,776 to $87,886. The Interface Designer average salary also decreased, from $76,145 in 2005 to $62,623 in 2007. Given the wider choice of job titles, we are not sure how much confidence to place in these particular across-time results. By Education Level As would be expected we saw a strong linear pattern when respondents salaries were broken out by education level. PhD s reported the highest average salary ($114,472; median = $110,000), followed by respondents with a Master s (average = $84,553; median = $84,000), Bachelors (average = $76,565; median = $75,027), and Associates degrees (average = $70,907; median = $70,000). In 2007 we had a sufficient sample from practitioners with a high school degree; their average and median salary was $68,837 and $65,000 respectively. Average and Median Salary By Educational Level High School Associates Bachelors Masters Ph.D. Avg $68,837 $70,907 $76,565 $84,553 $114,472 Median $65,000 $70,000 $75,027 $84,000 $110,000 n 47 43 480 610 128 Page 20 of 23
Salary Change Over Time Education Level When we compared data from 2005 and 2007 we found large salary increases for respondents at the highest and lowest ends of the education spectrum: average salary increased about $7,000 for those with an Associate s and more than $11,000 for Ph.D. s. Smaller increases were seen for respondents with a Bachelors (~$4,000) and Masters (~$6,000). Average and Median Salary By Educational Level 2005-2007 Associates Bachelors Masters Ph.D. 2005 2007 Change 2005 2007 Change 2005 2007 Change 2005 2007 Change Avg $63,642 $70,907 + $7,265 $72,631 $76,565 + $3,934 $78,228 $84,553 + $6,325 $102,792 $114,472 + $11,680 Median $61,500 $70,000 + $8,500 $70,000 $75,027 + $5,027 $75,000 $84,000 + $9,000 $100,000 $110,000 + $10,000 n 31 43 na 398 480 na 490 610 na 128 128 na Page 21 of 23
ABOUT THE USABILITY PROFESSIONALS ASSOCIATION The supports usability specialists, people from all aspects of human-centered design, and the broad family of disciplines that create the user experience in promoting the design and development of usable products. Our goals are to: Provide an international network through which usability professionals can share information about the techniques and methodologies in the profession. Create an inclusive community for those interested in usability, whether it is their primary focus or a related discipline. Change new product development processes to include a concern for the people who use them by presenting the business case for usability in product development to colleagues, customers, the public and governmental agencies. Increase the body of knowledge about usability and user-centered design through professional education, meetings and conventions and other professional interchanges. Contact UPA Usability Professionals' Association 140 N. Bloomingdale Road Bloomingdale, IL 60108-1017 Tel: +1.630.980.4997 Fax: +1.630.351.8490 Email: office@usabilityprofessionals.org Web: www.usabilityprofessionals.org Page 22 of 23
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This report was written by Paul Sherman. The would like to thank UPA members Ken Becker and Karl Steiner for volunteering their time and expertise in formatting and analyzing the survey data and producing the tables and charts. Page 23 of 23