The UX Industry Report by Loop
Today we will take a look at The UX Industry Report by Loop (USA) and some key highlights.
The intention of this report was to allow readers to sample a significant cross section of the global user experience and design community.
The first question of the survey was an open-ended question, which asked the participants what their definition of UX was. One interesting point to note was, less than half a percent of respondents talked specifically about “solving user problems”.
Another point to take into account was that a significant proportion of respondents, in the range of 40%, indicated they believed their Company was not committed to UX, did not value it and that UX was not understood by leadership.
“UX refers to the experience a user has in interacting with a business or a organization, whether it be a digital interface, a product or a service.”
Respondent profile
The respondent profile was composed by residents of 44 different countries, with close to the half coming from the United States. 16% were from European countries other than UK and 3% come from Asian countries different than India. The rest were South americans, South Africans, Middle Eastern folks, amongst others.
Also there are two profile divisions of employment status: the first called The Insiders and represent 65% of respondents. The second group are The Outsiders, who provide UX services to others.
The great majority of respondents, 76% had received UX specific training in their education. The Insiders were relatively more likely to have undertaken a short course, than The Outsiders.
UX Teams or Dedicated Usability
Nearly 70% of the respondents claim their Company has “dedicated usability teams for usability or UX testing”. A further 12% have a “UX member in most teams” Just 18% claim “not to have dedicated teams”. Publicly-listed companies were particularly likely to have such teams (87%). Startups were relatively less likely too.
Research Actions
Respondents were asked to nominate which of 14 different elements of research they had used in the last twelve months. On average, respondents identified 6 elements.
Clearly the most commonly undertaken activity amongst these respondents was “designing a wireframe or prototype”. The only strongly apparent difference in usage patterns was between The Outsiders and The Insiders, the latter displaying a greater usage of A/B testing.
Information Sources
On average respondents utilize seven different channels of information among the 13 they were asked to consider. The most common channel was “industry news sites and blogs” (76%), followed by “books” (67%), “email newsletters” (63%), “articles in industry magazines”, and “attending conferences” (60%).
Among the most popular communities and groups are: IXDA, UXPA, Ladies That UX, UX Designer Hangout, Disegners + Geeks.
You can find a complete list of the newsletter, podcast and books, reviewing the complete report.
Outsourcing
43% of respondents claim their company outsources UX at times. The Insiders and The Outsiders were equally likely to outsource. However, it was the larger organizations more likely to do, especially those with 1000+ employees.
Challenges Facing UX
The respondents’ views on the single most important challenge/issue facing UX covered a considerable spectrum of opinions. By far the most common view was the need to create an understanding of the role and value of UX in contributing to the success of a business or organization. Approximately a quarter (27%) of respondents held this opinion. A further challenge identified was the need to gain leadership’s support for the implementation of the UX discipline in an organization – a view of 11% of those in the survey. The next two most frequently mentioned issues dealt with resource issues – 8% feel it is difficult to get the time allocation necessary to carry out the projects while 7% spoke of problems in getting a sufficient budget allocation/prove the ROI will be achieved.
The respondents’ views on the single most important challenge/issue facing UX covered a considerable spectrum of opinions. By far the most common view was the need to create an understanding of the role and value of UX in contributing to the success of a business or organization. Approximately a quarter (27%) of respondents held this opinion. A further challenge identified was the need to gain leadership’s support for the implementation of the UX discipline in an organization – a view of 11% of those in the survey. The next two most frequently mentioned issues dealt with resource issues – 8% feel it is difficult to get the time allocation necessary to carry out the projects while 7% spoke of problems in getting a sufficient budget allocation or proving ROI (Return on investment) could be achieved.
UX Salaries
The rate of pay by position plays out much like you would expect. The positions with the greatest variance in reported levels of pay were the UX/CX Researchers, followed by the UX/CX Designers and then the UI Designers. This can go from USD$ 80.000 to USD$ 134.000 anually.
UX SKILLS – Interns
There was a disparity of views upon what are the most important skills required for graduates entering a UX team. The three most common skills rated as most important were:
– Research and analysis experience (24%)
– Experience working within a team (18%)
– Industry experience via internships or placed projects (18%)
When examining the overall importance ratings, other significant skills also valued highly were:
– Prototyping and wireframing skills
– Information architecture
– Usability testing experience with common software/tools
If you are curious to know more, check the complete report in this link.
We hope you enjoyed this summary.
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