UPA International. promoting usability. 140 North Bloomingdale Road

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1 UPA International UPA International 2011 Salary Survey Full Version for UPA Members August 15, promoting usability concepts and techniques worldwide 140 North Bloomingdale Road Phone: Bloomingdale, IL Fax: office@usabilityprofessionals.org

2 Table of Contents Executive Summary... 3 Salary in The Respondents... 4 Country... 4 US Region... 5 Age... 6 Highest Degree Held... 7 Experience... 8 Job Title... 9 Employment Level Salary Comparisons Overall Salary Change Over Time Overall and By Gender By Years in Field By Country By US Region Management and Individual Contributors By Education Level About UPA International Acknowledgments Appendix A: Salary Predictors Years of Experience, Degree and Mgmt Predict 34% of Salary Gender, Age, and Years of Experience Page 2 of 23

3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY During the spring of 2011, UPA International 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 1,345 responses from respondents in 33 different countries. The respondents were nearly equally split between females (663) and males (669). Thirteen 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 May 31, Salary in 2011 Overall, median salaries increased by 7% to $90,000 in constant USD in the two years since UPA last surveyed the UX field in As measured by this survey, the UX gender gap has increased from 2009, but is still smaller than previous surveys. The user experience industry s gender gap has increased from $1,000 in 2009 to $4,000 in 2011, but is down from $8,500 in The gender gap seems to be determined, in part, by years of experience: women 35 and younger make as much as or more than men, while men over 35 make more than women. Men over 35 have 1-4 years more experience than women. There are several other interesting findings, among them: Education matters: PhD s have a median salary of $110,000 vs. $90,000 for those with a Masters degree. Managers make $11,000 more per year. There are still large differences in salary across regions of the United States. Those in Midwest states have the lowest median salary ($88,000), and the West Coast the highest ($110,000) We encourage you to read this report and draw your own conclusions. Feel free to share your thoughts about this report and the UX industry with us at office@usabilityprofessionals.org. Page 3 of 23

4 THE RESPONDENTS Country We received responses from people in 33 countries. The majority of respondents were from the United States (775), the United Kingdom (82), Canada (40) Brazil (36) and India (26). There were a handful of respondents from Germany (23), Australia (18), Spain (15) and Taiwan (15). Page 4 of 23

5 US Region The respondents from the US were mostly from the Northeast (219 or 28% of total US respondents) and the Midwest (194 or 24%). Approximately 22% of the US respondents (174 total) were from the West part of the country; the rest were from the Southeast (85 respondents) and the Southwest (105 respondents). The states included in each region are indicated in the table below. Country and Percent By US Region US Region Count Percent Midwest % Northeast % Southeast 85 11% Southwest % West % 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

6 UPA Salary Surve ey UPA Inte ernational Age Our profe ession has a prep ponderance of people under the ag ge of 45. Almost half h (43%) of the respondents werre under the age of 35 at the time of this surve ey in the spring of More than n one-third, or 35 5%, were between n 36 and 45. About 14% reported their age as between 46 4 and 55. Aboutt 7% of responde ents were 56 and over Age by Cate egory Age Ovver 65 N/A Page 6 off 23 Count Percent 5% 38% 35% 14% 6% <1% <1% Over 65 N/A A

7 UPA 2011 Salary Survey UPA International Highest Degree Held The respondents are a highly educated group. Approximately 8% of the respondents hold a PhD; more than half (61%) hold a Master s or greater; and 94% of the respondents reported having a Bachelor s degree or higher. Education Highest Education Obtained PhD (Doctorate) Master's Degree College or University (Bachelor's degree) Technical or Associates Degree High School ('A' level, GCSE) N/A or blank Count Percent 117 9% % % 34 2% 35 3% 36 2% Page 7 of 23

8 UPA Salary Surve ey UPA Inte ernational Experience 38% of re espondents reporrted between 0 an nd 7 years experiience in the UX field. 35% reported 8 to 15 years in n the field, and 11 1% reported working in the fie eld for 16 or more e years. Years of o Experience Ex xperience Page 8 off 23 Count Percent years 52 4% years % years % years % years % years 83 6% Ovver 21 years 66 5% No ot applicable %

9 Job Title The respondents reported a variety of job titles. The most prevalent titles were User Experience Practitioner (151), Usability Professional (127), User Researcher (120), Experience Designer (97), User Experience Manager (93), and Interaction Designer (84). A number of programmers, technical writers and people from other related disciplines responded to this survey as well. Page 9 of 23

10 UPA 2011 Salary Survey Employment Level About two-thirds (66%) of respondents are currently in a mid- or senior-level contributor position. 22% of respondents indicatedd that they were in a supervisory or executivee position. A small number of respondents indicated that they are currently in self- employed or entry-level positions. UPA International Page 10 of 23

11 SALARY COMPARISONS Overall The average (mean) salary for all respondents in 2011 was $92,899. (The median salary was $90,000.) Males earned about $4,000 more per year on average than did women, with males earning $94,972 and females earning $90,861. (The median salaries were $94,000 for males and $90,000 for females). Average and Median Salary - Respondents by Gender All Female Male Average $92,899 $90,861 $94,972 Median $90,000 $90,000 $94,000 n Page 11 of 23

12 Salary Change Over Time Overall and By Gender Average and median salaries rose overall since the last UPA salary survey in The average salary in 2009 was $85,247 (median = $83,160); in 2011 the average salary was $92,899 (median = $90,000), representing an increase of $7,652 The median salary overall increased $6,840. Median Salary, by Year Note: data for 2007 confidence intervals were not available. Page 12 of 23

13 UPA 2011 Salary Survey UPA International As measured by this survey, the UX gender gap has reappeared somewhat. Men s salaries increased more than did women s salaries since the previous survey in Across all countries, women s average salary rose around $6,000 USD from $84,892 in 2009 to $90,861 in In contrast, men s salaries rose nearly $9,000 during the same time period, from $85,947 USD in 2009 to $94,972 in The gender gap in 2011 is thus around $4,000, higher than in 2009, but much lower than in years prior. Median Salary, by Gender Page 13 of 23

14 By Years in Field As found in the previous surveys, the salary data showed a linear pattern when analyzed by length of time working in the user experience field. The median salary for respondents who were just starting their career in the field was $56,000. Respondents with 2-4 years of experience reported a median salary of $64,289. Practitioners with 5-7 years of experience reported a median salary of $81,000. Those with 8-10 years in the field reported a median salary of $90,210. People with years in the field reported a median salary of $110,000. Respondents with years reported a median salary of $120,000; and respondents with 21 or more years in the field reported a median salary of $132,500. Median Salary, by Years of Experience Page 14 of 23

15 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 fewer than 30 respondents. Despite this caveat, we did find fairly large salary differences for UX professionals in different countries. According to our data, Swiss-based user experience professionals earned the highest median salary in 2011 ($143,106), followed by UX professionals in Australia ($116,837), the US ($98,000) and Germany ($93,405). Median Salary, by Country Page 15 of 23

16 By US Region 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. Median salaries were highest in the West ($111,000) and Northeast, ($100,000), followed by the Southwest ($96,000), Southeast ($91,000) and Midwest ($87,500). Median salaries were all lower than the average values for these groups, with the West and Northeast regional average salary being about $5,000 higher than the respective median salary. Median Salary, by US Region Page 16 of 23

17 Management and Individual Contributors Unlike in prior years, when those in management had the highest salaries, self-employed respondents reported the highest median incomes ($148,980). Executives reported a median salary of $128,040, and Senior-level contributors reported a median salary of $100,000. Non-executive management reported a median income of $94,500 and entry-level practitioners reported a median salary of $55,250. Median Salary, by Job Level Page 17 of 23

18 UPA 2011 Salary Survey UPA International 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 median salary ($120,000), followed by respondents with a Master s ($90,000). In 2009 we did not have a sufficient response rate from high school graduates to include their responses, but in 2011 we did. We found that their median salary was reported as $85,000, compared with those with a Bachelors degree, who reported a median salary of $82,240. Those with technical and/or associates degrees reported a median salary of $74,447. Median Salary, by Education Level Page 18 of 23

19 ABOUT UPA INTERNATIONAL The Usability Professionals' Association (UPA International) supports people who research, design, and evaluate the user experience of products and services. UPA International was established in 1991 and continues to be the organization of choice for usability professionals worldwide. UPA International holds a yearly international conference, publishes new findings through both the Journal of Usability Studies (JUS) and through User Experience Magazine, and has 50 chapters around the world. In 2004, UPA International established World Usability Day, which has been celebrated each year since on the second Thursday of November. UPA International s goals are to: Become the authoritative source on the practice of usability, user-centered design (UCD), and user experience (UX). Facilitate professional development and education within the UX field. Promote the business value of user experience, research, design and evaluation to business and other entities. Foster a community of user experience professionals through knowledge sharing and networking. Provide effective UPA International Governance. Enhance and provide the value of UPA membership Contact UPA International Usability Professionals' Association 140 N. Bloomingdale Road Bloomingdale, IL Tel: Fax: office@usabilityprofessionals.org Web: Page 19 of 23

20 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This report was written by Rich Gunther, UPA International s Secretary and Director of Member Services and Volunteers. UPA International would like to thank the following UPA International members for their important contributions and hard work: Jeff Sauro of Measuring Usability, LLC: Statistical analysis and creation of data visualizations Ken Becker of Expedia: data normalization, currency conversion, and formatting Ronnie Battista of MISI Company and UPA International Director of Certification: data normalization, currency conversion, and formatting Elisa Miller of GE Healthcare: Statistical analysis and creation of data visualizations Page 20 of 23

21 APPENDIX A: SALARY PREDICTORS Years of Experience, Degree and Mgmt Predict 34% of Salary o Salary = $52,562 + $3,930 * Yrs Experience + $15,163 *PhD + $11,112 Manager o o o o o Expected Starting Salary is ~$53k with No Experience, $56k with 1 year Expected Starting Salary for PhD ~$68k with No Experience, $72k with 1 year Manager with 10 Yrs Experience and No PhD ~$103k A PhD is worth about $15k per year Being a Manager is worth about $11k per year Page 21 of 23

22 Gender, Age, and Years of Experience The following show the analysis underlying the salary predictors of Gender, Age, and Years of Experience: Page 22 of 23

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