UX News
A look at what's going on in the field of user experience.
Embracing play as the core of design
, UX Collective - Medium
A journey of design, beyond solving a complex problem.Noguchi’s art installation on his journey to find the design of public playgroundWhen you think about playing, what comes to mind? Is it fun? Liveliness? Engaging with video games, laughing while playing a board game, or simply swinging in a park?
Play associated with non-serious activities that no immediate benefit (Bateson, 2014), in contrast to the challenges of complexity face up during the process of design. But the interesting part is:
AI + Hermes (speed) worship
, UX Collective - Medium
Tech’s obsession with speed and how it has the potential to strip quality and craft in Design.
User Experience Salaries & Calculator (2024)
, MeasuringU
Continuing a decades-long tradition, in 2024 we worked with the UXPA to collect and understand the UX profession’s latest compensation, skills, and composition. We hosted the survey on our MUiQ® platform and summarized the findings on salaries and related skills of UX professionals from around the world. The details for the past and current UXPA surveys are available on the UXPA website. Here are the highlights for 2024. Go straight to the Salary Calculator below. Survey Results The data was collected from April 2024–October 2024 using a non-probability sample. Initial respondents were recruited through postings on professional networks and websites, such as UXPA and LinkedIn. Additional respondents were recruited using snowball sampling. Keep this sampling approach in mind as it impacts the generalizability of the findings and the comparability to earlier data. International reach, most from the U.S. The survey is based on 444 responses from 37 countries, with 67% of the responses coming from the U.S. Other significant numbers came from the UK (4%), Canada (4%) and Germany (3%). The sample size was the smallest we’ve ever collected for this survey, so we suspect practitioners may be suffering from some survey fatigue. Despite the smaller sample size, we saw very similar patterns compared to the 2022 data, suggesting consistent representative coverage. The median salary was $120K. This 10% increase is nominally higher than the 2022 median of $109K. While that sounds good, it doesn’t account for inflation, which was higher than any other measurement period we examined since 2010. Taking inflation into account, we also converted the salaries into constant U.S. dollars based on U.S. inflation using the inflation data from August 2024. Because the inflation from January 2022 to August 2024 was 12%, the effective median salary in 2024 was 2% less than the salary in 2022. Many variables affect salary. The $120K average is based on many variables, so you can’t look at that alone to gauge how well your own salary stacks up. For example, this includes a mix of both senior executives at large companies and entry-level professionals at small companies in locations where the cost of living is substantially different. What Factors Affect Salaries? As we did in 2022, we conducted a key driver multiple regression analysis (on the log-transformed salaries) to see which variables from the 2024 UXPA survey statistically predict what people earn (Table 1). VariableProportion of Variance Explained Country/U.S. Region50% Job Level11% Education 4% Company Size 4% Years Experience 3% Table 1: Key drivers from the UXPA 2024 survey explain 72% of the variation in salaries.
The regression model accounted for 72% of the variation in salaries. For the behavioral sciences, explaining this much variation is very good. Individual factors—skills, personalities, negotiation, company policies, etc.—also affect your salary; keep that in mind as you review the numbers and use the calculator below. As in years past, the most influential factors for salaries in the UX field are: Where you live: The country (and region for the U.S.) has the biggest impact on what you’re paid. It alone explains 50% of the variation in salary data. The median salary in the U.S. is $142K, compared to $85K in the UK, $87.5K in Canada and $85K in Germany. In the U.S., the top five highest salaries are in Northern California ($198K), the Pacific Northwest ($165K), Southern California ($158K), the Northeast ($153K), and the Southwest ($146K). After considering the 12% inflation from 2022 to 2024, the Northern California, Northeast, Southwest, and Southeast regions experienced some loss in effective income. The map below (Figure 1) shows the number of usable salaries we analyzed for each state and how we labeled the regions. The patterns in 2024 were generally the same as those in 2022.
The money talk in UX
, UX Collective - Medium
Building products around prices.Let’s be short and clear: businesses only exist to make money. All their placed bets are based on the sooner or later expected profit.
To determine the viability of any business case, we need to calculate the expected profit by subtracting estimated costs from estimated revenues. But here’s the issue: even if we’re good at estimating costs (as all the information is on our side), we’re typically bad at estimating the other 50% of the equation — revenues. Most often, we take a wild guess and postpone pricing decisions until the very end. We embark on the long and expensive product development journey, hoping to make money on our innovations, but not knowing if we will.
It’s not your design content that’s getting rejected: it’s your delivery
, UX Collective - Medium
Use the “Doubtful Stakeholder” exercise to test whether your explanations make sense
What Not to Include on your Designer Resume in 2025
, UX Planet - Medium
Creating a designer resume that shines in 2025 is not just about what you include — it’s about what you leave out.
With competition high and industry expectations evolving, knowing how to keep your resume concise, modern, and relevant is essential.
Why the 4-point grid system dominates UI design
, UX Planet - Medium
Grid systems form the foundation of interface design. If you are using a design system, there’s a high likelihood that key design decisions — such as spacing, layout, and typography — are subtly influenced by an underlying grid system. The 4-point grid system is the most widely adopted approach in UI design, with many popular design systems incorporating it or a variant of it. But what makes the 4-point grid so special? Why is it the go-to option?
Proportional scalingOne of the most important rules of modern UI design is to maintain a clear visual hierarchy. To achieve this, spacing units must follow a consistent pattern, typically by scaling the base unit with a fixed proportion. The number 4 is highly divisible, as it divides evenly by 1, 2, and 4, making it easy to scale down. Scaling up results in increments of 4, 8, 12, 16, and so on — large enough to be visually distinct yet still manageable. The 4-point grid, therefore, promotes visually harmonious and balanced interfaces.
Path to a greater impact for a Product Designer
, UX Planet - Medium
Beyond the Pixels: Thinking Bigger
The Four P’s of Service Design: People, Partners, Products, and Processes
, UX Planet - Medium
Photo by Frames For Your Heart on UnsplashWe live in a world where everything seems complex yet simple. The realization of simplicity is built on our belief in recognizing the interactions between multiple systems of an environment.
At first look, you might feel overwhelmed by seeing clutter of all types of wire around the pole but for someone who knows how wiring works would take a matter of a few minutes to recognize simplicity in these complex junctions of wires.
Incorporating Clutter in the SUPR-Q Measurement Framework
, MeasuringU
Clutter distracts and detracts from a good user experience.
A cluttered website makes it hard to find information. Clutter gets in the way of completing tasks.
