UX News
A look at what's going on in the field of user experience.
The not-so-hidden tax of good ideas
, UX Collective - Medium
You don’t need to pay such a big penalty for innovationPhoto by Jack Carter on UnsplashYour teammate rolls across the floor to your desk.
They patiently wait for you to finish typing. No matter, you’re already distracted. You don’t work well when you can feel eyes upon you.
The Optimal Design for Sidebar Indicators
, UX MovementA sidebar navigation on an interface offers users multiple items to select. After making a selection, they need a visual cue to identify the chosen item. This cue is called an indicator. Every sidebar needs a clear and non-distracting selection indicator. However, many designers continue to use bad practices that make it hard for users […]
The post The Optimal Design for Sidebar Indicators first appeared on UX Movement.
How to Design a Sidebar That Saves Screen Space
, UX MovementScreen space on a desktop interface is more important than you think. Most designers take it for granted because a desktop screen contains so much space. However, when it comes to data display, every pixel counts. A sidebar can occupy a lot of width space and diminish the content area. As a result, users will […]
The post How to Design a Sidebar That Saves Screen Space first appeared on UX Movement.
8 excellent user research emails
, UX Collective - Medium
From Duolingo, Typeform, Notion, Monzo & more
The political paradox of UX professionals
, UX Collective - Medium
The clash of modern and postmodern design while balancing universal accessibility with subjective perspectives.
How the right UX Metrics show game-changing value
, UX Collective - Medium
How a team showed great UX was worth $100+ million annually
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.
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
