2012 UX Survey Reveals Canadian Work & Salary Trends

2012 User Experience in Canada
Work and Salary Survey

Periscope
Periscope User Experience Vancouver User Experience
www.periscopeux.com www.vanue.com

2012 User Experience in Canada - Work and Salary Survey
2

About this Survey
Welcome to the 2012 Work and Salary Survey for User Experience (UX)
Professionals in Canada. This survey captures information on demographics,
work experience and positions, and compensation of UX professionals across
Canada.
The goal for this survey was to gather up-to-date information about the state of
user experience jobs in Canada to help all professionals understand the UX
market and opportunities in Canada. It was largely influenced by a similar annual
survey from the Information Architecture Institute (IAI), which is fairly US-centric
and has low Canadian representation.
The survey was conducted in November of 2012 and members of several UX
groups and IxDA (Interaction Design Association) chapters across Canada were
invited to participate. We collected and analyzed 159 responses and have
compiled a summary of the data and findings in this document. To ensure the
anonymity of survey participants, detailed survey results will not be released and
in a few instances where there could be a chance of identifying an individual, we
have generalized or omitted data.
The first of its kind, we hope this survey can happen bi-annually. To improve the
information gathered next time, we’ve compiled a list of amendments and
additions for future surveys. The list can be found at the end of this report. If
there is any other feedback or requests from the community, please send it to
info@periscopeux.com.

3

About Periscope User Experience
We are a User Experience Design agency based in Vancouver, BC providing a
full range of user-centered design services to clients in web, mobile and
software.
Growing our business we always wondered about the broader landscape of
professional design in Canada, and how we fit. There is plenty of data from
south of the border, but very little here. So we decided to simply ask the UX
community and begin painting a picture of this landscape.
We’d like to thank all those who participated in the survey, as well as Vancouver
User Experience (VanUE) and the following groups for their guidance and help
delivering the survey and results:

CalUX

UX Edmonton

UXirregulars

Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver IxDA chapters

@UXcampOttawa

4

Survey Results

Who Responded?
The survey was distributed via mailing lists, LinkedIn, Facebook groups, and
Twitter accounts to UX and IxDA groups in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton,
Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto. While it’s impossible to determine its actual
reach, based on member counts for these groups we made a ballpark
estimation that around 800 people received the request for survey participation.
A total of 159 people, 50.9% male and 49.1% female, completed the Work and
Salary Survey, with almost half residing in Vancouver and Greater Area,
significant portions in Calgary and around Toronto and the remaining scattered
across other Canadian cities as well as a few currently living in the US and
Europe.
Assuming that respondent locations are not representative of the actual
distribution of UX jobs across Canada, and that the survey is skewed towards
the Vancouver demographic, we’re hoping for a more even distribution next
time.
Respondent Locations

5

The UX profession is fairly young; with respondents predominantly 26-35 years
old, and 36-45 year olds being the second largest age range represented.

Age Ranges

21 - 25
5.0%
26 - 30
19.5%
31 - 35
25.8%
36 - 40
17.0%
41 - 45
17.0%
46 - 50
10.1%
51 - 55
3.1%
56 - 60
1.9%
Over 65
0.6%

The most common highest level of education is a Bachelor’s degree at 45.9%,
followed by 32.1% of respondents with a Master’s degree. This is the reverse
of IAI’s 2011 survey results (a majority 54.8% with Master’s degrees and 36%
with Bachelor’s). We speculated whether it’s related to fewer or smaller UX-
related Master’s programs in Canada or if less importance or value is placed on
Master’s degrees within the design job market here. 86.8% of respondents have
at least a Bachelor’s degree but Doctorate degrees are not common.

Highest Level of Education

Bachelor's degree
45.9%
Master's degree
32.1%
Certiﬁcate program
6.9%
Some graduate school
5.7%
Junior college
3.8%
High school degree
2.5%
Doctorate degree
2.5%
Post-doctoral program
0.6%
No degree
0.0%

6

We asked participants to list academic degrees, certificates, or training that
have contributed to their education in a user-experience related discipline. For
anonymity’s sake, we’ve refrained from listing specific program names. Instead,
we organized the responses into groups based on a program’s general field and
have listed the resulting fields below in order of most common to least common.
From this, it’s possible to see the great diversity of backgrounds within the
community.
Educational Backgrounds
Graphic & Communication Design
Information Design
Computer Science
UX Courses & Workshops
Human Factors
Multi-/ Digital / New Media
Engineering
IT / Development
Interactive Design
Fine Arts
HCI
Business / Management
Information & Library Sciences
Industrial Design
Psychology
Writing / Publishing
Arts
Architecture
Marketing
Sciences
Web Design
Education
Interaction Design
Anthropology

7

Experience as UX Professionals
Job Titles
We asked respondents to select a closest match to their official job title. The
most commonly selected were User Experience Designer (45.3%), Interaction
Designer (11.9%) and Information Architect (10.1%). Of these responses, less
than a third of respondents used some variation.
Variations on job titles included:
• Use of different terms, e.g. Specialist, Architect, Analyst, Strategist,
Consultant, etc.
• Seniority level specified in title, e.g. Manager, Director, Senior, etc.
• Dual job titles, e.g. BA/UX, Director of Interaction Design and Usability,
UI/UX Designer
• Titles for academic or instructional positions
Less common job title matches were Consultant (5.7%), UI/Interface Designer
(3.8%), Web Designer (3.8%), User Researcher (3.1%), and Project Manager
(3.1%). All other job titles were each used by fewer than 5 respondents (< 3%):
Content Strategist, Creative Director, Product Manager, Usability Engineer /
Analyst, Business Analyst, Web Developer, and Programmer/Developer. No one
selected Interactive Designer.

Position & Experience Levels
The majority of respondents indicated their positions as Mid- and Senior-Level
(75.4% total; 35.8% and 39.6% respectively). Smaller portions work as Senior
Managers/VPs/Directors (11.9%) and in Junior or Entry-Level positions (9.4%).
Five respondents (3.1%) described their position level as
Executive/CEO/President/Owner; all five are self-employed freelancers.
Respondents have worked in User Experience Design-related disciplines for
various lengths of time; this chart shows how the numbers break down by
experience level:

Years Experience Respondents Percent of Responses

Under 1 year 2 1.3%
1 - 2 years 21 13.2%
3 - 5 years 40 25.2%
6 - 8 years 35 22.0%
9 - 10 years 12 7.5%
Over 10 years 49 30.8%

8

The large number of respondents who have more than 10 years of experience
but who report their position as Senior Level rather than Senior
Management/VP/Director is possibly indicative of a lack of leadership roles
available for experienced practitioners to move into.
The substantial portion of respondents with 6-10 years experience working in
Mid-level positions brings up similar thoughts: Is there a lack of senior level
positions to move into? Perhaps because the more experienced are unable to
move up and out of them? Or is the experience necessary to move into more
senior positions not well defined or consistent from company to company?

Experience Levels
39.6%
35.8%
Over 10 years
6 - 10 years
3 - 5 years
0 - 2 years
11.9%
9.4%
3.1%

9

Current Positions
Companies
User Experience work spans a variety of company and product types.
Most respondents indicated they work for a company developing
software/applications (25.2%), interactive/design agency or consulting firm
(17.6% each), consumer product-company (12.6%) or a service company
(10.1%). Smaller portions of respondents (11.4% total) work for government,
educational, and non-profit organizations. Very large companies (1000+
employees) were most common (33.1%).

Number of People in Company

Self-employed
11.3%
2 - 5 people
2.6%
6 - 10 people
6.6%
11 - 25 people
7.9%
26 - 50
5.3%
51 - 200
13.9%
201 - 500
8.6%
501 - 1000
10.6%
Over 1000 employees
33.1%

People Performing UX Activities
Number of Not Response
1 (me) 2-4 5-8 9 - 12 13 - 20 > 20
People sure Count

In
159
Company 15.7% 27.7% 11.3% 8.2% 10.7% 21.4% 5.0%

In
129
Workgroup 24.8% 33.3% 20.2% 8.5% 6.2% 3.9% 3.1%

10

Freelancing
In the same question where we asked about the type of company a respondent
works for, we included the option “Freelance,” which 6.3% of respondents
selected.
Unfortunately, this is likely not representational of the actual number of
freelancers as other self-employed respondents selected a company type other
than “Freelance.” Based on asking respondents how many people their
company employs, 11.3% indicated they were self-employed. Even more
(37.1% of all respondents) provided a response for the question “If you work
freelance, how are you typically paid?” though this may be that people provided
information on freelance work they have done in the past, or do occasionally on
the side. For the next survey, we will consider asking more explicitly whether or
not a respondent is a freelancer, and how we might distinguish between those
working with several clients and those on full-time, long-term contracts with a
single company.
If we look at the demographics for both groups (those who declared their
company type as freelance and those who are self-employed), we see that more
females work independently than males (70% female versus 30% male for
freelancers; 64.7% versus 35.3% for the self-employed). It’s also a slightly more
common career path for those between age 36 and 50 and with more than 8
years of experience.

11

Freelancers by Age Range
45.0%
% of Total Freelancers/Self-

40.0%
35.0%
30.0%
Employed

25.0%
20.0%
Freelance
15.0%
Self-employed
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%

Freelancers by Years Experience
60.0%
% of Total Freelancers/Self-Employed

50.0%

40.0%

30.0%
Freelance
20.0%
Self-employed

10.0%

0.0%
Under 1 - 2 3 - 5 6 - 8 9 - 10 Over
1 year
years
years
years
years
10
years

12

Product Types
Websites, mobile applications and web applications were the most common
types of products respondents work on (76.1% of all respondents work on
websites, among other products). Other products that we did not list but some
respondents included are: museum displays, building automation systems,
services, digital books, and knowledge bases.
On average, respondents work with 3.5 product types with most respondents
working with 3 different product types.

Product Types

Websites
76.1%
Mobile applications
74.8%
Web applications/SaaS
61.6%
Desktop software
40.3%
Intranets
36.5%
Social media applications
22.6%
Physical products or devices
11.3%
Public Kiosks
8.8%
Entertainment systems
6.3%

Clients
Respondents work with either internal clients (30.2%), or external clients (37.1%)
or both (32.7%).
The survey included a question on where external clients are located, but
unfortunately due to a survey design error (the question was required despite
being conditional), we cannot be confident in the data returned and have
omitted it from this report.

13

Time at Work
Most respondents have been with their current job for 5 years or less (88%), 1 –
3 years being the most common (41.5%). While this distribution may be similar
in other fields and industries, we would be interested to know some of the most
common reasons why UX practitioners are changing jobs after 2 or 3 years.

Time at Present Job

Under 3 months
5.0%
3 - 6 months
4.4%
6 - 12 months
18.9%
1 - 3 years
41.5%
3 - 5 years
18.2%
6 - 10 years
7.5%
Over 10 years
4.4%

Only a small percentage of respondents are working part-time (7.3% total
including 5.3% working 20 – 30 hours and 2% working less than 20 hours).
Most work somewhere between 30 and 50 hours per week (88.7%).

Hours Worked per Week

Over 60 hours
1.3%
50 – 60 hours
2.6%
40 – 50 hours
47.0%
30 – 40 hours
41.7%
20 – 30 hours
5.3%
Under 20 hours
2.0%

14

Tasks
We asked respondents to rate a list of tasks according to how much they
perform each: frequently, occasionally, review and/or delegate, or not involved
at all.
On average, respondents have 5-6 tasks that they perform frequently and 7-8
that they perform occasionally. Senior and mid-level respondents perform
slightly more tasks on average than a junior.
The most frequently performed tasks are:
• Wireframing / sitemaps (71.1% perform frequently)
• Interaction design (66%)
• User flow / scenario development (48.4%)
• Prototyping (41.1%)
• Strategic work (39%)
The most common “occasionally” performed tasks are:
• User research (47.8% perform occasionally)
• Persona development / audience definitions (46.5%)
• Heuristic analysis / Review (44%)
• Usability testing (42.1%)
• User flow / scenario development (40.3%)
• Evangelizing / public speaking (39%)
Senior management review and delegate more than other experience levels (8.2
tasks on average) and senior levels come in second with 5.8 tasks. The most
commonly reviewed and/or delegated tasks are:
• Graphic / visual design (42.8%)
• Content generation / copywriting (36.5%)
• Design templates / style guides (33.3%)
• Accessibility review (27%)
• Usability testing (25.2%)
• Content inventory (25.2%)

15

Work Location
Knowing that working every day in the same location often isn’t the norm, we
asked respondents for a rough breakdown of where they work and how their
time is divided among different locations.
Only 31% of respondents spend all their time in an employer’s or client’s office,
their own office, or at home. It’s more common for respondents to divide their
time between two or more locations.
Highlights of each location type:
• Company/employer’s office: 71.7% of respondents work in them most of
the time (51-100%).
• Working at home: 45.3% occasionally work at home (1-25% of time);
15.7% of respondents work at home more than half their time.
• Few work in their “own office”: 7.5% do 1-75% of the time, 1.3% 76-
100% of the time.
• Shared office / co-working spaces: 8.2% work in them some portion of
time (1-50%), 1.9% work in them 76-100% of the time. All respondents
working in shared offices divide their time with 1 or more other locations.
• Client’s office/premises: Over a quarter of respondents (34.6%) work at a
client’s office/premises some of the time.

16

Salaries
The average reported salary was CDN$89,095 and median, $82,500; the
minimum was $40,000 and the maximum, $240,000.
If we exclude the 2 highest salaries as outliers, the average reported salary
becomes CDN$87,289, the median, $82,000 and the maximum, $180,000. While
the outliers are substantially beyond the general salary trend, it’s possible that
they could become part of the trend with a larger survey sample size. For this
reason, we’ll continue to include them in the report data unless specially noted.

Salaries
250000

200000
2012 Salary in CDN

150000

100000

50000

0
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Respondents

17

The most common salary range was $70,000-$79,999, representing 15.4% of
responses, $80,000-$89,999 was second most common, with 14.7% of
responses. The top five ranges clustered between $60,000 and $109,999 and
accounted for 64.1% of responses.

Salary Ranges
30

25

20

15

10

5

0

18

Salary by Age
Looking at average salary by age group shows an increasing trend with the 46-
50 year olds earning the most on average ($111,750). There is a drop in the 50+
age groups but given the lower number of respondents in these groups, the
drop may not be significant.

Percent of Average Median
Age Respondents
Responses Salary Salary

21 - 25 8 5.0% $52,500 $47,500

26 - 30 31 19.5% $75,090 $75,000

31 - 35 41 25.8% $81,049 $80,000

36 - 40 27 17.0% $93,214 $100,000

41 - 45 27 17.0% $105,611* $100,000

46 - 50 16 10.1% $111,750* $100,000

51 - 55 5 3.1% $89,000 $75,000

56 - 60 3 1.9% $108,333 $90,000

Over 65 1 0.6% $80,000 $80,000

* Excluding outliers, average salary for age groups 41-45 and 46-50 becomes $97,463
and $96,750 respectively.

Salary by Gender
Average salaries for females and males show a substantial gap between
genders: $81,731 for females compared with $96,276 for males. Removing
outlier salaries does not decrease the gap (averages become $78,654 and
$93,526).
The gap could be partly due to the distribution of females / males among age
ranges. Women are better represented among 21-35 year olds, age ranges with
the lowest average salaries, while men are better represented in the 36-50
range.

19

Salary by Gender
18.0%
16.0%
% of Gender Total

14.0%
12.0%
10.0%
8.0%
6.0%
4.0%
2.0%
0.0%

Men
Women

Gender by Age Range
35.0%

30.0%
% of Gender Total

25.0%

20.0%

15.0%

10.0%

5.0%

0.0%
21 - 25
26 - 30
31 - 35
36 - 40
41 - 45
46 - 50
51 - 55
56 - 60
Over
65

Men
Women

20

Salary by Level of Education
There are no huge variations in average salary between educational levels,
perhaps indicative of a profession where experience may be more relevant than
a degree. However, given the low respondent counts for levels other than
Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, it’s difficult to say.

Educational Level Respondents

High school degree 4 2.5% $80,875 $58,250

Junior college 6 3.8% $85,500 $81,500

Certificate program 11 7.0% $87,545 $75,000

Bachelor's degree 72 45.6% $89,494 $85,140

Some graduate school 9 5.7% $83,667 $70,000

Master's degree 51 32.3% $88,647* $85,000

Doctorate degree 4 2.5% $120,000* $87,500

Post-doctoral program 1 0.6% $80,000 $80,000

* Excluding outliers, average salary for Master’s degree and Doctorate degree groups
becomes $86,020 and $80,000 respectively.

Surprisingly, respondents with a Bachelor’s degree earn 1% more than those
with a Master’s (4% if we consider the average for Master’s degree without an
outlier).
This could be because those who pursue a Master’s have a later start in their
career (and thus, fewer years experience) than those who start right after a
Bachelor’s. Or it could be that Bachelor degrees dominate in the highest paying
age ranges (36-40 and 41-45). Without a larger sample size, it is difficult to make
a firm conclusion.

21

Educational Level by Age Range
20
18
Number of Respondents

16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
21 - 25
26 - 30
31 - 35
36 - 40
41 - 45
46 - 50
51 - 55
56 - 60
Over 65

Bachelor's degree
Master's degree

Age Range / Education Level Bachelor’s degree Master’s degree

26-30 $81,946 $72,208

31-35 $87,912 $86,133

36-40 $96,020 $94,438

41-45 $101,750 $112,857*

46-50 $103,571 $106,167

*Includes high outlier.

Years of Experience /
Bachelor’s degree Master’s degree
Educational Level

1 - 2 years $56,778 $59,800

3 - 5 years $77,683 $80,231

6 - 8 years $101,852 $83,467

9 - 10 years $96,750 $100,000

Over 10 years $100,750 $113,038

22

Salary by Experience
Salary increases with both position level and years of experience in the field,
though may level off after 10 years. It’s difficult to say without more granular
division of respondents who have 10+ years of experience.

Years of Percent of Average Median
Respondents
Experience Responses Salary Salary

Under 1 year 2 1.3% $51,250 $51,250

1 - 2 years 21 13.3% $58,262 $55,000

3 - 5 years 40 25.3% $78,233 $74,000

6 - 8 years 34 21.5% $93,376 $85,140

9 - 10 years 12 7.6% $105,167 $100,000

Over 10 years 49 31.0% $105,816* $100,000

* Excluding outliers, average salary for over 10 years of experience becomes $96,429.

Position Level Respondents

Entry Level / Junior 15 9.5% $53,753 $50,000

Experienced / Mid
56
Level 35.4% $74,585 $75,000

Experienced / Senior
63
Level 39.9% $98,746 $100,000

Senior Management
19
/ VP / Director 12.0% $124,895* $120,000

Executive / CEO /
5
President / Owner 3.2% $100,000* $80,000

* Excluding outliers, average salary for Senior Management / VP / Director and
Executive / CEO / President / Owner becomes $112,263 and $56,000 respectively.

23

Freelancing
We asked respondents to provide us with their average hourly rate and tell us
how they are typically paid, if they work freelance. Hourly rates were received
from 34.6% of respondents and 36.5% told us how they are typically paid.
This response rate is much higher than the percentage of respondents who
indicated they were self-employed or work freelance. This may be due to
respondents who are full-time employees but freelance on the side, who have
billed hourly in the past, etc. For simplicity’s sake, in this section we refer to all
respondents who provided an hourly rate as “freelancers”.
84.5% of freelancers are typically paid with an hourly rate and approximately
one-third of these respondents use an hourly rate in combination with a
project/flat rate and/or a daily rate. Or in other terms:
• 58.6% of freelance respondents are paid only by hourly rate
• 5.2% by project/flat rate
• 6.9% by daily rate
• 29.3% by some combination of the above
Only one respondent receives a share of equity (in combination with daily and
flat rates) and no freelancers work on commission.
Excluding two outliers, one high and one low, the average freelance hourly rate
was CDN$86.97, with a minimum of $30 and a maximum of $180.
Comparing amounts for the 25 women and 28 men who provided hourly rates,
the average rates were $83.68 and $89.91 respectively. The tables below
provide more comparisons of hourly rates in relation to age, education,
experience and position level.

24

Freelance Hourly Rates
200
180
160
140
Hourly Rate

120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Respondents

Hourly Rates by Age

Percent of Average Median Hourly
Age Respondents
Responses Hourly Rate Rate

21 - 25 3 5.7% $63.33 $65.00

26 - 30 8 15.1% $58.13 $50.00

31 - 35 11 20.8% $79.59 $80.00

36 - 40 8 15.1% $86.25 $82.50

41 - 45 8 15.1% $87.75 $85.00

46 - 50 10 18.9% $116.20 $112.50

51 - 55 3 5.7% $95.00 $100.00

56 - 60 1 1.9% $150.00 $150.00

Over 65 1 1.9% $90.00 $90.00

25

Hourly Rates by Level of Education

Average Median
Percent of
Educational Level Respondents Hourly Hourly
Responses
Rate Rate

High school degree 1 1.9% $110.00 $110.00

Junior college 3 5.7% $60.00 $65.00

Certificate program 5 9.4% $83.00 $80.00

Bachelor's degree 27 50.9% $83.69 $80.00

Some graduate school 2 3.8% $47.50 $47.50

Master's degree 13 24.5% $98.46 $100.00

Doctorate degree 1 1.9% $180.00 $180.00

Post-doctoral program 1 1.9% $90.00 $90.00

Hourly Rates by Experience

Median
Years of Percent of Average
Respondents Hourly
Experience Responses Hourly Rate
Rate

Under 1 year 1 1.9% $30.00 $

1 - 2 years 7 13.2% $52.86 $

3 - 5 years 8 15.1% $56.63 $

6 - 8 years 5 9.4% $91.00 $

9 - 10 years 10 18.9% $96.00 $

Over 10 years 22 41.5% $106.43 $

26

Hourly Rates by Position Level

Average Median
Percent of
Position Level Respondents Hourly Hourly
Responses
Rate Rate

Entry Level / Junior 4 7.5%
$51.25
$

Experienced / Mid
Level 13 24.5%
$59.23
$

Experienced / Senior
Level 22 41.5%
$94.52
$

Senior Management
/ VP / Director 9 17.0%
$113.33
$

Executive / CEO /
President / Owner 5 9.4%
$107.00
$

Opportunities
We asked respondents to select their top three most frustrating aspects of
working in a User Experience-related discipline from a list. The most common
frustrations are:
• Explaining the value of UX (Chosen by 61% of respondents)
• Explaining what UX means (34%)
• Finding the right education / training (20.8%)
Fewer respondents chose the remaining frustrations: “Finding Work” - 13.8%,
“Low Salary” - 15.1%, and “Few Career Options” - 16.4%.
18.2% of respondents indicated that they don’t find anything frustrating.
Respondents could also provide a frustration not in the list. Forty-one “Other”
responses were reviewed and grouped into the following list:
• Balancing UX with business goals and technology
• Strategy frustrations: lack of strategy, not involving UX (early-on)
• Working with other roles and their different motivations & beliefs
• Doing the work: scoping, having your skillset well-utilized, knowing what
“good work” is
• Other UX professionals
• Finding UX talent
• Working alone

27

Where we connect
We included a few questions to find out more about how people find work and
stay connected within the professional community.
LinkedIn is by far the most widely used to find UX jobs and contracts (45.9% of
respondents use often and 34.6% use infrequently). Other methods used by a
fair portion of respondents are:
• IxDA (10.7% used often and 37.7% infrequently)
• Placement Agencies (9.4% and 28.3%)
• Internal Recruiters (7.5% and 31.4%)
Craigslist, Coroflot, Glassdoor and Behance are all used by less than 20% of
respondents.
Other methods respondents use are: their personal network, word-of-mouth,
RFPs, conferences & events, Twitter, Google, looking at company websites, and
the UX community. They also use websites like: Authentic Jobs, T-Net British
Columbia, eluta, Krop, 37Signals, Stackoverflow Careers, Monster, BC Bid, and
Workopolis.
When asked what has been the most effective way to find work, the most
common response was through friends/word-of-mouth (45.9%). Other methods
rated as follows:
• In-person networking / events – 27.7%
• Responding to online ads – 12.6%
• Social media (Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) – 9.4%
• Maintaining a portfolio online – 3.8%
• Attending job fairs – 0.6%
Finally, we asked respondents to tell us which professional organizations they
belong to. Of the 93 who responded to this question, 89.2% belong to IxDA,
22.6% to UPA, 21.5% to IAI, and 15.1% to ACM/SIGCHI. Other organizations,
including GDC, AIGA, STC and HF, accounted for less than 5% of respondents’
participation.

28

Survey Details

What is your official job title?

Response
Answer Options Response Percent
Count
Interaction Designer 11.9% 19
User Experience Designer 45.3% 72
User Researcher 3.1% 5
Usability Engineer / Analyst 1.9% 3
Information Architect 10.1% 16
Consultant 5.7% 9
Human Factors Engineer 0.6% 1
Business Analyst 1.9% 3
Content Strategist 2.5% 4
Interactive Designer 0.0% 0
UI / Interface Designer 3.8% 6
Programmer / Developer 0.0% 0
Project Manager 3.1% 5
Product Manager 2.5% 4
Creative Director 2.5% 4
Web Designer 3.8% 6
Web Developer 1.3% 2
I couldn't find a job title close to mine. The title I use is: 46
answered question 159
skipped question 0

Which of the following best describes your position level?

Response Response
Answer Options
Percent Count
Senior Management / VP / Director 11.9% 19
Experienced / Senior Level 39.6% 63
Experienced / Mid Level 35.8% 57
Entry Level / Junior 9.4% 15
Intern 0.0% 0
Administrative Staff 0.0% 0
Executive / CEO / President / Owner 3.1% 5
skipped question 0

29

What is your highest attained educational level?

Response Response
Answer Options
Percent Count
No degree 0.0% 0
High school degree 2.5% 4
Junior college 3.8% 6
Bachelor's degree 45.9% 73
Certificate program 6.9% 11
Some graduate school 5.7% 9
Master's degree 32.1% 51
Doctorate degree 2.5% 4
Post-doctoral program 0.6% 1
skipped question 0

Please list any and all academic degrees, certificates or additional training that
have contributed to your education in a user experience-related discipline.
(Specify program name and major or topic.)*
Response
Count
Program 1: 100.0% 119
Program 2: 58.8% 70
Program 3: 21.8% 26
Program 4: 5.0% 6
Program 5: 2.5% 3
skipped question 40
* Detailed responses not provided to ensure participant anonymity.

How long have you worked in a user experience design -related discipline?

Response Response
Answer Options
Percent Count
Under 1 year 1.3% 2
1 - 2 years 13.2% 21
3 - 5 years 25.2% 40
6 - 8 years 22.0% 35
9 - 10 years 7.5% 12
Over 10 years 30.8% 49
skipped question 0

30

Which of the following professional organizations do you belong to?

Response
Count
IxDA 89.2% 83
UPA 22.6% 21
IAI 21.5% 20
GDC 4.3% 4
AIGA 4.3% 4
Other organizations (list any you think may apply): 28
skipped question 66

How many people does your company employ?

Response Response
Answer Options
Percent Count
Self-employed 11.3% 17
2 - 5 people 2.6% 4
6 - 10 people 6.6% 10
11 - 25 7.9% 12
26 - 50 5.3% 8
51 - 200 13.9% 21
201 - 500 8.6% 13
501 - 1000 10.6% 16
Over 1000
33.1% 50
employees
skipped question 8

How long have you worked at your present job?

Response
Answer Options Response Count
Percent
Under 3 months 5.0% 8
3 - 6 months 4.4% 7
6 - 12 months 18.9% 30
1 - 3 years 41.5% 66
3 - 5 years 18.2% 29
6 - 10 years 7.5% 12
Over 10 years 4.4% 7
skipped question 0

31

What type of company do you work for?

Response Response
Answer Options
Percent Count
Consumer
product 12.6% 20
company
Service
10.1% 16
company
Interactive /
design 17.6% 28
agency
Software /
application 25.2% 40
developer
Consulting
17.0% 27
firm
Government 5.7% 9
Educational
4.4% 7
Institution
Nonprofit 1.3% 2
Recruiter 0.0% 0
Freelance 6.3% 10
Other (please specify) 13
skipped question 0

How many people does your company employ?

Response Response
Answer Options
Percent Count
Self-employed 11.3% 17
2 - 5 people 2.6% 4
6 - 10 people 6.6% 10
11 - 25 7.9% 12
26 - 50 5.3% 8
51 - 200 13.9% 21
201 - 500 8.6% 13
501 - 1000 10.6% 16
Over 1000
33.1% 50
employees
skipped question 8

32

How many people in your company and/or work group perform user experience
activities?
Number of People
Answer 2 - 5 - 9 - 13 - > Not Response
1 (me)
Options 4 8 12 20 20 sure Count
Company: 25 44 18 13 17 34 8 159
Work group: 32 43 26 11 8 5 4 129
skipped question 0

Who are your projects for?

Response Response
Answer Options
Percent Count
Internal clients 30.2% 48
External clients 37.1% 59
Both 32.7% 52
skipped question 0

If you do work for external clients, where are they located? (Select a percentage
range for each location where your clients are based.)*

* We accidentally made this a required question when it should have been conditional,
thus the results cannot be considered with any confidence and have been omitted.

What types of products do you work on? (Select all that apply.)

Response Response
Answer Options
Percent Count
76.1% 121
Websites
74.8% 119
Mobile applications
40.3% 64
Desktop software
Web applications/SaaS 61.6% 98
Intranets 36.5% 58
Social media applications 22.6% 36
Entertainment systems (Xbox, Wii, Home Theatres, etc.) 6.3% 10
Public Kiosks 8.8% 14
Physical products or devices 11.3% 18
Other (please specify) 8.2% 13
skipped question 0

33

In your current role, how much do you perform the following tasks?
I review
I am not and/or I
I frequently
involved delegate occasionally Response
Answer Options perform
with this this task perform this Count
this task
tasks to task
others
User research 8 31 76 44 159
Persona Development /
23 33 74 29 159
Audience definitions
User flow / Scenario
5 13 64 77 159
development
Usability testing 10 40 67 41 158
Interaction design 5 20 27 105 157
Wireframing / Sitemaps 7 14 23 113 157
Prototyping 10 22 59 67 158
Heuristic analysis /
23 19 70 46 158
Review
Graphic / Visual design 23 68 28 38 157
Strategic work 21 15 60 62 158
Accessibility review 61 43 43 11 158
Design templates / Style
21 53 52 30 156
guides
Content generation /
56 58 34 9 157
Copywriting
Content management /
54 29 51 22 156
Strategy
Content inventory 61 40 43 13 157
Taxonomy development 52 38 52 15 157
Social media integration 70 37 39 8 154
Database design 110 29 11 6 156
Web or software
87 32 25 12 156
development
IT integration 119 24 8 5 156
General IT consulting 123 14 11 8 156
Web analytics 70 38 38 12 158
Project management 56 27 49 23 155
Evangelizing / Public
speaking / Blogging / 64 13 62 18 157
Whitepapers
General business
83 17 35 22 157
consulting
Marketing / Proposal
89 15 37 16 157
writing
Business administration
100 14 24 17 155
/ Operations
Staff training / Recruiting
56 11 60 29 156
/ Team development
Please list any other tasks that you perform that are not on the above list: 14
skipped question 0

34

Where do you physically work?

Response
Answer Options Never 1 - 25% 26 - 50% 51 - 75% 76 - 100%
Count
At home 12 72 8 15 10 117
Own office 66 4 4 4 2 80
Company /
7 14 3 26 88 138
employer offices
Client office /
37 38 8 5 4 92
premises
Shared office / co-
60 7 3 0 3 73
working space
skipped question 1

What are the THREE most frustrating aspects of working in the user experience-
related discipline?
Response
Count
I don't find anything frustrating 20.8% 33
Finding work 13.8% 22
Explaining what UX means 34.0% 54
Explaining the value of UX 61.0% 97
Low salary 15.1% 24
Finding the right education / training 20.8% 33
Few career options 16.4% 26
skipped question 0

Where do you look for user experience-related jobs or freelance contracts?

Use Use Never Rating Response
Answer Options
often infrequently use Average Count
Linkedin 73 55 30 1.73 158
IXDA 17 60 74 2.38 151
Placement
15 45 87 2.49 147
Agency
Internal
12 50 79 2.48 141
Recruiters
Craigslist 9 19 115 2.74 143
Coroflot 5 15 122 2.82 142
Glassdoor 4 21 115 2.79 140
Behance 1 19 122 2.85 142
skipped question 0

35

In your experience, what has been the most effective way of finding user
experience-related work?
Response
Count
Responding to online ads 12.6% 20
Social media (Twitter, Linkedin, etc.) 9.4% 15
Maintaining a portfolio online 3.8% 6
Friends/word-of-mouth 45.9% 73
In-person networking/events 27.7% 44
Attending job fairs 0.6% 1
skipped question 0

What do you estimate you will earn in 2012, pre-tax and including salary,
commission and/or bonuses? Specify in Canadian Dollars.)


158
skipped question 0

If you work freelance, how are you typically paid? (Select more than one choice if
it varies.)
Response Response
Answer Options
Percent Count
Hourly rate 81.7% 49
Daily rate 15.0% 9
Per project rate/ Flat rate 33.3% 20
Commission 0.0% 0
Share of equity 1.7% 1
skipped question 99

If you work freelance, what is the average hourly rate (in Canadian Dollars) you
charged in 2012?


55
skipped question 104

36

On average, how many hours do you work per week?

Answer Options Response Percent Response Count

Under 20 hours 2.0% 3
20 – 30 hours 5.3% 8
30 – 40 hours 41.7% 63
40 – 50 hours 47.0% 71
50 – 60 hours 2.6% 4
Over 60 hours 1.3% 2
skipped question 8

How old are you?


Under 21 0.0% 0
21 - 25 5.0% 8
26 - 30 19.5% 31
31 - 35 25.8% 41
36 - 40 17.0% 27
41 - 45 17.0% 27
46 - 50 10.1% 16
51 - 55 3.1% 5
56 - 60 1.9% 3
61 - 65 0.0% 0
Over 65 0.6% 1
skipped question 0

What is your gender?


Male 50.9% 81
Female 49.1% 78
skipped question 0

37

Where do you live?*

Response Response
Answer Options
Percent Count
City/Town: 100.0% 159
State/Province: 100.0% 159
Country (if not Canada): 17.0% 27
skipped question 0
* Detailed responses not provided to ensure participant anonymity.

38

Amendments for Next Year
As this is our first time conducting this survey there is a lot we can do to make
next year’s even better. Here are just a few:
• The question: “How many people does your company employ?” should be
required.
• The question: “If you do work for external clients, where are they located?”
should not be required.
• Expand options in the question “What type of company do you work for?” to
include media, financial, and marketing & advertising agencies.
• Rephrase the responses for hours worked per week to better highlight typical
scenarios. E.g. 20 hours (part-time), 32 hours (4-day work week), 40 hours,
More than 40, More than 60, etc.
• Devise questions that better distinguish between freelancers working with
several clients, those on full-time, long-term contracts with a company, and
full-time employees.
• Include “retainer” as a freelance payment type and ask respondents to
specify hourly or daily.
• Ask respondents which tasks they enjoy the most, and which ones they
dislike the most.
• Ask respondents how they use professional associations.
• Time the survey so that responses can be compared with the latest IAI salary
survey data.

Tell us what you think! We’d love to hear from you: info@periscopeux.com

2012 UX Survey Reveals Canadian Work & Salary Trends

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