The UX Design job market keeps growing as companies pay more attention to this field and start comprehending its tremendous impact on business.
But why did UX Design grow so much? Are there real prospects for growth, or is it just a passenger trend?
This article discusses UX design and market trends for the coming years and how you can make the most of this moment to pivot your career.
What is UX Design?
The main goal of UX Design is to develop products that solve user problems while providing them with a good experience.
In this sense, it is worth pointing out that UX Design is not just about creating mobile apps or websites. It actually goes beyond because UX ensures that the interactions with products happen intuitively and that users have an enjoyable experience throughout their journey with a product.
Thus, UX design worries about the following:
- Conducting extensive research to understand the user and unravel their needs and challenges;
- Understanding the technologies used by users in their daily lives;
- Establishing strategies to improve user interaction in order to meet their needs.
As you can see, UX Design goes beyond design knowledge. It requires using resources based on many other disciplines, such as psychology, to ensure the human side of interactions and technology.
As a result, UX Design strongly connects with the User-centered design concept, in which the user is placed at the center of all decisions. There are 3 Human Factors principles that designers use in their work routine:
- Mental models;
- Cognitive load;
- Consistency.
The Interaction Design Foundation states that the job of a UX designer is to create products that deliver the best possible user experience while considering three main factors: how the product looks, feels, and its usability.
Reading tip: What’s The Difference Between UX And UI Design? – Understanding Once And For All
The downfall of Graphic Design
The evolution of digital technologies has brought more comfort, speed, and results to users. For example, we now have mobile banking apps delivering much more agility for transactions, payments, and investments. Another example is e-books, which have gained a lot of space and have shaken the publishing market.
These technological changes reflect a new user's behavior, needs, and demands. People are more independent and confident in operating technologies because everything is becoming more accessible. And they are looking for more ease and efficiency in their interactions. As a result, users are no longer satisfied with pretty designs that don't solve a need.
Nowadays, it is not enough to create designs with impeccable aesthetics; but the product must be efficient and accessible.
In this sense, the need for fresh insights to meet the emerging needs of users is leading UX jobs to grow and, consequently, weakening the demand for Graphic Designers.
Given this scenario and the great demand for UX Designers, we can see many Graphic Designers pivoting to UX.
UX Designers in demand
The UX Design job market is still rising, and many professionals are interested in changing careers.
The number of UX Designers has grown a lot in recent years, and the trend is for further growth.
According to a survey conducted by NN/g, from 1983 to 2017, the UX profession grew from 1,000 to about 1 million professionals.
The forecast for 2050, meanwhile, is that the profession will grow to about 100 million people.
We are at the beginning of this exponential curve, and if you want to make a move into UX Design, now is a great time to learn the necessary skills.
As time goes by and the market matures, even though there will be more demand, companies will also have higher standards and expect more from designers.
Therefore, seizing this moment is an opportunity to change careers and conquer a spot on the UX table.
Why is UX Design on demand?
1) Technology and Innovation
Technology evolves at a very high speed while it becomes more accessible to more people.
Added to this, users' new demands and behavior make companies think about how to develop products with better experiences and interactions.
The market will not accept products that cannot meet users' needs efficiently.
Therefore, the expansion of technology is a factor that is closely related to the growth of the UX Design market, especially when there are new interaction technologies such as IoT (Internet of Things).
2) User-Centered Design
Another contributor to the rising demand for UX designers is the increased focus on customer experience and the dissemination of User-Centered Design principles.
The UCD focuses on putting the user at the center of product development decisions to ensure a better experience.
In this regard, many companies have come to understand that failing to care about the user can actually waste time, effort, and money.
3) Most companies have low UX maturity levels
Aligned with the last topic, companies that do not care about their users and how to solve their problems can experience significant losses.
In this sense, companies will have to turn their eyes to UX Design to keep up with the market and their competitors.
The world's largest technology companies are investing in design teams more than ever.
The Internet trends report from consultancy KPCB showed that companies like Amazon, Facebook, and Google prioritize their platforms' design. All three companies increased their design teams by 65% last year.
Another example is the Australian company Atlassian Corp. In 2012 it had one designer for every 25 programmers. In 2017, the ratio fell to 1 designer to every nine programmers.
On the other hand, IBM showed an even more discrepant ratio: from 1 designer to 71 programmers in 2012, changing to 1 designer to every 8 programmers in 2017.
4) Companies' investments in UX
Companies' investment in UX Design is a determining factor for their market growth.
Thus, greater UX design investments increase supplies and boost the market, leading to more opportunities.
Check here an infographic made by UserTesting.com about investments in UX.
Pivoting into UX Design
Therefore, making the most of this moment is essential if you want to change careers and break into the UX industry.
Right now, the supply of jobs is still much higher than the demand, so here's the scenario we're looking at:
- Companies are still less demanding (although it's starting to change) and willing to train or teach entry-level designers;
- Companies are helping with international visas to bring professionals from other countries;
- There are several remote work offers.
So, if you are considering pivoting to UX Design, there may be no better time than now.
Besides the reasons mentioned above, UX professionals are being more and more valued within companies, which means more competitive salaries and rapid growth.
The UX boom is still in its early stages. But the more time goes by, the more difficult it will be to migrate smoothly. We recommend starting the first steps to becoming a Product Designer now.
Bootcamps: An Opportunity To Build A Portfolio
Thinking of providing a source of in-depth UX knowledge to help as many people as possible in their career process, Aela has developed the Master Interface Design (MID) Bootcamp.
Reminder about Aela MID Bootcamp: The course is not yet available in English, but we are currently working towards this goal! You're invited to sign up for our newsletter to get early access when it launches!
The MID Bootcamp is a complete and intense course about UX Design, requiring no experience or background in the subject. This means you learn everything you need to start a career in UX from scratch.
In addition, Aela offers mentoring and full support from our growing community on Slack. There, students and mentors collaborate daily with their day-to-day experiences, extra tips, doubts, and anything they might be struggling with until they get their first UX opportunity.
Something essential in our Master Interface Design Bootcamp is the experience of our mentors, who have worked for more than ten years in companies worldwide.
Thus, they can guide the students on the best practices and novelties and share with them what is most updated in the market. All this is essential for the students to obtain results in a few months of study.
Working this way is how we have helped several students land a job in UX, whether they have a background in design or not. Each story is unique, but they all have something in common: dedication, studies, and work. Besides, of course, following our mentors' guidelines.
What they say about it
Check a few testimonials from students who study the Bootcamp Master Interface Design with us:
“…I did get called to a few interviews at some very interesting companies. But the feedback was always the same: they liked me but needed someone more focused on Product Design. With this, I decided to take Aela's course (MID) which helped me a lot in terms of orientation to obtain positive results. Then, during phase 2 of the course, more directed and oriented by Aela's mentors, I revised my portfolio… I studied a lot, worked on the first projects, and set up my new portfolio online. After that, I began applying for jobs again and started getting better feedback just as a result of these initial steps." — Victor Rosato
"I am very grateful to you at Aela for giving back the dream that had faded in me. Today, particularly, I am very happy with what I do, and every day is a new opportunity to learn and seek knowledge." - André Borges
"What made me decide to attend MID was seeing in my research the number of job opportunities for UI/UX. It was Aela's very first class, and I didn't know anything at the beginning. I started from scratch, and it helped me a lot, from software to thinking about the user, what you are doing and why you are doing it. I believe that without this course, I wouldn't have landed my first opportunity in UX.” — Inis Leahy
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