UX Design Contract Job Trends

User Experience Design (UXD)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring UX Design skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 3 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
3 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 228 226 219
Rank change year-on-year -2 -7 -46
Contract jobs citing UX Design 463 366 487
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.20% 1.19% 1.08%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.37% 1.33% 1.24%
Number of daily rates quoted 342 231 336
10th Percentile £354 £313 £339
25th Percentile £400 £382 £407
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £468 £495 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.51% -1.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £538 £575 £600
90th Percentile £605 £638 £675
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £425 £473
% change year-on-year +5.88% -10.05% -5.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 8 5 10
10th Percentile £33.03 £30.86 £48.17
25th Percentile £42.09 £31.50 £71.25
Median hourly rate £49.47 £33.54 £77.50
Median % change year-on-year +47.50% -56.72% +52.71%
75th Percentile £57.19 £53.75 £82.19
90th Percentile £65.63 £79.39 £84.54
UK excluding London median hourly rate £47.50 £32.21 £77.50
% change year-on-year +47.48% -58.44% +58.16%

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK

UX Design falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 33,753 27,550 39,300
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 87.16% 89.25% 87.13%
Number of daily rates quoted 21,385 16,677 25,860
10th Percentile £306 £306 £300
25th Percentile £406 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £638 £638
90th Percentile £719 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £480 £498 £500
% change year-on-year -3.66% -0.35% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,027 862 2,114
10th Percentile £14.50 £15.62 £13.29
25th Percentile £17.69 £21.00 £16.50
Median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -22.62% -7.14% +8.53%
75th Percentile £58.75 £62.50 £61.13
90th Percentile £70.00 £75.00 £73.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.00 £31.50 £35.50
% change year-on-year -20.63% -11.27% +22.41%

UX Design
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing UX Design relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

UX Design job vacancy trend in the UK

UX Design
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing UX Design.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing UX Design

UX Design
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing UX Design over the 6 months to 3 February 2026.

Daily rate histogram for UX Design in the UK

UX Design
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing UX Design.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing UX Design

UX Design
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing UX Design over the 6 months to 3 February 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for UX Design in the UK

UX Design
Top 17 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing UX Design within the UK over the 6 months to 3 February 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
England -21 374 £460 -8.00% 246
London -14 217 £475 -5.00% 127
UK excluding London -14 176 £450 +5.88% 178
Work from Home -15 130 £475 +5.56% 141
North of England -22 70 £401 +0.25% 36
North West -7 46 £388 -1.90% 21
Midlands -37 33 £443 +24.30% 22
Scotland +10 29 £488 +11.43% 8
West Midlands -18 27 £430 -21.82% 14
South East -36 17 £513 +13.38% 65
Yorkshire -42 17 £513 +2.50% 12
South West -12 14 £450 +63.64% 20
East of England -18 8 £460 +2.22% 17
Wales +9 7 £450 - 8
North East -9 7 £367 -5.42% 3
East Midlands -26 6 £515 +44.66% 8
Northern Ireland -4 1 £625 +16.28% 3

UX Design
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 19 (4.10%) Confluence
2 18 (3.89%) CMS
3 8 (1.73%) SharePoint
4 6 (1.30%) SugarCRM
5 3 (0.65%) Jupyter
6 2 (0.43%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 2 (0.43%) Appian
6 2 (0.43%) Headless CMS
6 2 (0.43%) Sitecore CMS
6 2 (0.43%) Umbraco
7 1 (0.22%) Cloud Foundry
7 1 (0.22%) Drupal
Applications
1 47 (10.15%) Sketch
2 32 (6.91%) Adobe XD
3 13 (2.81%) InVision
4 10 (2.16%) Chatbot
5 5 (1.08%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 5 (1.08%) Adobe Illustrator
6 4 (0.86%) Adobe After Effects
6 4 (0.86%) Photoshop
7 3 (0.65%) Microsoft Excel
7 3 (0.65%) Microsoft Office
7 3 (0.65%) MS Visio
8 2 (0.43%) Blender
8 2 (0.43%) CINEMA 4D
8 2 (0.43%) InDesign
8 2 (0.43%) OmniGraffle
8 2 (0.43%) Trello
8 2 (0.43%) Zeplin
9 1 (0.22%) Camtasia
9 1 (0.22%) Spreadsheet
9 1 (0.22%) UXPin
Business Applications
1 4 (0.86%) Dynamics CRM
2 1 (0.22%) Maximo
2 1 (0.22%) Salesforce CRM
2 1 (0.22%) SAP CO
2 1 (0.22%) SAP FI
2 1 (0.22%) SAP FI/CO
Cloud Services
1 137 (29.59%) Figma
2 60 (12.96%) Azure
3 52 (11.23%) AWS
4 31 (6.70%) SaaS
5 19 (4.10%) Miro
6 16 (3.46%) GCP
6 16 (3.46%) GitHub
6 16 (3.46%) Power Platform
7 13 (2.81%) GitHub Actions
8 12 (2.59%) Azure DevOps
9 6 (1.30%) Microsoft 365
9 6 (1.30%) PaaS
9 6 (1.30%) Serverless
10 5 (1.08%) Firebase
10 5 (1.08%) IaaS
10 5 (1.08%) PowerApps
11 4 (0.86%) AWS Lambda
11 4 (0.86%) Contentful
11 4 (0.86%) Entra ID
11 4 (0.86%) Lucidchart
Communications & Networking
1 6 (1.30%) Internet
2 3 (0.65%) HTTP
3 2 (0.43%) Intranet
4 1 (0.22%) HTTPS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (2.38%) NoSQL
2 10 (2.16%) SQL Server
3 8 (1.73%) MySQL
3 8 (1.73%) Power BI
4 7 (1.51%) Relational Database
5 6 (1.30%) MongoDB
6 5 (1.08%) Mixpanel
6 5 (1.08%) PostgreSQL
7 4 (0.86%) DynamoDB
8 2 (0.43%) CockroachDB
8 2 (0.43%) Metadata
8 2 (0.43%) Pinecone
9 1 (0.22%) Amazon RDS
9 1 (0.22%) Azure SQL Database
9 1 (0.22%) Data Warehouse
9 1 (0.22%) Elasticsearch
9 1 (0.22%) Oracle Reports
9 1 (0.22%) SAP BW
9 1 (0.22%) SAP HANA
9 1 (0.22%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 48 (10.37%) Git
2 36 (7.78%) JIRA
3 21 (4.54%) Axure RP
4 20 (4.32%) Cypress.io
5 17 (3.67%) GitLab
6 13 (2.81%) Jenkins
6 13 (2.81%) JUnit
7 9 (1.94%) CircleCI
8 7 (1.51%) Gradle
9 6 (1.30%) Mocha
9 6 (1.30%) Xcode
10 5 (1.08%) Visual Studio
10 5 (1.08%) Visual Website Optimizer
11 4 (0.86%) Android Studio
11 4 (0.86%) Eclipse
12 3 (0.65%) Balsamiq
12 3 (0.65%) Lerna
13 2 (0.43%) Selenium
13 2 (0.43%) Snyk
13 2 (0.43%) Vite
General
1 151 (32.61%) Social Skills
2 101 (21.81%) Finance
3 71 (15.33%) Public Sector
4 57 (12.31%) Banking
5 39 (8.42%) Analytical Skills
6 32 (6.91%) Marketing
7 13 (2.81%) Presentation Skills
8 12 (2.59%) Financial Institution
9 10 (2.16%) Influencing Skills
9 10 (2.16%) Retail
10 9 (1.94%) Legal
10 9 (1.94%) Pharmaceutical
11 6 (1.30%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 5 (1.08%) Local Government
13 4 (0.86%) Automotive
13 4 (0.86%) Telecoms
14 3 (0.65%) Front Office
14 3 (0.65%) Investment Banking
14 3 (0.65%) Publishing
14 3 (0.65%) Wearables
Job Titles
1 185 (39.96%) Designer
2 127 (27.43%) UX Designer
3 89 (19.22%) Developer
4 83 (17.93%) Senior
5 42 (9.07%) Senior Designer
6 31 (6.70%) Service Designer
6 31 (6.70%) UI Designer
7 30 (6.48%) Senior UX Designer
8 29 (6.26%) Lead
9 25 (5.40%) Product Designer
10 24 (5.18%) UI/UX Designer
11 22 (4.75%) Front-End Developer (Client-Side Developer)
11 22 (4.75%) User Researcher
12 15 (3.24%) Business Analyst
12 15 (3.24%) Full-Stack Developer
13 14 (3.02%) Analyst
13 14 (3.02%) Content Designer
14 13 (2.81%) Architect
14 13 (2.81%) React Developer
15 12 (2.59%) Senior Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 84 (18.14%) CSS
1 84 (18.14%) HTML
2 75 (16.20%) React
3 50 (10.80%) RESTful
4 35 (7.56%) REST
5 32 (6.91%) HTML5
6 30 (6.48%) AngularJS
7 26 (5.62%) CSS3
8 24 (5.18%) Node.js
9 23 (4.97%) .NET
9 23 (4.97%) Jest
9 23 (4.97%) Spring
10 21 (4.54%) Spring Boot
11 20 (4.32%) Playwright
12 17 (3.67%) Next.js
13 13 (2.81%) Redux
14 12 (2.59%) GraphQL
15 11 (2.38%) OAuth
16 10 (2.16%) Web Services
17 9 (1.94%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 49 (10.58%) Product Ownership
2 41 (8.86%) Mobile App
3 22 (4.75%) Onboarding
4 12 (2.59%) Virtual Team
5 10 (2.16%) NHS
6 9 (1.94%) Distributed Systems
6 9 (1.94%) Low-Code
7 8 (1.73%) Cloud Native
8 6 (1.30%) Enterprise Software
8 6 (1.30%) Mobile Banking
8 6 (1.30%) W3C
9 5 (1.08%) Data Protection Act
9 5 (1.08%) Digital Media
9 5 (1.08%) Digital Wallet
9 5 (1.08%) Greenfield Project
9 5 (1.08%) RIA
10 4 (0.86%) Data Structures
10 4 (0.86%) Graphic Design
10 4 (0.86%) Learning Management System
10 4 (0.86%) Life Science
Operating Systems
1 15 (3.24%) Android
2 12 (2.59%) Apple iOS
3 5 (1.08%) Windows
4 4 (0.86%) Linux
5 3 (0.65%) Windows 10
6 2 (0.43%) Mac OS
7 1 (0.22%) VMS
7 1 (0.22%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 463 (100.00%) User Experience
2 214 (46.22%) Agile
3 129 (27.86%) User Research
4 100 (21.60%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
5 91 (19.65%) Usability Testing
6 86 (18.57%) Prototyping
7 83 (17.93%) Problem-Solving
8 82 (17.71%) Wireframes
9 80 (17.28%) Service Design
10 73 (15.77%) CI/CD
11 69 (14.90%) Front End Development
12 64 (13.82%) Analytics
13 59 (12.74%) UX Research
14 57 (12.31%) Interaction Design
15 51 (11.02%) DevOps
15 51 (11.02%) Workshop Facilitation
16 48 (10.37%) Continuous Improvement
17 44 (9.50%) Journey Map
18 41 (8.86%) AI
18 41 (8.86%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 86 (18.57%) JavaScript
2 53 (11.45%) TypeScript
3 43 (9.29%) Java
4 20 (4.32%) C#
4 20 (4.32%) SQL
5 18 (3.89%) Python
6 9 (1.94%) Kotlin
7 7 (1.51%) PHP
8 6 (1.30%) Swift
9 5 (1.08%) Objective-C
9 5 (1.08%) Scala
10 4 (0.86%) C++
10 4 (0.86%) Ruby
11 3 (0.65%) C
12 2 (0.43%) COBOL
12 2 (0.43%) Groovy
12 2 (0.43%) PL/SQL
13 1 (0.22%) Bash
13 1 (0.22%) BeanShell
13 1 (0.22%) PowerShell
Qualifications
1 49 (10.58%) Degree
2 31 (6.70%) Security Cleared
3 18 (3.89%) SC Cleared
4 15 (3.24%) BPSS Clearance
5 7 (1.51%) Master's Degree
6 6 (1.30%) Computer Science Degree
7 2 (0.43%) Microsoft Certification
7 2 (0.43%) PMI Certification
8 1 (0.22%) AWS Certification
8 1 (0.22%) Azure Certification
8 1 (0.22%) CCA
8 1 (0.22%) DBS Check
8 1 (0.22%) Microsoft Certified Professional
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 143 (30.89%) Accessibility
2 49 (10.58%) WCAG
3 43 (9.29%) QA
4 11 (2.38%) GDPR
5 9 (1.94%) Actionable Recommendations
6 4 (0.86%) California Consumer Privacy Act
6 4 (0.86%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 3 (0.65%) Data Quality
8 1 (0.22%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 33 (7.13%) Docker
2 3 (0.65%) Active Directory
3 1 (0.22%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 21 (4.54%) Kubernetes
2 16 (3.46%) Terraform
3 6 (1.30%) Ansible
3 6 (1.30%) Grafana
4 3 (0.65%) Single Sign-On
5 2 (0.43%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
6 1 (0.22%) Consul
6 1 (0.22%) HP ALM
6 1 (0.22%) Microsoft Intune
6 1 (0.22%) Podman
6 1 (0.22%) Prometheus
6 1 (0.22%) SCCM
Vendors
1 48 (10.37%) Adobe
2 35 (7.56%) Microsoft
3 18 (3.89%) Google
4 13 (2.81%) Salesforce
5 8 (1.73%) ServiceNow
6 7 (1.51%) Optimizely
6 7 (1.51%) SAP
7 6 (1.30%) Hopewiser
7 6 (1.30%) Hotjar
7 6 (1.30%) Oracle
8 5 (1.08%) Amplitude
8 5 (1.08%) MuleSoft
9 4 (0.86%) OutSystems
9 4 (0.86%) Xamarin
10 3 (0.65%) Dataiku
10 3 (0.65%) OpenAI
11 2 (0.43%) Apple
11 2 (0.43%) HP
11 2 (0.43%) OneTrust
11 2 (0.43%) Sitecore