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 22 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
22 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 235 214 210
Rank change year-on-year -21 -4 -31
Contract jobs citing UX Design 468 388 501
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.15% 1.26% 1.12%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.32% 1.40% 1.29%
Number of daily rates quoted 356 250 334
10th Percentile £352 £313 £325
25th Percentile £400 £383 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £498 £500
Median % change year-on-year -4.62% -0.40% -9.09%
75th Percentile £550 £575 £600
90th Percentile £631 £675 £675
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £425 £465
% change year-on-year +5.88% -8.60% -6.53%
Number of hourly rates quoted 7 5 12
10th Percentile £25.42 £32.32 £32.69
25th Percentile £35.64 £33.54 £47.88
Median hourly rate £51.44 £47.50 £75.00
Median % change year-on-year +8.29% -36.67% +53.06%
75th Percentile £64.38 £53.75 £81.56
90th Percentile £67.00 £79.39 £82.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.00 £33.54 £77.50
% change year-on-year +93.80% -56.72% +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 35,362 27,619 38,854
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 86.73% 89.84% 87.06%
Number of daily rates quoted 22,416 17,059 25,415
10th Percentile £313 £306 £300
25th Percentile £410 £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 £720 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £481 £493 £500
% change year-on-year -2.34% -1.50% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,120 859 2,186
10th Percentile £14.64 £15.62 £13.29
25th Percentile £17.96 £21.25 £16.25
Median hourly rate £25.77 £32.81 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -21.46% -6.26% -
75th Percentile £60.75 £63.75 £60.00
90th Percentile £72.50 £75.30 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £31.76 £35.00
% change year-on-year -20.81% -9.26% -

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 22 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 22 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 22 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 -29 380 £468 -6.50% 209
London -11 234 £475 -7.77% 103
UK excluding London -35 169 £450 +5.88% 153
Work from Home -33 123 £475 +5.56% 117
North of England -26 69 £402 +0.50% 31
North West -3 45 £400 - 18
Scotland +7 32 £509 +14.65% 5
Midlands -43 23 £435 +22.19% 18
South East -35 20 £525 +5.00% 64
West Midlands -51 18 £425 -3.41% 13
Yorkshire -53 16 £513 +2.50% 5
South West -20 14 £450 +20.00% 20
North East -15 8 £364 -6.06% 8
Wales +2 7 £450 - 4
East of England -28 5 £425 -25.44% 11
East Midlands -29 5 £545 +53.09% 5
Northern Ireland -3 2 £625 +28.21% 1

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 18 (3.85%) Confluence
2 15 (3.21%) CMS
3 8 (1.71%) SharePoint
4 6 (1.28%) SugarCRM
5 3 (0.64%) 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 (0.21%) Cloud Foundry
7 1 (0.21%) Drupal
Applications
1 49 (10.47%) Sketch
2 36 (7.69%) Adobe XD
3 13 (2.78%) InVision
4 10 (2.14%) Chatbot
5 5 (1.07%) Adobe Illustrator
5 5 (1.07%) Photoshop
6 4 (0.85%) Adobe After Effects
6 4 (0.85%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 3 (0.64%) Microsoft Excel
7 3 (0.64%) MS Visio
8 2 (0.43%) InDesign
8 2 (0.43%) Microsoft Office
8 2 (0.43%) OmniGraffle
8 2 (0.43%) Trello
9 1 (0.21%) Camtasia
9 1 (0.21%) CINEMA 4D
9 1 (0.21%) Microsoft PowerPoint
9 1 (0.21%) Microsoft Project
9 1 (0.21%) UserZoom
9 1 (0.21%) UXPin
Business Applications
1 1 (0.21%) Dynamics CRM
1 1 (0.21%) SAP CO
1 1 (0.21%) SAP FI
1 1 (0.21%) SAP FI/CO
1 1 (0.21%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 154 (32.91%) Figma
2 61 (13.03%) Azure
3 49 (10.47%) AWS
4 32 (6.84%) SaaS
5 20 (4.27%) Miro
6 17 (3.63%) Power Platform
7 16 (3.42%) GCP
8 14 (2.99%) Azure DevOps
8 14 (2.99%) GitHub
9 12 (2.56%) GitHub Actions
10 6 (1.28%) Microsoft 365
10 6 (1.28%) Serverless
11 5 (1.07%) AWS Lambda
11 5 (1.07%) IaaS
11 5 (1.07%) PaaS
11 5 (1.07%) PowerApps
12 4 (0.85%) Entra ID
12 4 (0.85%) Firebase
12 4 (0.85%) Google Gemini
12 4 (0.85%) Lucidchart
Communications & Networking
1 6 (1.28%) Internet
2 2 (0.43%) HTTP
2 2 (0.43%) Intranet
3 1 (0.21%) HTTPS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (2.35%) NoSQL
2 9 (1.92%) MySQL
2 9 (1.92%) Power BI
3 7 (1.50%) SQL Server
4 6 (1.28%) MongoDB
5 5 (1.07%) Mixpanel
6 4 (0.85%) PostgreSQL
6 4 (0.85%) Relational Database
7 3 (0.64%) DynamoDB
8 2 (0.43%) CockroachDB
8 2 (0.43%) Elasticsearch
8 2 (0.43%) Metadata
8 2 (0.43%) Pinecone
9 1 (0.21%) Amazon RDS
9 1 (0.21%) Data Warehouse
9 1 (0.21%) Oracle Reports
9 1 (0.21%) SAP BW
9 1 (0.21%) SAP HANA
9 1 (0.21%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 40 (8.55%) Git
2 35 (7.48%) JIRA
3 22 (4.70%) Axure RP
4 19 (4.06%) Cypress.io
5 18 (3.85%) GitLab
6 11 (2.35%) JUnit
7 10 (2.14%) Jenkins
8 9 (1.92%) CircleCI
9 6 (1.28%) Mocha
10 5 (1.07%) Visual Studio
10 5 (1.07%) Visual Website Optimizer
11 4 (0.85%) Android Studio
11 4 (0.85%) Gradle
12 3 (0.64%) Balsamiq
12 3 (0.64%) Lerna
12 3 (0.64%) Selenium
12 3 (0.64%) Xcode
13 2 (0.43%) Snyk
13 2 (0.43%) TestRail
13 2 (0.43%) Vite
General
1 160 (34.19%) Social Skills
2 96 (20.51%) Finance
3 78 (16.67%) Public Sector
4 55 (11.75%) Banking
5 36 (7.69%) Analytical Skills
6 31 (6.62%) Marketing
7 16 (3.42%) Presentation Skills
8 12 (2.56%) Retail
9 10 (2.14%) Financial Institution
10 9 (1.92%) Legal
11 8 (1.71%) Pharmaceutical
12 6 (1.28%) Local Government
13 5 (1.07%) Influencing Skills
14 4 (0.85%) Documentation Skills
14 4 (0.85%) Games
14 4 (0.85%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 4 (0.85%) Telecoms
15 3 (0.64%) Investment Banking
15 3 (0.64%) Wearables
16 2 (0.43%) Organisational Skills
Job Titles
1 203 (43.38%) Designer
2 139 (29.70%) UX Designer
3 88 (18.80%) Senior
4 79 (16.88%) Developer
5 45 (9.62%) Senior Designer
6 35 (7.48%) Senior UX Designer
7 34 (7.26%) Service Designer
8 33 (7.05%) UI Designer
9 32 (6.84%) Product Designer
10 27 (5.77%) UI/UX Designer
11 26 (5.56%) User Researcher
12 22 (4.70%) Lead
13 15 (3.21%) Content Designer
13 15 (3.21%) Front-End Developer (Client-Side Developer)
14 12 (2.56%) Full-Stack Developer
14 12 (2.56%) Senior Developer
15 11 (2.35%) Analyst
15 11 (2.35%) Architect
15 11 (2.35%) Product Manager
15 11 (2.35%) React Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 79 (16.88%) HTML
2 78 (16.67%) CSS
3 71 (15.17%) React
4 47 (10.04%) RESTful
5 33 (7.05%) HTML5
6 31 (6.62%) REST
7 27 (5.77%) CSS3
8 26 (5.56%) AngularJS
8 26 (5.56%) Node.js
9 22 (4.70%) .NET
10 20 (4.27%) Jest
11 19 (4.06%) Spring
11 19 (4.06%) Spring Boot
12 15 (3.21%) Redux
13 14 (2.99%) Next.js
13 14 (2.99%) Playwright
14 12 (2.56%) GraphQL
15 11 (2.35%) OAuth
16 10 (2.14%) JSON
17 8 (1.71%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 50 (10.68%) Product Ownership
2 39 (8.33%) Mobile App
3 22 (4.70%) Onboarding
4 12 (2.56%) Virtual Team
5 10 (2.14%) NHS
6 8 (1.71%) Distributed Systems
6 8 (1.71%) Low-Code
7 7 (1.50%) Cloud Native
7 7 (1.50%) Enterprise Software
8 6 (1.28%) Data Protection Act
8 6 (1.28%) W3C
9 5 (1.07%) Digital Media
9 5 (1.07%) Digital Wallet
9 5 (1.07%) RIA
10 4 (0.85%) Analytical Mindset
10 4 (0.85%) Animation
10 4 (0.85%) Data Structures
10 4 (0.85%) Graphic Design
10 4 (0.85%) Legacy Systems
11 3 (0.64%) Management Information System
Operating Systems
1 11 (2.35%) Android
2 8 (1.71%) Apple iOS
3 5 (1.07%) Windows
4 3 (0.64%) Windows 10
5 2 (0.43%) Linux
5 2 (0.43%) Mac OS
6 1 (0.21%) VMS
6 1 (0.21%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 468 (100.00%) User Experience
2 220 (47.01%) Agile
3 147 (31.41%) User Research
4 105 (22.44%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
5 101 (21.58%) Usability Testing
6 100 (21.37%) Prototyping
7 94 (20.09%) Wireframes
8 86 (18.38%) Service Design
9 80 (17.09%) Problem-Solving
10 71 (15.17%) CI/CD
11 68 (14.53%) UX Research
12 67 (14.32%) Analytics
13 64 (13.68%) Interaction Design
14 57 (12.18%) Front End Development
15 52 (11.11%) DevOps
16 49 (10.47%) Journey Map
16 49 (10.47%) Workshop Facilitation
17 48 (10.26%) AI
18 44 (9.40%) Stakeholder Management
19 43 (9.19%) Continuous Improvement
Programming Languages
1 81 (17.31%) JavaScript
2 48 (10.26%) TypeScript
3 29 (6.20%) Java
4 19 (4.06%) C#
4 19 (4.06%) Python
5 17 (3.63%) SQL
6 7 (1.50%) Kotlin
6 7 (1.50%) PHP
7 4 (0.85%) Korn
8 3 (0.64%) C++
8 3 (0.64%) Lua
8 3 (0.64%) Swift
9 2 (0.43%) Objective-C
9 2 (0.43%) PowerShell
10 1 (0.21%) Apex Code
10 1 (0.21%) Bash
10 1 (0.21%) BeanShell
10 1 (0.21%) Ruby
10 1 (0.21%) Scala
10 1 (0.21%) SPARQL
Qualifications
1 54 (11.54%) Degree
2 41 (8.76%) Security Cleared
3 25 (5.34%) SC Cleared
4 16 (3.42%) BPSS Clearance
5 9 (1.92%) Master's Degree
6 5 (1.07%) Computer Science Degree
7 3 (0.64%) DV Cleared
7 3 (0.64%) Microsoft Certification
8 2 (0.43%) Azure Certification
8 2 (0.43%) PMI Certification
9 1 (0.21%) AWS Certification
9 1 (0.21%) CCA
9 1 (0.21%) Citrix Certification
9 1 (0.21%) DBS Check
9 1 (0.21%) Microsoft Certified Professional
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 155 (33.12%) Accessibility
2 53 (11.32%) WCAG
3 42 (8.97%) QA
4 10 (2.14%) Actionable Recommendations
5 8 (1.71%) GDPR
6 3 (0.64%) California Consumer Privacy Act
6 3 (0.64%) Data Quality
6 3 (0.64%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 1 (0.21%) EU AI Act
7 1 (0.21%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 31 (6.62%) Docker
2 3 (0.64%) Active Directory
3 1 (0.21%) Virtual Desktop
3 1 (0.21%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 21 (4.49%) Kubernetes
2 17 (3.63%) Terraform
3 6 (1.28%) Grafana
4 4 (0.85%) Ansible
5 3 (0.64%) Single Sign-On
6 2 (0.43%) HP ALM
7 1 (0.21%) Consul
7 1 (0.21%) Microsoft Intune
7 1 (0.21%) Podman
7 1 (0.21%) Prometheus
7 1 (0.21%) SCCM
7 1 (0.21%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
Vendors
1 50 (10.68%) Adobe
2 32 (6.84%) Microsoft
3 18 (3.85%) Google
4 14 (2.99%) Salesforce
5 10 (2.14%) ServiceNow
6 6 (1.28%) Hotjar
6 6 (1.28%) Optimizely
7 5 (1.07%) Amplitude
7 5 (1.07%) MuleSoft
7 5 (1.07%) SAP
8 4 (0.85%) Hopewiser
8 4 (0.85%) Oracle
8 4 (0.85%) OutSystems
8 4 (0.85%) Xamarin
9 3 (0.64%) Dataiku
9 3 (0.64%) HP
9 3 (0.64%) OpenAI
10 2 (0.43%) Apple
10 2 (0.43%) Citrix
10 2 (0.43%) Sitecore