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 16 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
16 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 252 191 208
Rank change year-on-year -61 +17 -41
Contract jobs citing UX Design 506 422 481
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.01% 1.42% 1.10%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.19% 1.56% 1.30%
Number of daily rates quoted 342 282 330
10th Percentile £363 £305 £356
25th Percentile £402 £368 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £459 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.38% -8.11% -9.09%
75th Percentile £575 £549 £620
90th Percentile £661 £625 £675
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £425 £450
% change year-on-year +11.76% -5.56% -5.26%
Number of hourly rates quoted 11 9 8
10th Percentile £20.31 - £30.17
25th Percentile £24.50 £35.25 £32.73
Median hourly rate £28.09 £47.50 £37.37
Median % change year-on-year -40.86% +27.10% -27.08%
75th Percentile £58.58 £70.16 £52.00
90th Percentile £97.50 £96.90 £88.61
UK excluding London median hourly rate £27.24 £70.16 £91.44
% change year-on-year -61.17% -23.27% +37.83%

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 42,574 26,968 37,058
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.80% 91.03% 85.06%
Number of daily rates quoted 26,549 17,103 23,600
10th Percentile £325 £300 £300
25th Percentile £413 £406 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £506 £525
Median % change year-on-year +1.28% -3.62% -4.55%
75th Percentile £619 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,556 1,231 2,598
10th Percentile £14.82 £14.20 £12.75
25th Percentile £20.00 £17.87 £16.01
Median hourly rate £43.96 £26.32 £37.18
Median % change year-on-year +67.02% -29.21% +6.23%
75th Percentile £68.00 £55.25 £61.30
90th Percentile £81.25 £73.75 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £44.50 £25.15 £38.12
% change year-on-year +76.94% -34.02% +17.29%

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 16 June 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 16 June 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 16 June 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 -44 420 £475 +3.50% 235
London -51 231 £500 +5.26% 152
UK excluding London -32 213 £475 +11.76% 118
Work from Home -46 126 £475 +11.76% 106
North of England -38 74 £450 +12.50% 26
North West -14 49 £400 +3.23% 20
Midlands -35 35 £550 +54.49% 15
Scotland -4 34 £525 +14.13% 8
South West -10 32 £475 +11.76% 6
West Midlands -38 27 £488 +21.88% 9
South East -59 26 £550 +22.22% 35
Yorkshire -53 14 £500 +24.84% 2
North East -26 11 £450 +5.88% 4
East of England -27 10 £410 -14.58% 13
East Midlands -21 8 £575 +62.89% 6
Wales -11 3 £450 +2.86% 6
Northern Ireland - 1 - - 9

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 23 (4.55%) CMS
2 19 (3.75%) Confluence
3 4 (0.79%) Kentico
3 4 (0.79%) SharePoint
3 4 (0.79%) Umbraco
3 4 (0.79%) WordPress
4 3 (0.59%) Headless CMS
5 1 (0.20%) Adobe Experience Manager
5 1 (0.20%) Apache
5 1 (0.20%) Appian
5 1 (0.20%) Camunda
5 1 (0.20%) Drupal
5 1 (0.20%) Mendix
5 1 (0.20%) Moodle
5 1 (0.20%) nginx
5 1 (0.20%) Strapi
5 1 (0.20%) Traefik
Applications
1 31 (6.13%) Sketch
2 16 (3.16%) Adobe XD
3 11 (2.17%) Photoshop
4 10 (1.98%) Adobe After Effects
4 10 (1.98%) Chatbot
5 9 (1.78%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 9 (1.78%) Adobe Illustrator
6 7 (1.38%) InVision
7 5 (0.99%) Final Cut Pro
8 3 (0.59%) Microsoft Excel
8 3 (0.59%) MS Visio
9 2 (0.40%) Microsoft Office
9 2 (0.40%) UserZoom
10 1 (0.20%) Adobe Captivate
10 1 (0.20%) Microsoft PowerPoint
10 1 (0.20%) OmniGraffle
10 1 (0.20%) Trello
Business Applications
1 5 (0.99%) Shopify
2 2 (0.40%) Dynamics CRM
2 2 (0.40%) SAP S/4HANA
3 1 (0.20%) Eloqua
3 1 (0.20%) SAP HR
3 1 (0.20%) Sprinklr
Cloud Services
1 149 (29.45%) Figma
2 59 (11.66%) Azure
3 30 (5.93%) AWS
4 25 (4.94%) Azure DevOps
5 18 (3.56%) Power Platform
6 15 (2.96%) GitHub
6 15 (2.96%) GitHub Actions
7 12 (2.37%) SaaS
8 10 (1.98%) Firebase
9 8 (1.58%) GCP
9 8 (1.58%) Serverless
10 7 (1.38%) AWS Lambda
10 7 (1.38%) Microsoft Copilot
11 6 (1.19%) Amazon S3
11 6 (1.19%) AWS CloudFormation
11 6 (1.19%) Google Play
12 5 (0.99%) Slack
13 4 (0.79%) BigCommerce
13 4 (0.79%) Microsoft 365
13 4 (0.79%) Miro
Communications & Networking
1 1 (0.20%) Internet
1 1 (0.20%) Reverse Proxy
Database & Business Intelligence
1 9 (1.78%) Power BI
1 9 (1.78%) SQL Server
2 6 (1.19%) PostgreSQL
3 5 (0.99%) Metadata
3 5 (0.99%) Power Query
4 4 (0.79%) Elasticsearch
4 4 (0.79%) NoSQL
5 3 (0.59%) DynamoDB
5 3 (0.59%) MongoDB
5 3 (0.59%) Pinecone
5 3 (0.59%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 2 (0.40%) CockroachDB
6 2 (0.40%) Redis
6 2 (0.40%) Relational Database
6 2 (0.40%) Star Schema
7 1 (0.20%) Azure SQL Database
7 1 (0.20%) Data Warehouse
7 1 (0.20%) Flink
7 1 (0.20%) MySQL
7 1 (0.20%) SQLite
Development Applications
1 30 (5.93%) JIRA
2 27 (5.34%) Git
3 18 (3.56%) Cypress.io
4 16 (3.16%) Jenkins
5 15 (2.96%) GitLab
6 10 (1.98%) fastlane
7 8 (1.58%) Axure RP
8 6 (1.19%) Android Studio
8 6 (1.19%) CircleCI
8 6 (1.19%) Gradle
8 6 (1.19%) JUnit
9 5 (0.99%) Crashlytics
9 5 (0.99%) Mocha
9 5 (0.99%) Xcode
10 4 (0.79%) Visual Studio
11 3 (0.59%) Vite
11 3 (0.59%) webpack
12 2 (0.40%) REST Assured
12 2 (0.40%) Selenium
12 2 (0.40%) Storybook
General
1 150 (29.64%) Social Skills
2 100 (19.76%) Public Sector
3 85 (16.80%) Finance
4 58 (11.46%) Banking
5 27 (5.34%) Analytical Skills
6 23 (4.55%) Retail
7 22 (4.35%) Presentation Skills
8 20 (3.95%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 14 (2.77%) Automotive
9 14 (2.77%) Marketing
10 12 (2.37%) Publishing
11 7 (1.38%) Influencing Skills
12 6 (1.19%) Documentation Skills
12 6 (1.19%) Legal
12 6 (1.19%) Pharmaceutical
13 5 (0.99%) Games
13 5 (0.99%) Local Government
14 4 (0.79%) Corporate Banking
14 4 (0.79%) Investment Banking
14 4 (0.79%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 252 (49.80%) Designer
2 141 (27.87%) UX Designer
3 82 (16.21%) Senior
4 73 (14.43%) Developer
5 59 (11.66%) UI Designer
6 45 (8.89%) Content Designer
7 43 (8.50%) Senior Designer
8 42 (8.30%) UI/UX Designer
9 38 (7.51%) Lead
10 36 (7.11%) Product Designer
11 29 (5.73%) Senior UX Designer
12 22 (4.35%) User Researcher
13 20 (3.95%) User Experience Researcher
14 19 (3.75%) Analyst
15 18 (3.56%) Architect
15 18 (3.56%) Service Designer
16 15 (2.96%) Business Analyst
16 15 (2.96%) Front-End Developer (Client-Side Developer)
17 14 (2.77%) Consultant
17 14 (2.77%) Full-Stack Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 66 (13.04%) React
2 59 (11.66%) CSS
3 57 (11.26%) HTML
4 39 (7.71%) RESTful
5 28 (5.53%) AngularJS
6 25 (4.94%) .NET
7 24 (4.74%) HTML5
8 23 (4.55%) CSS3
9 21 (4.15%) REST
10 15 (2.96%) Jest
10 15 (2.96%) Spring
11 14 (2.77%) Node.js
11 14 (2.77%) Spring Boot
12 13 (2.57%) OAuth
13 12 (2.37%) Redux
14 11 (2.17%) Vue
15 9 (1.78%) ASP.NET
15 9 (1.78%) Playwright
16 8 (1.58%) .NET Framework
17 7 (1.38%) JSON
Miscellaneous
1 66 (13.04%) Product Ownership
2 40 (7.91%) Mobile App
3 14 (2.77%) Animation
4 13 (2.57%) Onboarding
5 12 (2.37%) Cloud Native
5 12 (2.37%) Self-Motivation
6 10 (1.98%) Graphic Design
7 8 (1.58%) Data Protection Act
7 8 (1.58%) Enterprise Software
7 8 (1.58%) Greenfield Project
7 8 (1.58%) Taxonomies
8 5 (0.99%) AI Agents
8 5 (0.99%) Digital Wallet
8 5 (0.99%) Legacy Systems
8 5 (0.99%) Virtual Reality
8 5 (0.99%) Virtual Team
9 4 (0.79%) Data Structures
9 4 (0.79%) Distributed Systems
9 4 (0.79%) Educational Technology
9 4 (0.79%) Team-Oriented Environment
Operating Systems
1 11 (2.17%) Android
2 9 (1.78%) Apple iOS
3 1 (0.20%) Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 506 (100.00%) User Experience
2 212 (41.90%) Agile
3 135 (26.68%) User Research
4 103 (20.36%) Prototyping
5 98 (19.37%) Wireframes
6 95 (18.77%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
7 81 (16.01%) AI
8 79 (15.61%) Service Design
9 78 (15.42%) Usability Testing
10 74 (14.62%) UX Research
11 65 (12.85%) CI/CD
12 62 (12.25%) Interaction Design
13 61 (12.06%) Analytics
14 59 (11.66%) Problem-Solving
15 56 (11.07%) DevOps
16 54 (10.67%) Stakeholder Management
17 50 (9.88%) Workshop Facilitation
18 46 (9.09%) Customer Experience
19 45 (8.89%) Journey Map
20 44 (8.70%) Scrum
Programming Languages
1 62 (12.25%) JavaScript
2 51 (10.08%) TypeScript
3 32 (6.32%) Java
4 28 (5.53%) Python
5 20 (3.95%) C#
6 16 (3.16%) SQL
7 8 (1.58%) Kotlin
8 6 (1.19%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 5 (0.99%) C++
9 5 (0.99%) Korn
9 5 (0.99%) Lua
9 5 (0.99%) Swift
10 3 (0.59%) Apex Code
11 2 (0.40%) Bicep
11 2 (0.40%) PowerShell
12 1 (0.20%) C
12 1 (0.20%) Gremlin
12 1 (0.20%) Objective-C
12 1 (0.20%) Shell Script
12 1 (0.20%) SPARQL
Qualifications
1 75 (14.82%) Security Cleared
2 55 (10.87%) SC Cleared
3 50 (9.88%) Degree
4 10 (1.98%) BPSS Clearance
4 10 (1.98%) DV Cleared
4 10 (1.98%) Master's Degree
5 4 (0.79%) Computer Science Degree
6 3 (0.59%) CCA
6 3 (0.59%) DBS Check
7 1 (0.20%) Azure Certification
7 1 (0.20%) Citrix Certification
7 1 (0.20%) Microsoft Certification
7 1 (0.20%) Microsoft Certified Professional
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 176 (34.78%) Accessibility
2 67 (13.24%) WCAG
3 25 (4.94%) QA
4 7 (1.38%) Data Quality
5 5 (0.99%) Actionable Recommendations
6 3 (0.59%) ISO/IEC 42001
7 1 (0.20%) EU AI Act
7 1 (0.20%) GDPR
7 1 (0.20%) GMP
7 1 (0.20%) GRC
7 1 (0.20%) GxP
7 1 (0.20%) PCI DSS
7 1 (0.20%) PMO
7 1 (0.20%) WAI
7 1 (0.20%) WAI-ARIA
System Software
1 19 (3.75%) Docker
2 1 (0.20%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 16 (3.16%) Kubernetes
2 15 (2.96%) Terraform
3 2 (0.40%) Single Sign-On
4 1 (0.20%) Ansible
4 1 (0.20%) Grafana
4 1 (0.20%) HP ALM
Vendors
1 41 (8.10%) Adobe
2 25 (4.94%) Microsoft
3 20 (3.95%) Salesforce
4 10 (1.98%) Dynatrace
4 10 (1.98%) Google
5 8 (1.58%) SAP
6 6 (1.19%) ServiceNow
7 5 (0.99%) Apple
8 4 (0.79%) Sitecore
9 3 (0.59%) Foundry
9 3 (0.59%) Progress
9 3 (0.59%) Xamarin
10 2 (0.40%) Blue Prism
10 2 (0.40%) Databricks
10 2 (0.40%) OpenAI
10 2 (0.40%) Oracle
11 1 (0.20%) Automation Anywhere
11 1 (0.20%) Qualtrics
11 1 (0.20%) Telerik
11 1 (0.20%) TOWER Software