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 14 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 269 201 223
Rank change year-on-year -68 +22 -29
Contract jobs citing UX Design 486 443 400
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.91% 1.35% 1.03%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.07% 1.49% 1.20%
Number of daily rates quoted 287 283 273
10th Percentile £363 £313 £350
25th Percentile £406 £364 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £463 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.70% -7.50% -9.09%
75th Percentile £588 £538 £600
90th Percentile £668 £600 £675
UK excluding London median daily rate £460 £425 £450
% change year-on-year +8.24% -5.56% -7.69%
Number of hourly rates quoted 13 18 6
10th Percentile £21.45 £33.14 £28.50
25th Percentile £27.24 £35.25 £31.10
Median hourly rate £42.31 £36.50 £33.07
Median % change year-on-year +15.92% +10.37% -46.01%
75th Percentile £72.50 £66.81 £39.65
90th Percentile £92.75 £70.71 £41.84
UK excluding London median hourly rate £28.09 £42.30 £30.88
% change year-on-year -33.59% +37.00% -55.97%

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 45,278 29,786 33,285
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.80% 90.49% 85.51%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,840 18,586 21,275
10th Percentile £325 £300 £310
25th Percentile £423 £404 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -3.67%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,823 1,710 1,832
10th Percentile £14.22 £14.20 £14.05
25th Percentile £18.50 £17.31 £18.46
Median hourly rate £42.30 £25.15 £41.50
Median % change year-on-year +68.19% -39.40% -2.35%
75th Percentile £68.00 £48.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £81.25 £68.00 £74.83
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.96 £23.00 £42.50
% change year-on-year +91.13% -45.88% +13.33%

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 14 August 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 14 August 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for UX Design in the UK

UX Design
Top 16 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 14 August 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 -58 415 £475 +3.50% 276
London -55 220 £516 +9.26% 151
UK excluding London -49 213 £460 +8.24% 156
Work from Home -69 117 £495 +16.47% 132
North of England -46 69 £450 +18.42% 40
South West -22 37 £475 +6.26% 25
Midlands -39 37 £550 +45.12% 32
Scotland -3 35 £538 +16.22% 8
West Midlands -42 31 £513 +0.59% 27
Yorkshire -27 30 £500 - 14
North West -48 24 £375 - 15
South East -76 23 £550 +29.41% 41
North East -31 15 £450 -4.00% 11
East of England -15 13 £410 -10.87% 7
East Midlands -22 6 £575 +63.82% 5
Wales -14 2 - -

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 28 (5.76%) CMS
2 20 (4.12%) Confluence
3 8 (1.65%) WordPress
4 4 (0.82%) Headless CMS
4 4 (0.82%) Kentico
5 3 (0.62%) Umbraco
6 2 (0.41%) Mendix
7 1 (0.21%) Apache
7 1 (0.21%) Apache Spark
7 1 (0.21%) Camunda
7 1 (0.21%) ColdFusion
7 1 (0.21%) Drupal
7 1 (0.21%) Moodle
7 1 (0.21%) nginx
7 1 (0.21%) Strapi
7 1 (0.21%) Traefik
Applications
1 25 (5.14%) Sketch
2 15 (3.09%) Adobe Creative Suite
3 13 (2.67%) Adobe XD
4 10 (2.06%) Adobe After Effects
5 9 (1.85%) Photoshop
6 8 (1.65%) Adobe Illustrator
6 8 (1.65%) Chatbot
7 6 (1.23%) Final Cut Pro
8 3 (0.62%) Microsoft Excel
8 3 (0.62%) MS Visio
9 2 (0.41%) InVision
9 2 (0.41%) Microsoft Office
10 1 (0.21%) Adobe Captivate
10 1 (0.21%) Trello
10 1 (0.21%) UserZoom
Business Applications
1 4 (0.82%) Dynamics CRM
1 4 (0.82%) Shopify
2 2 (0.41%) SAP S/4HANA
3 1 (0.21%) Eloqua
3 1 (0.21%) Payment Gateway
3 1 (0.21%) SAP HR
3 1 (0.21%) Sprinklr
Cloud Services
1 128 (26.34%) Figma
2 51 (10.49%) Azure
3 26 (5.35%) AWS
3 26 (5.35%) Azure DevOps
4 20 (4.12%) Power Platform
5 15 (3.09%) GitHub
6 14 (2.88%) SaaS
7 13 (2.67%) GCP
8 11 (2.26%) Firebase
9 10 (2.06%) GitHub Actions
10 9 (1.85%) Microsoft Copilot
11 7 (1.44%) Slack
12 6 (1.23%) Google Play
12 6 (1.23%) Serverless
13 5 (1.03%) Azure AI
14 4 (0.82%) BigCommerce
14 4 (0.82%) Copilot Studio
14 4 (0.82%) Microsoft 365
14 4 (0.82%) Miro
14 4 (0.82%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 1 (0.21%) Bluetooth
1 1 (0.21%) NFC
1 1 (0.21%) Reverse Proxy
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (2.88%) Power BI
2 9 (1.85%) PostgreSQL
3 6 (1.23%) Metadata
3 6 (1.23%) Power Query
4 5 (1.03%) NoSQL
4 5 (1.03%) SQL Server
5 4 (0.82%) Data Warehouse
5 4 (0.82%) Elasticsearch
5 4 (0.82%) Redis
6 3 (0.62%) Azure SQL Database
6 3 (0.62%) MongoDB
6 3 (0.62%) Relational Database
6 3 (0.62%) Star Schema
7 2 (0.41%) DynamoDB
7 2 (0.41%) MySQL
7 2 (0.41%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 2 (0.41%) SQLite
8 1 (0.21%) Amazon QuickSight
8 1 (0.21%) Pinecone
8 1 (0.21%) Qlik Sense
Development Applications
1 31 (6.38%) JIRA
2 25 (5.14%) Git
3 15 (3.09%) Jenkins
4 14 (2.88%) Cypress.io
5 10 (2.06%) fastlane
6 6 (1.23%) Android Studio
6 6 (1.23%) GitLab
6 6 (1.23%) Gradle
7 5 (1.03%) Crashlytics
7 5 (1.03%) Storybook
7 5 (1.03%) Vite
7 5 (1.03%) Xcode
8 4 (0.82%) Claude Code
8 4 (0.82%) webpack
9 3 (0.62%) JUnit
10 2 (0.41%) Babel
10 2 (0.41%) Jasmine
10 2 (0.41%) Karma Test Runner
11 1 (0.21%) git-flow
11 1 (0.21%) rollup.js
General
1 140 (28.81%) Social Skills
2 95 (19.55%) Public Sector
3 91 (18.72%) Finance
4 47 (9.67%) Banking
5 29 (5.97%) Retail
6 27 (5.56%) Analytical Skills
7 23 (4.73%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 19 (3.91%) Publishing
9 16 (3.29%) Presentation Skills
10 15 (3.09%) Automotive
11 12 (2.47%) Marketing
12 10 (2.06%) Influencing Skills
12 10 (2.06%) Military
13 9 (1.85%) Legal
14 6 (1.23%) Pharmaceutical
15 5 (1.03%) Advertising
15 5 (1.03%) Law
16 4 (0.82%) Aerospace
16 4 (0.82%) Electronics
16 4 (0.82%) Games
Job Titles
1 245 (50.41%) Designer
2 131 (26.95%) UX Designer
3 94 (19.34%) Senior
4 72 (14.81%) Developer
5 63 (12.96%) UI Designer
6 46 (9.47%) UI/UX Designer
7 45 (9.26%) Content Designer
8 44 (9.05%) Senior Designer
9 41 (8.44%) Lead
10 27 (5.56%) Senior UX Designer
11 24 (4.94%) Product Designer
12 19 (3.91%) Front-End Developer (Client-Side Developer)
12 19 (3.91%) User Researcher
13 18 (3.70%) User Experience Researcher
14 17 (3.50%) Analyst
15 16 (3.29%) Senior Developer
16 15 (3.09%) Business Analyst
16 15 (3.09%) Consultant
16 15 (3.09%) Service Designer
17 12 (2.47%) Junior
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 57 (11.73%) React
2 56 (11.52%) CSS
3 52 (10.70%) HTML
4 27 (5.56%) RESTful
5 26 (5.35%) AngularJS
6 23 (4.73%) HTML5
7 22 (4.53%) CSS3
8 20 (4.12%) REST
9 14 (2.88%) .NET
10 12 (2.47%) Android SDK
10 12 (2.47%) Jest
11 11 (2.26%) Redux
12 10 (2.06%) Vue
13 9 (1.85%) GraphQL
14 8 (1.65%) Next.js
14 8 (1.65%) Node.js
14 8 (1.65%) VML
15 7 (1.44%) .NET Framework
15 7 (1.44%) FastAPI
15 7 (1.44%) Playwright
Miscellaneous
1 63 (12.96%) Product Ownership
2 50 (10.29%) Mobile App
3 14 (2.88%) Self-Motivation
4 13 (2.67%) Animation
5 12 (2.47%) Cloud Native
6 11 (2.26%) AI Agents
6 11 (2.26%) Onboarding
7 9 (1.85%) Data Protection Act
8 8 (1.65%) Graphic Design
8 8 (1.65%) Taxonomies
9 7 (1.44%) Greenfield Project
9 7 (1.44%) NHS
9 7 (1.44%) Virtual Reality
10 6 (1.23%) Algorithms
10 6 (1.23%) Enterprise Software
10 6 (1.23%) Legacy Systems
10 6 (1.23%) Social Media
11 5 (1.03%) IoT
12 4 (0.82%) Data Structures
12 4 (0.82%) Educational Technology
Operating Systems
1 15 (3.09%) Android
2 8 (1.65%) Apple iOS
3 2 (0.41%) Windows
4 1 (0.21%) Linux
4 1 (0.21%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 486 (100.00%) User Experience
2 198 (40.74%) Agile
3 117 (24.07%) User Research
4 94 (19.34%) AI
4 94 (19.34%) Prototyping
5 91 (18.72%) Wireframes
6 89 (18.31%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
7 71 (14.61%) Service Design
8 69 (14.20%) Usability Testing
9 63 (12.96%) Analytics
9 63 (12.96%) CI/CD
9 63 (12.96%) Stakeholder Management
10 60 (12.35%) Problem-Solving
11 57 (11.73%) Interaction Design
12 55 (11.32%) UX Research
13 52 (10.70%) Customer Experience
14 49 (10.08%) Workshop Facilitation
15 47 (9.67%) Scrum
16 46 (9.47%) DevOps
17 45 (9.26%) Journey Map
Programming Languages
1 56 (11.52%) JavaScript
2 45 (9.26%) TypeScript
3 27 (5.56%) Java
4 25 (5.14%) Python
5 20 (4.12%) SQL
6 13 (2.67%) Kotlin
7 10 (2.06%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 9 (1.85%) C#
9 5 (1.03%) Swift
10 3 (0.62%) Apex Code
10 3 (0.62%) C++
10 3 (0.62%) Lua
10 3 (0.62%) PHP
11 2 (0.41%) Bicep
11 2 (0.41%) PowerShell
11 2 (0.41%) Ruby
12 1 (0.21%) CFML
12 1 (0.21%) Gremlin
12 1 (0.21%) JSX
12 1 (0.21%) Korn
Qualifications
1 83 (17.08%) Security Cleared
2 58 (11.93%) SC Cleared
3 45 (9.26%) Degree
4 12 (2.47%) BPSS Clearance
5 10 (2.06%) DV Cleared
6 9 (1.85%) Computer Science Degree
7 8 (1.65%) Master's Degree
8 3 (0.62%) Azure Certification
8 3 (0.62%) DBS Check
9 2 (0.41%) CCA
10 1 (0.21%) Citrix Certification
10 1 (0.21%) CTC Cleared
10 1 (0.21%) IIBA
10 1 (0.21%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
10 1 (0.21%) MBA
10 1 (0.21%) Microsoft Certification
10 1 (0.21%) Microsoft Certified Professional
10 1 (0.21%) PhD
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 158 (32.51%) Accessibility
2 61 (12.55%) WCAG
3 25 (5.14%) QA
4 11 (2.26%) Data Quality
5 3 (0.62%) Actionable Recommendations
5 3 (0.62%) ISO/IEC 42001
6 2 (0.41%) GDPR
7 1 (0.21%) GMP
7 1 (0.21%) GRC
7 1 (0.21%) GxP
7 1 (0.21%) PMO
7 1 (0.21%) WAI
7 1 (0.21%) WAI-ARIA
System Software
1 14 (2.88%) Docker
2 1 (0.21%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 13 (2.67%) Kubernetes
2 10 (2.06%) Terraform
3 2 (0.41%) Grafana
4 1 (0.21%) Kibana
Vendors
1 42 (8.64%) Adobe
2 34 (7.00%) Microsoft
3 14 (2.88%) Salesforce
4 11 (2.26%) Dynatrace
5 9 (1.85%) Google
6 8 (1.65%) SAP
6 8 (1.65%) ServiceNow
7 6 (1.23%) Apple
7 6 (1.23%) Oracle
8 5 (1.03%) Foundry
9 4 (0.82%) Anaplan
9 4 (0.82%) Databricks
9 4 (0.82%) Sitecore
10 3 (0.62%) Progress
11 2 (0.41%) Blue Prism
11 2 (0.41%) IBM
11 2 (0.41%) OpenAI
11 2 (0.41%) Optimizely
12 1 (0.21%) AppDynamics
12 1 (0.21%) MuleSoft