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

6 months to
11 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 268 216 239
Rank change year-on-year -52 +23 -48
Contract jobs citing UX Design 496 436 401
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.93% 1.32% 1.03%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.09% 1.46% 1.20%
Number of daily rates quoted 296 281 273
10th Percentile £363 £313 £350
25th Percentile £406 £365 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £495 £470 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.32% -6.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £588 £550 £600
90th Percentile £668 £638 £675
UK excluding London median daily rate £473 £425 £438
% change year-on-year +11.18% -2.86% -7.89%
Number of hourly rates quoted 14 17 6
10th Percentile £22.02 £32.69 £28.50
25th Percentile £27.45 £35.25 £31.10
Median hourly rate £46.91 £36.50 £33.07
Median % change year-on-year +28.51% +10.37% -46.01%
75th Percentile £72.50 £70.16 £39.65
90th Percentile £90.38 £70.90 £41.84
UK excluding London median hourly rate £31.04 £49.00 £30.88
% change year-on-year -36.65% +58.70% -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 45,312 29,789 33,296
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.84% 90.47% 85.51%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,886 18,626 21,285
10th Percentile £325 £300 £310
25th Percentile £421 £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 £727 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,829 1,693 1,837
10th Percentile £14.22 £14.20 £14.05
25th Percentile £19.00 £17.30 £18.35
Median hourly rate £42.50 £25.15 £40.94
Median % change year-on-year +68.99% -38.57% -1.35%
75th Percentile £68.00 £48.13 £65.00
90th Percentile £82.25 £68.00 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.96 £22.74 £42.50
% change year-on-year +93.36% -46.51% +17.24%

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 11 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 11 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 11 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 -54 421 £475 +1.06% 285
London -60 224 £523 +7.73% 163
UK excluding London -30 218 £473 +11.18% 144
Work from Home -82 118 £500 +17.65% 135
North of England -49 71 £450 +12.50% 46
Scotland -4 38 £531 +14.86% 9
South West -9 38 £475 +6.26% 20
Midlands -41 35 £550 +54.93% 23
Yorkshire -33 30 £500 - 17
West Midlands -41 29 £513 +28.13% 19
North West -38 25 £375 - 16
South East -80 24 £550 +20.55% 35
North East -28 16 £450 -7.69% 13
East of England -14 13 £410 -13.68% 8
East Midlands -11 6 £575 +63.35% 4
Wales -10 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 (5.65%) CMS
2 19 (3.83%) Confluence
3 8 (1.61%) WordPress
4 4 (0.81%) Headless CMS
4 4 (0.81%) Kentico
5 3 (0.60%) Umbraco
6 2 (0.40%) Mendix
7 1 (0.20%) Apache
7 1 (0.20%) Apache Spark
7 1 (0.20%) Camunda
7 1 (0.20%) ColdFusion
7 1 (0.20%) Drupal
7 1 (0.20%) Moodle
7 1 (0.20%) nginx
7 1 (0.20%) Strapi
7 1 (0.20%) Traefik
Applications
1 25 (5.04%) Sketch
2 15 (3.02%) Adobe Creative Suite
3 13 (2.62%) Adobe XD
4 10 (2.02%) Adobe After Effects
5 9 (1.81%) Photoshop
6 8 (1.61%) Adobe Illustrator
6 8 (1.61%) Chatbot
7 6 (1.21%) Final Cut Pro
8 3 (0.60%) Microsoft Excel
8 3 (0.60%) MS Visio
9 2 (0.40%) InVision
9 2 (0.40%) Microsoft Office
10 1 (0.20%) Adobe Captivate
10 1 (0.20%) Trello
10 1 (0.20%) UserZoom
Business Applications
1 4 (0.81%) Dynamics CRM
1 4 (0.81%) Shopify
2 2 (0.40%) SAP S/4HANA
3 1 (0.20%) Eloqua
3 1 (0.20%) Payment Gateway
3 1 (0.20%) SAP HR
3 1 (0.20%) Sprinklr
Cloud Services
1 132 (26.61%) Figma
2 51 (10.28%) Azure
3 27 (5.44%) AWS
4 26 (5.24%) Azure DevOps
5 20 (4.03%) Power Platform
6 15 (3.02%) GitHub
7 14 (2.82%) SaaS
8 13 (2.62%) GCP
9 11 (2.22%) Firebase
10 10 (2.02%) GitHub Actions
11 9 (1.81%) Microsoft Copilot
12 7 (1.41%) Serverless
12 7 (1.41%) Slack
13 6 (1.21%) Google Play
14 5 (1.01%) Azure AI
14 5 (1.01%) Miro
15 4 (0.81%) AWS Lambda
15 4 (0.81%) BigCommerce
15 4 (0.81%) Microsoft 365
15 4 (0.81%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 1 (0.20%) Bluetooth
1 1 (0.20%) NFC
1 1 (0.20%) Reverse Proxy
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (2.82%) Power BI
2 9 (1.81%) PostgreSQL
3 6 (1.21%) Metadata
3 6 (1.21%) Power Query
4 5 (1.01%) NoSQL
4 5 (1.01%) SQL Server
5 4 (0.81%) Elasticsearch
5 4 (0.81%) Redis
6 3 (0.60%) Azure SQL Database
6 3 (0.60%) Data Warehouse
6 3 (0.60%) MongoDB
6 3 (0.60%) Relational Database
6 3 (0.60%) Star Schema
7 2 (0.40%) DynamoDB
7 2 (0.40%) MySQL
7 2 (0.40%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 2 (0.40%) SQLite
8 1 (0.20%) Amazon QuickSight
8 1 (0.20%) Pinecone
8 1 (0.20%) Qlik Sense
Development Applications
1 32 (6.45%) JIRA
2 24 (4.84%) Git
3 15 (3.02%) Jenkins
4 14 (2.82%) Cypress.io
5 10 (2.02%) fastlane
6 6 (1.21%) Android Studio
6 6 (1.21%) GitLab
6 6 (1.21%) Gradle
7 5 (1.01%) Crashlytics
7 5 (1.01%) Storybook
7 5 (1.01%) Vite
7 5 (1.01%) Xcode
8 4 (0.81%) Claude Code
8 4 (0.81%) webpack
9 3 (0.60%) JUnit
10 2 (0.40%) Babel
10 2 (0.40%) Jasmine
10 2 (0.40%) Karma Test Runner
11 1 (0.20%) REST Assured
11 1 (0.20%) rollup.js
General
1 150 (30.24%) Social Skills
2 99 (19.96%) Public Sector
3 93 (18.75%) Finance
4 49 (9.88%) Banking
5 29 (5.85%) Retail
6 26 (5.24%) Analytical Skills
7 23 (4.64%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 19 (3.83%) Publishing
9 16 (3.23%) Presentation Skills
10 15 (3.02%) Automotive
11 12 (2.42%) Marketing
12 10 (2.02%) Influencing Skills
12 10 (2.02%) Military
13 9 (1.81%) Legal
14 6 (1.21%) Pharmaceutical
15 5 (1.01%) Advertising
15 5 (1.01%) Documentation Skills
15 5 (1.01%) Games
15 5 (1.01%) Law
16 4 (0.81%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 251 (50.60%) Designer
2 137 (27.62%) UX Designer
3 98 (19.76%) Senior
4 70 (14.11%) Developer
5 62 (12.50%) UI Designer
6 46 (9.27%) Senior Designer
7 45 (9.07%) Content Designer
7 45 (9.07%) UI/UX Designer
8 41 (8.27%) Lead
9 29 (5.85%) Senior UX Designer
10 24 (4.84%) Product Designer
11 20 (4.03%) User Researcher
12 19 (3.83%) User Experience Researcher
13 18 (3.63%) Front-End Developer (Client-Side Developer)
14 17 (3.43%) Analyst
15 16 (3.23%) Senior Developer
15 16 (3.23%) Service Designer
16 15 (3.02%) Business Analyst
16 15 (3.02%) Consultant
17 12 (2.42%) Junior
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 58 (11.69%) React
2 57 (11.49%) CSS
3 53 (10.69%) HTML
4 27 (5.44%) RESTful
5 26 (5.24%) AngularJS
6 22 (4.44%) HTML5
7 21 (4.23%) CSS3
8 20 (4.03%) REST
9 14 (2.82%) .NET
10 12 (2.42%) Android SDK
10 12 (2.42%) Jest
10 12 (2.42%) Redux
11 10 (2.02%) GraphQL
11 10 (2.02%) Vue
12 9 (1.81%) Next.js
13 8 (1.61%) Node.js
13 8 (1.61%) VML
14 7 (1.41%) .NET Framework
14 7 (1.41%) OAuth
14 7 (1.41%) Unity (Game Engine)
Miscellaneous
1 66 (13.31%) Product Ownership
2 50 (10.08%) Mobile App
3 14 (2.82%) Animation
3 14 (2.82%) Self-Motivation
4 13 (2.62%) Onboarding
5 12 (2.42%) Cloud Native
6 11 (2.22%) AI Agents
7 9 (1.81%) Data Protection Act
8 8 (1.61%) Graphic Design
8 8 (1.61%) Taxonomies
9 7 (1.41%) Enterprise Software
9 7 (1.41%) Greenfield Project
9 7 (1.41%) NHS
9 7 (1.41%) Virtual Reality
10 6 (1.21%) Algorithms
10 6 (1.21%) Legacy Systems
10 6 (1.21%) Social Media
11 5 (1.01%) IoT
12 4 (0.81%) Augmented Reality
12 4 (0.81%) Data Structures
Operating Systems
1 15 (3.02%) Android
2 8 (1.61%) Apple iOS
3 2 (0.40%) Windows
4 1 (0.20%) Linux
4 1 (0.20%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 496 (100.00%) User Experience
2 203 (40.93%) Agile
3 123 (24.80%) User Research
4 97 (19.56%) Prototyping
5 96 (19.35%) AI
6 95 (19.15%) Wireframes
7 92 (18.55%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
8 74 (14.92%) Service Design
9 72 (14.52%) Usability Testing
10 65 (13.10%) CI/CD
10 65 (13.10%) Stakeholder Management
11 63 (12.70%) Analytics
12 60 (12.10%) UX Research
13 59 (11.90%) Interaction Design
13 59 (11.90%) Problem-Solving
14 52 (10.48%) Customer Experience
15 50 (10.08%) Workshop Facilitation
16 48 (9.68%) Journey Map
17 47 (9.48%) DevOps
18 46 (9.27%) Scrum
Programming Languages
1 55 (11.09%) JavaScript
2 46 (9.27%) TypeScript
3 27 (5.44%) Java
4 26 (5.24%) Python
5 20 (4.03%) SQL
6 14 (2.82%) Kotlin
7 10 (2.02%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 9 (1.81%) C#
9 5 (1.01%) Swift
10 4 (0.81%) Apex Code
10 4 (0.81%) C++
10 4 (0.81%) Lua
11 3 (0.60%) PHP
12 2 (0.40%) Bicep
12 2 (0.40%) Korn
12 2 (0.40%) PowerShell
12 2 (0.40%) Ruby
13 1 (0.20%) Gremlin
13 1 (0.20%) JSX
13 1 (0.20%) SPARQL
Qualifications
1 85 (17.14%) Security Cleared
2 60 (12.10%) SC Cleared
3 47 (9.48%) Degree
4 12 (2.42%) BPSS Clearance
5 11 (2.22%) DV Cleared
6 9 (1.81%) Computer Science Degree
7 8 (1.61%) Master's Degree
8 3 (0.60%) Azure Certification
8 3 (0.60%) DBS Check
9 2 (0.40%) CCA
10 1 (0.20%) Citrix Certification
10 1 (0.20%) CTC Cleared
10 1 (0.20%) IIBA
10 1 (0.20%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
10 1 (0.20%) Microsoft Certification
10 1 (0.20%) Microsoft Certified Professional
10 1 (0.20%) PhD
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 165 (33.27%) Accessibility
2 64 (12.90%) WCAG
3 26 (5.24%) QA
4 11 (2.22%) Data Quality
5 3 (0.60%) Actionable Recommendations
5 3 (0.60%) ISO/IEC 42001
6 2 (0.40%) GDPR
7 1 (0.20%) GMP
7 1 (0.20%) GRC
7 1 (0.20%) GxP
7 1 (0.20%) PMO
7 1 (0.20%) WAI
7 1 (0.20%) WAI-ARIA
System Software
1 14 (2.82%) Docker
2 1 (0.20%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 13 (2.62%) Kubernetes
2 11 (2.22%) Terraform
3 2 (0.40%) Grafana
4 1 (0.20%) Kibana
Vendors
1 42 (8.47%) Adobe
2 34 (6.85%) Microsoft
3 16 (3.23%) Salesforce
4 11 (2.22%) Dynatrace
5 10 (2.02%) Google
6 8 (1.61%) SAP
7 7 (1.41%) ServiceNow
8 5 (1.01%) Apple
8 5 (1.01%) Foundry
8 5 (1.01%) Oracle
9 4 (0.81%) Databricks
9 4 (0.81%) Sitecore
10 3 (0.60%) Anaplan
10 3 (0.60%) Progress
11 2 (0.40%) Blue Prism
11 2 (0.40%) IBM
11 2 (0.40%) OpenAI
11 2 (0.40%) Optimizely
12 1 (0.20%) AppDynamics
12 1 (0.20%) MuleSoft