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 9 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
9 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 288 208 232
Rank change year-on-year -80 +24 -16
Contract jobs citing UX Design 481 453 406
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.88% 1.37% 1.07%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.04% 1.51% 1.24%
Number of daily rates quoted 269 293 254
10th Percentile £363 £313 £334
25th Percentile £414 £375 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £463 £494
Median % change year-on-year +8.11% -6.33% -5.95%
75th Percentile £588 £538 £575
90th Percentile £675 £608 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £450 £450
% change year-on-year +5.56% - -10.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 14 20 6
10th Percentile £22.65 £34.03 £30.97
25th Percentile £36.07 £35.25 £31.89
Median hourly rate £62.50 £36.50 £33.07
Median % change year-on-year +71.23% +10.37% -54.39%
75th Percentile £73.44 £58.50 £34.26
90th Percentile £90.75 £70.16 £44.13
UK excluding London median hourly rate £62.50 £47.50 £32.21
% change year-on-year +31.58% +47.48% -58.44%

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 46,102 30,004 32,672
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.59% 90.46% 86.03%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,718 18,629 19,703
10th Percentile £325 £294 £308
25th Percentile £425 £404 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -2.78%
75th Percentile £638 £623 £638
90th Percentile £738 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,326 1,885 1,303
10th Percentile £13.58 £14.33 £15.00
25th Percentile £17.00 £17.30 £20.00
Median hourly rate £37.50 £25.15 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +49.11% -37.13% -8.31%
75th Percentile £65.00 £43.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £78.52 £65.00 £73.95
UK excluding London median hourly rate £37.50 £22.27 £41.25
% change year-on-year +68.43% -46.02% -2.94%

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 9 October 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 9 October 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 9 October 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 -70 417 £475 +2.98% 814
UK excluding London -47 222 £475 +5.56% 326
London -90 217 £513 +9.63% 530
Work from Home -75 113 £500 +8.70% 390
North of England -38 83 £450 +12.50% 100
Midlands -28 47 £498 +17.06% 25
West Midlands -27 42 £485 +7.78% 14
Yorkshire -16 37 £500 +1.27% 27
Scotland -25 33 £531 +14.86% 30
North West -52 32 £438 +16.67% 53
South West -12 30 £475 +5.56% 38
South East -64 16 £610 +13.49% 72
North East -29 14 £450 -4.00% 20
East of England -22 13 £410 -10.87% 27
East Midlands -21 5 £573 +51.86% 11
Wales -11 2 - - 8
Northern Ireland +6 1 - - 26

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 29 (6.03%) CMS
2 26 (5.41%) Confluence
3 9 (1.87%) WordPress
4 4 (0.83%) Kentico
5 3 (0.62%) ColdFusion
5 3 (0.62%) Headless CMS
5 3 (0.62%) Umbraco
6 1 (0.21%) Apache
6 1 (0.21%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.21%) Camunda
6 1 (0.21%) Drupal
6 1 (0.21%) Mendix
Applications
1 19 (3.95%) Sketch
2 16 (3.33%) Adobe Creative Suite
3 10 (2.08%) Adobe After Effects
3 10 (2.08%) Adobe XD
4 9 (1.87%) Photoshop
5 8 (1.66%) Adobe Illustrator
6 6 (1.25%) Final Cut Pro
7 3 (0.62%) MS Visio
8 2 (0.42%) Chatbot
9 1 (0.21%) Adobe Captivate
9 1 (0.21%) Trello
9 1 (0.21%) UserZoom
Business Applications
1 5 (1.04%) Dynamics CRM
2 2 (0.42%) SAP S/4HANA
3 1 (0.21%) Eloqua
3 1 (0.21%) Payment Gateway
3 1 (0.21%) SAP HR
3 1 (0.21%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 113 (23.49%) Figma
2 48 (9.98%) Azure
3 33 (6.86%) AWS
4 24 (4.99%) Azure DevOps
5 20 (4.16%) GitHub
6 18 (3.74%) Power Platform
7 17 (3.53%) SaaS
8 10 (2.08%) GitHub Actions
9 9 (1.87%) Firebase
9 9 (1.87%) GCP
9 9 (1.87%) Microsoft Copilot
10 7 (1.46%) Slack
11 6 (1.25%) Dynamics 365
11 6 (1.25%) Google Play
11 6 (1.25%) Miro
12 5 (1.04%) Copilot Studio
12 5 (1.04%) PowerApps
12 5 (1.04%) Serverless
13 4 (0.83%) AWS CloudFormation
13 4 (0.83%) Microsoft 365
Communications & Networking
1 1 (0.21%) Bluetooth
1 1 (0.21%) NFC
Database & Business Intelligence
1 10 (2.08%) Power BI
2 8 (1.66%) Elasticsearch
2 8 (1.66%) Metadata
2 8 (1.66%) NoSQL
2 8 (1.66%) PostgreSQL
3 6 (1.25%) SQL Server
4 5 (1.04%) MongoDB
4 5 (1.04%) Power Query
4 5 (1.04%) Redis
5 4 (0.83%) Data Warehouse
6 3 (0.62%) Star Schema
7 2 (0.42%) Azure SQL Database
7 2 (0.42%) DynamoDB
7 2 (0.42%) MySQL
7 2 (0.42%) Relational Database
7 2 (0.42%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 1 (0.21%) Amazon QuickSight
8 1 (0.21%) Db2
8 1 (0.21%) Flink
8 1 (0.21%) Qlik Sense
Development Applications
1 37 (7.69%) Git
2 32 (6.65%) JIRA
3 18 (3.74%) Jenkins
4 13 (2.70%) Cypress.io
5 11 (2.29%) Storybook
6 8 (1.66%) fastlane
7 7 (1.46%) Claude Code
8 6 (1.25%) GitLab
8 6 (1.25%) webpack
9 5 (1.04%) Android Studio
9 5 (1.04%) Gradle
9 5 (1.04%) REST Assured
10 4 (0.83%) Crashlytics
10 4 (0.83%) IBM UrbanCode
10 4 (0.83%) Jasmine
10 4 (0.83%) Vite
10 4 (0.83%) Xcode
11 3 (0.62%) Babel
11 3 (0.62%) JUnit
11 3 (0.62%) Karma Test Runner
General
1 146 (30.35%) Social Skills
2 92 (19.13%) Public Sector
3 81 (16.84%) Finance
4 31 (6.44%) Banking
5 30 (6.24%) Retail
6 21 (4.37%) Analytical Skills
7 18 (3.74%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 18 (3.74%) Marketing
7 18 (3.74%) Publishing
8 15 (3.12%) Automotive
9 14 (2.91%) Influencing Skills
10 13 (2.70%) Presentation Skills
11 12 (2.49%) Military
12 9 (1.87%) Legal
13 6 (1.25%) Investment Banking
14 4 (0.83%) Aerospace
14 4 (0.83%) Corporate Banking
14 4 (0.83%) Front Office
14 4 (0.83%) Law
15 3 (0.62%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 220 (45.74%) Designer
2 127 (26.40%) UX Designer
3 99 (20.58%) Senior
4 91 (18.92%) Developer
5 52 (10.81%) UI Designer
6 45 (9.36%) Senior Designer
7 43 (8.94%) Lead
8 37 (7.69%) UI/UX Designer
9 33 (6.86%) Front-End Developer (Client-Side Developer)
10 29 (6.03%) Content Designer
11 28 (5.82%) Senior UX Designer
12 24 (4.99%) Product Designer
13 19 (3.95%) Senior Developer
14 18 (3.74%) User Experience Researcher
15 17 (3.53%) User Researcher
16 16 (3.33%) React Developer
17 14 (2.91%) Service Designer
18 13 (2.70%) Senior UI Designer
19 12 (2.49%) Business Analyst
20 11 (2.29%) Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 76 (15.80%) React
2 73 (15.18%) CSS
3 68 (14.14%) HTML
4 26 (5.41%) REST
4 26 (5.41%) RESTful
5 25 (5.20%) HTML5
6 24 (4.99%) AngularJS
7 23 (4.78%) CSS3
8 15 (3.12%) Next.js
8 15 (3.12%) Redux
9 14 (2.91%) Jest
10 11 (2.29%) .NET
10 11 (2.29%) Android SDK
10 11 (2.29%) GraphQL
10 11 (2.29%) Semantic HTML
10 11 (2.29%) Spring
10 11 (2.29%) Spring Boot
11 10 (2.08%) Node.js
11 10 (2.08%) OAuth
11 10 (2.08%) Vue
Miscellaneous
1 70 (14.55%) Product Ownership
2 45 (9.36%) Mobile App
3 14 (2.91%) AI Agents
4 12 (2.49%) Cloud Native
5 11 (2.29%) Self-Motivation
6 10 (2.08%) Animation
7 9 (1.87%) NHS
8 8 (1.66%) Legacy Systems
8 8 (1.66%) Taxonomies
9 7 (1.46%) Onboarding
10 6 (1.25%) Data Protection Act
10 6 (1.25%) Enterprise Software
10 6 (1.25%) Graphic Design
10 6 (1.25%) Management Information System
10 6 (1.25%) Social Media
11 5 (1.04%) Distributed Systems
11 5 (1.04%) Greenfield Project
11 5 (1.04%) Team-Oriented Environment
11 5 (1.04%) Virtual Reality
12 4 (0.83%) Legacy Applications
Operating Systems
1 16 (3.33%) Android
2 9 (1.87%) Apple iOS
3 3 (0.62%) Windows
4 1 (0.21%) Linux
4 1 (0.21%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 481 (100.00%) User Experience
2 200 (41.58%) Agile
3 109 (22.66%) User Research
4 96 (19.96%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
5 93 (19.33%) Prototyping
6 89 (18.50%) AI
7 87 (18.09%) Wireframes
8 82 (17.05%) Service Design
9 76 (15.80%) Stakeholder Management
10 72 (14.97%) CI/CD
11 67 (13.93%) Usability Testing
12 60 (12.47%) Analytics
13 56 (11.64%) Front End Development
14 55 (11.43%) Problem-Solving
15 54 (11.23%) Interaction Design
16 52 (10.81%) UX Research
17 50 (10.40%) Workshop Facilitation
18 47 (9.77%) Scrum
18 47 (9.77%) Test Automation
19 46 (9.56%) Continuous Improvement
Programming Languages
1 75 (15.59%) JavaScript
2 59 (12.27%) TypeScript
3 30 (6.24%) Java
4 22 (4.57%) SQL
5 13 (2.70%) Kotlin
6 12 (2.49%) Python
7 8 (1.66%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 6 (1.25%) C#
9 4 (0.83%) Swift
10 3 (0.62%) Apex Code
10 3 (0.62%) Bicep
10 3 (0.62%) CFML
10 3 (0.62%) PHP
11 2 (0.42%) Ruby
12 1 (0.21%) C
12 1 (0.21%) JSX
12 1 (0.21%) Korn
12 1 (0.21%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 77 (16.01%) Security Cleared
2 47 (9.77%) SC Cleared
3 42 (8.73%) Degree
4 19 (3.95%) BPSS Clearance
5 13 (2.70%) DV Cleared
6 11 (2.29%) Computer Science Degree
7 5 (1.04%) Master's Degree
8 3 (0.62%) Azure Certification
8 3 (0.62%) DBS Check
9 2 (0.42%) CCA
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 Certified Professional
10 1 (0.21%) PhD
10 1 (0.21%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 158 (32.85%) Accessibility
2 64 (13.31%) WCAG
3 24 (4.99%) QA
4 8 (1.66%) Data Quality
5 4 (0.83%) Actionable Recommendations
6 2 (0.42%) GDPR
6 2 (0.42%) ISO/IEC 42001
7 1 (0.21%) GRC
7 1 (0.21%) PMO
7 1 (0.21%) WAI
7 1 (0.21%) WAI-ARIA
System Software
1 16 (3.33%) Docker
2 1 (0.21%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 14 (2.91%) Kubernetes
2 4 (0.83%) Grafana
3 2 (0.42%) Single Sign-On
4 1 (0.21%) Istio
4 1 (0.21%) Kibana
Vendors
1 37 (7.69%) Adobe
1 37 (7.69%) Microsoft
2 11 (2.29%) Dynatrace
3 10 (2.08%) Salesforce
3 10 (2.08%) ServiceNow
4 7 (1.46%) Google
5 5 (1.04%) Apple
5 5 (1.04%) Oracle
6 4 (0.83%) Anaplan
6 4 (0.83%) Foundry
6 4 (0.83%) ION Trading
6 4 (0.83%) OpenAI
6 4 (0.83%) SAP
7 2 (0.42%) AppDynamics
7 2 (0.42%) Databricks
7 2 (0.42%) IBM
7 2 (0.42%) Optimizely
7 2 (0.42%) OutSystems
7 2 (0.42%) Progress
7 2 (0.42%) Splunk