Defining UX-Career Progression: What Practitioners Say

UX career progression is not singularly defined, though it typically involves a mix of measurable signals and gut feelings. Growth in the industry is often described as slow and inflexible due to a lack of consistent, measurable criteria and reliable personal-tracking tools.

Summary: UX career progression is not singularly defined, though it typically involves a mix of measurable signals and gut feelings. Growth in the industry is often described as slow and inflexible due to a lack of consistent, measurable criteria and reliable personal-tracking tools.

The field of user experience has expanded to many different roles over the past few decades. Many new opportunities for career growth have come along with this expansion of UX. While the breadth of opportunities provides flexibility to practitioners, it also makes it challenging to assess growth.

Our previous research assessing organizations’ Design Operations efforts showed that 89% of teams did not have a documented career ladder for UX professionals, and only 18% had advancement pathways outside managerial roles. Because of these dismal statistics, we conducted further qualitative research to understand existing pathways for career progression in UX and their desirability amongst practitioners.

This research aimed to provide guidance for UX practitioners looking to make sense of how their careers evolve over time. Since UX practitioners come from many different backgrounds, growth in the field will look different for everyone.