UPA 2005 Member and Salary Survey

“The report on the 2005 survey of over 1300 usability professionals includes salary details, educational background, and details on what we do in our work.”

Some key points…

  • About 1/2 the people in the survey are between 26 and 35, only 4% are 55-65 years old.
  • Most people are well educated; Bachelors and Masters are common
  • The job title of “usability practitioner” was more common than any other
  • Top 3 techniques: heuristic review, informal usability test, user research
  • Overall average salary was $78k for all respondents

Who is going to UPA 2006: Usability Through Storytelling? I’m considering it.

12 Responses to “UPA 2005 Member and Salary Survey”

  1. Matthew Oliphant Says:

    I’ll be there. Assuming I am still at my current job. :)

  2. Jay Z Says:

    I’m ditching CHI this year for UPA.

  3. Daniel Szuc Says:

    Dano and Jo will be there.

  4. Matthew Oliphant Says:

    Hot shit! Jay Z will be there?

    Oh, _that_ Jay Z. Well, it will be fun anyway.

    I know, I usually wait to meet people before I poke fun at them, but I couldn’t resist a precon strike.

  5. Jay Z Says:

    In Canada, it’s pronounced “Jay Zed”. :)

  6. Matthew Oliphant Says:

    Ha! Excellent retort.

    We should have a “Webword Junkies” table at one of the lunches at UPA.

  7. John Rhodes Says:

    If there is a “WebWord Junkies” table, I’ll *have* to go! ;-)

  8. Paul Sherman Says:

    If you find any mistakes in the salary survey, you can blame me…I cranked that puppy out last month…

  9. John Rhodes Says:

    Paul,

    You pulled out some other items of interest when you blogged the salary survey:

    * UPA received 1,329 responses. (Nice n…)

    * Expert review and usability testing were the most utilized techniques.

    * Eye-tracking and accessibility testing were the least utilized.

    * The average salary for males was $82,882; for females, $74,316.

    Question on that last bullet. Is there a glass ceiling for female usability practioners?

  10. WebWord » Blog Archive » Is their a glass ceiling for female usability practitioners? Says:

    […] Paul Sherman, the Vice-President of the Usability Professionals’ Association (UPA), was the author of the UPA salary survey. He made some of his own observations about the salary survey. Here’s a point that I missed in my summary that I think is worth considering for a moment: […]

  11. WebWord » Blog Archive » Usability Glass Ceiling: Part Deux Says:

    […] Paul Sherman compiles the UPA salary survey. […]

  12. Lyle Says:

    I’ll be at UPA 2006, 2007, and 2008 for sure…let me know if a Junkies table becomes a reality. I met Dano and Matthew last year which was great. It’d be good to meet some other Webworders this year.

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