5th annual study into UX researcher tools, trends, and behaviors.
This report unpacks the findings from our annual survey on the state of user research and the people who do it.
In addition to our usual exploration of research methods, salaries, tools, and feelings, this year, we took a special look at the makeup of research teams and practices, the increasing prevalence of AI in research, recruiting pain points, and the impact of the economy on individual researchers and teams.
We are enormously grateful to all of our survey participants, our colleagues, and our partners for their contributions to this essential industry report.
Happy reading and researching!
- Most US-based UXRs earn between $100 - $200k.
- Over 50% of research practices are now decentralized.
- A single ReOps Specialist supports the research efforts of 21 people on average.
- Most people (87%) conduct a majority of their research remotely, regardless of their remote work status.
- Fully remote work among researchers is on the decline—down from 89% in 2021 to just 51% in 2023.
- 65% of researchers primarily rely on their own customers for research.
- The average UXR toolkit includes 13 different tools for research.
- A fifth of researchers are currently using AI in their research; an additional 38% plan to incorporate it in the future.
- Half of researchers were directly or indirectly affected by layoffs in the last 12 months.
Researched, written, and designed by:
A guide to commonly used terms
- UXRs: People whose titles include UX/User Research (or similar terms)
- PWDRs: People Who Do Research—in this report, folks who aren’t UXRs but who spend 10% or more of their time on user research
- ReOps Specialists: People whose titles include Research Operations (or similar terms)
- Researchers: In this report, a catchall term for anyone involved in user research (UXRs, PwDRs, and ReOps alike)
- Research teams: When written with a lower-case “r,” research teams refers to all the folks who are involved in research at an organization as a group, regardless of whether they report to a Research department.
Methodology
The State of User Research survey was created by Katryna Balboni, Content Director, and Morgan Mullen, Senior UX Researcher, and built using SurveyMonkey. Analysis was done using Mode and Google Sheets/Excel.
This report was authored by Katryna, and brought to life by Holly Holden, Senior Visual Designer, and illustrator Olivia Whitworth.
Between May 4 and May 15, 2023, we collected 929 qualified responses from User Researchers, ReOps Specialists, and people who do research (PWDRs) as part of their jobs. (An additional 2,745 people took our screener but did not qualify for our survey based on their responses.)
The survey was distributed to User Interviews audiences via our LinkedIn and Twitter pages, our weekly newsletter (Fresh Views), and an in-product Appcues slideout. We also shared the survey in relevant groups on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Slack. Members of our team and friends within the UX research community also shared the survey with their professional networks.
This year, we partnered with other companies in the User Research space to extend the reach of our survey and this report. Our partners shared the survey with their audiences via their own newsletters and social media channels. Those partners are: Lookback, Marvin, MeasuringU, the ReOps Community, and UXtweak.
Our Audience
We believe that research is for everyone.
Whether they hold a PhD in Behavioral Anthropology or are a junior product designer for an ecommerce app—or, heck, both! We know people take all sorts of roads into research—we think that everyone should be empowered to ask questions and seek answers in a methodical way.
That’s why we’ve included not just dedicated UX Researchers (UXRs), but also people who regularly do user research as part of their jobs (PWDRs) and ReOps Specialists in our survey.