Rates for UX / IA roles

[mcskiver]

Hi all,

I'm a bit confused about rates for these roles.

I've generally worked as a development manager / team leader for web projects, which can range from £300 - 400 per day, but in the last couple of years i've done increasing amounts of UX / IA consultancy, which I find more interesting (and a hell of a lot less stressful).

Can anyone confirm realistic rates for these roles though? I've seen from £250 - 600 per day for these, but i'm not sure which rates are real, which are fictional agency rates etc....

Opinions (and preferably experience) welcome!

[max]

UX / IA

What's that then?

[beaker]

UIs, IAs, UEAs, UXPs...

You're right there does seem to be quite a bit of demand for these skills at present. Having worked with various digital agencies the rates there tend to be 250-350 depending on experience. The work is constant though, which it tends not to be if you are only working on a single project.

Lately I have noticed much higher paying contracts than that. My impression is that the big companies with an important web presence (eg retailers, retail banks etc) would be willing to bring in someone senior at 400-600/day and audit/oversee/advise on the usability of their entire web site.

It's still a very new discipline, especially when web-related, so I would have thought if you have 5+ years experience on big web sites you could score a senior role...

[Xil3]

UIs, IAs, UEAs, UXPs...

You're right there does seem to be quite a bit of demand for these skills at present. Having worked with various digital agencies the rates there tend to be 250-350 depending on experience. The work is constant though, which it tends not to be if you are only working on a single project.

Lately I have noticed much higher paying contracts than that. My impression is that the big companies with an important web presence (eg retailers, retail banks etc) would be willing to bring in someone senior at 400-600/day and audit/oversee/advise on the usability of their entire web site.

It's still a very new discipline, especially when web-related, so I would have thought if you have 5+ years experience on big web sites you could score a senior role...

Sorry for my ignorance, but what exactly do the following acronyms stand for?

"UIs, IAs, UEAs, UXPs"

[KevinS]

Sorry for my ignorance, but what exactly do the following acronyms stand for?

"UIs, IAs, UEAs, UXPs"

At a guess:

UI - User Interface
IA - Information Architect
UEA - User Experience Architect
UXP - User Experience

[beaker]

At a guess:

UI - User Interface
IA - Information Architect
UEA - User Experience Architect
UXP - User Experience

Correct! Have a banana!

[mcskiver]

Thanks Beaker. That fits with what i've been seeing.

I've just been at a loss as to why anyone with experience would go for roles at £250 a day in and around London, when a straight web dev contract or similar would net you £300 plus anyway.

[beaker]

Thanks Beaker. That fits with what i've been seeing.

I've just been at a loss as to why anyone with experience would go for roles at £250 a day in and around London, when a straight web dev contract or similar would net you £300 plus anyway.

Yeah, I think the people going for £250 a day are more likely "web designer" types or recent usability grads.