How much does UX costs around the world
Back in late January I launched UX Recipe for iOS — my own version of a UX process and estimation app. Since then I’ve been updating it on a regular basis with help from colleagues and friends. While working on improving the app, one set of user feedback was reoccurring to my ears:
It’s just a calculator, I was expecting something more. Where are the recommendations for hour rates?
I distanced myself a bit and tried to use the app as objective as possible. The users were right: it’s just a simple calculator. But how to improve it? How do I add suggestions? Where do I start?
I’ll begin doing some research, four months of research to be more precise. And after carefully analyzing the users’ behavior I managed to update the app with the following hour rates:
United States of America
USD: between 15 and 50 (lowest), between 100 and 150 dollars (highest).
Australia
AUD: between 15 and 80 australian dollars.
France
EUR: between 35 and 75 euros.
Poland
USD: between 20 and 30 american dollars.
PLN: between 30 and 80 zlotys.
Brazil
USD: between 60 and 80 american dollars.
BRL: between 15 and 20 reals.
Canada
USD: between 50 and 80 american dollars.
Italy
EUR: between 35 and 45 euros.
Argentina
USD: between 20 and 60 american dollars.
Kyrgystan
USD: between 20 and 30 american dollars.
Netherlands
USD: between 10 and 65 american dollars.
Spain
EUR: between 25 and 30 (lowest), between 50 and 90 euros (highest).
United Arab Emirates
AED: between 200 and 300 dirhams.
Belgium
EUR: between 75 and 90 euros.
Russia
USD: between 10 and 20 american dollars.
United Kingdom
GBP: between 20 and 100 pounds.
Philipines
USD: between 10 and 25 american dollars.
PHP: between 200 and 300 pesos.
Morocco
USD: between 50 and 60 american dollars.
Saudi Arabia
USD: between 10 and 50 american dollars.
Portugal
USD: between 20 and 30 american dollars.
Note: based on new data the rates might change and new countries will be added.
How did I come up with these numbers?
Enter Hotjar — the analytics tool.
I was introduced to Hotjar at Grapefruit and I was instantly hooked. It was perfect for UX Recipe: I don’t ask for personal data, Heck! you don’t even need an account. So I installed the script and started to analyze users’ behavior on site for four months using Hotjar’s free plan.
How? Well I stored sets of 100 recordings, analyzed and filtered them, kept only those that said something. I used three hashtags to keep things organized: #process (for those users that only checked items) #learning (for those that accessed the links) and #rates (for those that entered hour rates for their work).
I switched from digital to pen and paper.
To smooth the process I increased the playback speed in Hotjar up to 4x and checked to skip user pauses. And I only recorded sessions longer than 30 seconds. I must admit I’ve become pretty good at it. My eyes zig-zag like there’s no tomorrow.
After storing a large amount of recordings I switched from digital to pen and paper. Long live Moleskines! It was a time-consuming, yet necessary step as there is no way to magically interpret the data I wanted. It’s just video. So I started to write on paper the user’s country, device, operating system and the hour rates he or she entered. I focused only on the #rates hashtag.
To speed up the process again, I used my own (de)coding system. Don’t raise your eyebrow yet. Hear me out. Here’s an example:
It’s easier to write on paper
USA 10$ 18.08 DCX
rather than
A user from USA entered a rate of 10USD/hour on the date of 18th of August from his Desktop MacOSX system using the Chrome browser.
After writing all that info, I started collecting and identifying patterns. Where I wasn’t sure I left it untouched, but where the patterns were obvious I marked them as future recommendations.
Imagining doing this for ~2600 videos. You may say I have too much free time, when in fact I only have motivation.
Lastly I pack and write everything on a new clean paper. It’s my way of telling it’s enough. It’s time to stop.
And that’s kind of it. That’s what I do with every batch of saved recordings.
What’s next
The show must go on. I will continue to use Hotjar. Now that I have a user rate base it’s easier to add new rates or analyze the ones left untouched. New countries will be added with each pattern unlocked; as for the current ones, they will be fine tuned to provide an even better insight.
You can download UX Recipe for iOS or visit the website at uxrecipe.github.io. I patiently wait for your feedback.
Till next time,
Alecsandru
