A Look at Our Respondents
The State of UX in the Philippines, Section 1
Our Respondents
We received 390 survey responses where 91.28% of them came from the age range of 18–34 years old.
In terms of gender, more than half (52.57%) of the participants identified as female. 1.28% of participants responded with either their pronouns or chose not to respond.
The bulk of responses were from students (47.96%) and practitioners (44.10%), while the remaining responses came from leads and HR professionals.
Years of experience
The majority of our respondents (62.96%) have at least a year’s worth of experience in the industry. A bulk of these respondents (41.8%) are starting out with 1–4 years of experience in the industry. Some have gained significant years of experience in the industry having 5–10 years (17.46%) and more than 10 years of experience (3.7%) senior than the rest.
Some respondents with more than 10 years of experience shared that they began their careers in web design then slowly transitioned into UX. Some of them began with explicitly titled UX roles and learned the ropes along the way.
Locations
The majority of the participants are currently based in the Philippines at 98.97%, while 1.03% are located overseas.
Participants based in the Philippines are heavily concentrated in:
- Luzon (73.85%)
- Visayas (13.85%)
- Mindanao (11.02%)
1.28% of respondents did not mention their specific location in the Philippines.
Luzon
A significant number of respondents are based in Luzon; specifically, NCR with 53.59%, followed by Region IV-A with 14.36%.
The top 5 cities in Luzon are:
- Quezon City (13.59%)
- City of Manila (9.49%)
- Mandaluyong City (4.36%)
- Makati City (4.10%)
- Pasig City (3.33%)
Visayas
From Visayas, Region VII has the most number of participants with 8.46%, followed by Region VI with 4.10%.
The top 5 cities in Visayas are:
- Cebu City (5.13%)
- Iloilo City (2.82%)
- Mandaue City (1.03%)
- Tacloban City (0.77%)
- Tagbilaran City (0.77%)
Mindanao
In Mindanao, Region XI leads with the most participants at 3.85%. We received no responses from Region XIII.
The top 5 cities in Mindanao are:
- Davao City (3.59%)
- Zamboanga City (2.05%)
- Cagayan de Oro City (1.79%)
- Maguindanao Province (1.02%)
- Koronadal City (0.77%)
Findings
User Experience is relatively new in the Philippines. This is confirmed in our findings where 90% of participants are aged 18–34 years old only. Additionally, 41.8% of respondents have 1–4 years of experience and 37.01% just started their careers (with less than a year of experience). Students interested in UX make up the largest percentage of respondents at 47.95%, followed by the UX practitioners at 44.10%. This indicates that young professionals and students drive the rapid growth of the UX landscape in the country.
Problems about the uneven regional development in the Philippines (Lambino, 2010) are apparent in the findings of this study. This can be seen by the great disparity of the participants and the locations where they come from (see Fig 6, 7, 8).
On a regional level, most participants are still from the main cities, such as Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao — this paints the picture of how career opportunities in UX are predominantly available in NCR and other metropolitans cities, and it is scarce in other regions of the country. This calls for more opportunities to increase the level of awareness, knowledge, and the rate of adoption of UX in these areas. Although this situation is not limited to the UX industry, it further highlights the socio-economic problems of our country (Ordinario, 2013).
What’s next
Team Acknowledgement
The UXPH Research Team conducts studies to further understand and analyze the User Experience landscape in the Philippines. Our team’s goal is to share helpful reports that describe User Experience and how it is adopted across various industries in the country. We aim for these reports to be a reference point for practitioners and companies to adopt a more data-driven understanding of the industry.
Authors
Rie Helene (Lindy) Hernandez, Charlotte Mae Sia Efren, Claudine San Diego, Janyl Tamayo, Tyrone Sta. Maria, Stella Pangilinan, Jentz Rabacio, Jen Teves, and Jordan Aiko Deja
Advisors
Jordan Deja, Jen Teves, Aldrich Tan, and Ely Apao
Visual designers
Reine Bantang, Stella Pangilinan, Isabel Baja, Kendra Go, Khristine Tubay, and Jade Teng
Editor
References
Lambino, J. (2010). The Economic Role of Metro Manila in the Philippines: A Study of Uneven Regional Development under Globalization. The Kyoto Economic Review, 79(2 (167)), 67–106. Retrieved August 18, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/43213393
Ordinario, C. (2013, February 25). ‘Lack of decent jobs worsens poverty’. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/business/lack-of-decent-jobs-worsens-poverty.
Footnote
[1] HR respondents were only part of the survey and not the interviews. Their responses counted only towards hiring-related questions.
