Looking to the Future of UX in the Philippines

The State of UX in the Philippines, Recommendations

Published in

UXPH

9 min readOct 7, 2021

**Recommendations, Looking to the Future of UX in the Philippines**: After looking at our data, what are the next steps for our organization and for all UX practitioners in the country? What do we recommend to further develop the UX landscape in the Philippines?

This final section of our State of UX in the Philippines report discusses the recommendations and next steps for the UX community based on our findings. To recap:

A Look at our Respondents: the demographics of the respondents and a look into their current years of UX work experience
Preparing for a UX Career: where we dive into participants’ formal education and extracurricular activities
Landing a UX Job in the Philippines: the hiring process and requirements to land a UX job
The UX Workplace: the industries, job titles, skills needed in the workplace, and how the pandemic affected UX professionals
Industry Satisfaction: UX salaries sorted by regions and career satisfaction
Transitioning into UX: how professionals transitioned to a UX career — where they came from, how they transitioned, and where they are now

Based on the findings discussed in these sections, we can conclude that UX as an industry in the Philippines has grown significantly in the last few years despite being relatively new in the Philippines. There is so much potential for improvement that needs help from various sectors that go beyond UXPH.

Providing more opportunities to learn

Our research showed that there is an obvious lack of formal UX education offered in the country. Currently, there are no UX-specific undergraduate degree programs available in local universities. At best, a few universities offer individual classes relating to Interaction Design or Human-Computer Interaction. UXPH encourages more mature universities and educational institutions to incorporate more Design-focused topics and programs into their curriculums. A focus on User-Centered Design (or User Experience Design) and Human-Computer Interaction within the Bachelor (minor or major) and Graduate programs will significantly increase awareness, support, and education for this essential practice. We are eager to collaborate with, advise, and support other institutions, organizations, and entities in the Philippines that aim to incorporate UX design-focused programs into their curriculum.

We also recognize that full programs on UX are not a necessity — the key to providing students in the Philippines the opportunity to learn about UX is not by providing “UX-specific” classes but by enlightening students about the integration of the practice of UX with other fields of studies such as Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Anthropology, Industrial Design, Product Design, Market Research, Industrial Design and Ergonomics, and Visual Design. To help with this, UXPH shall develop and curate a crowd-sourced repository of use cases, case studies, and other materials that will offer students and professionals practical resources and tools for improving their UX craft/portfolio.

One thing that an emerging industry such as UX has is an abundance of driven individuals. We particularly received many responses from students who are interested in the growing field. UXPH hopes to lower the barrier of entry into UX in regions beyond Greater Metro Manila. There should be more involvement and representation from different academic institutions around the country, rather than just having the “Big Four” (University of the Philippines Diliman, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, University of Santo Tomas) or universities in NCR. To address this, UXPH encourages various student organizations to apply, get accredited, and receive support from the greater community. Student organizations may plan, organize and host their UX-related events and receive support from UXPH in terms of resources (such as but not limited to speakers, co-branding, freebies, and guidance). To submit your university organization for accreditation or to see if you can create one in your school, check the UXPH Communities Page.

Findings showed that early adopters of the UX profession had to learn UX concepts on their own because of a lack of resources and mentors in the country. We learned that there has been an increase in resources and mentors in the field in the last few years to help guide the new generation of UX practitioners. Currently, UXPH is partnered with ADPList and it has successfully nominated several Filipinos to be more present in its pool of mentors. In light of this, UXPH shall encourage and foster more opportunities for learning, mentorship, leadership, collaboration, and recognition throughout the Philippine design community together with our partner platforms.

Aside from educational institutions or student-led organizations, there should be more initiatives to educate and raise awareness to other people about UX led by UX organizations or private companies with design, research, and product teams. Doors should be opened for those who have interests and potentials in the field with more varied backgrounds to allow for the diversity of thought.

Producing more Generalists and Specialists

Results of this study showed that there are fewer UX job opportunities in other regions here in the Philippines. Disparities in salaries and job opportunities have been a long problem in the Philippines, apart from the UX industry alone. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 caused a massive disruption in how people work. Plenty of professionals had been forced to shift to remote work. Despite the challenges brought by remote work setups, this situation has created more opportunities for hiring companies and professionals. Companies can now hire great talent not limited by geographic constraints. Professionals have access to career opportunities without the immediate need for relocation. UXPH encourages companies to explore more remote employment dynamics while leveraging various online collaboration tools. Doing so can provide wider recruitment and employment opportunities for both the companies and prospective employees around the country.

On top of that, we also found discrepancies in the level of knowledge and awareness of UX of other professionals and companies. To help eliminate this, we maintain that growth should take place in all areas. Mature regions call for more specialized roles (such as UX Researchers and Information Architects), and developing regions should attract more generalized roles (such as Product Designers and Experience Designers). UX in the Philippines is like a flourishing bush, it requires that all its leaves receive adequate sunlight for optimal growth. UXPH invites bigger companies and industries to open regional headquarters and satellite offices outside the Manila region and in budding industrial hubs (such as Cebu and Iloilo in the Visayas and Davao and Zamboanga in Mindanao) based on our findings in Section 1. Additionally, we urge UX-mature organizations to explore hiring for more specialized roles to further develop their UX practice.

Some participants also mentioned juggling multiple UX roles in their company. Instead of practitioners being able to have focused skill sets or specializations, they instead become generalists. Generalists can execute different skills from different roles, but may not be a master of anything. Some professionals are even expected to be a “UX Unicorn’’ — which means they’re highly skilled at different UX roles such as conducting research, designing, coding, and managing projects. Companies and teams need to be aware that being a UX Unicorn or generalist can be detrimental to an employee’s career and job satisfaction. UXPH encourages companies and organizations to consider investing in more design resources and adopting more human-centered design practices. This can significantly enrich the quality of the organization, product, and services provided, and bring about more employee satisfaction and lower attrition rates — especially amongst UX practitioners.

As technology and the UX industry continuously evolve, the need for versatile professionals arises. Exposure to different UX functions can help in strengthening and growing individual practitioners, but we recommend establishing better structure and identifying primary and secondary functions to create a more balanced work experience. Several responsibilities tend to divide a practitioner’s focus, slows their ability to gain expertise on a specific function, thereby affecting their level of performance and overall well-being.

Building the Philippines’ creative growth strategy

As of this writing, the Philippine Creative Industries Act of 2021 is for approval by the House of Representatives and will soon be submitted to the Senate. In this legislation, creative industries in the Philippines are set to gain government support (through infrastructure and grants) to generate high-value jobs and contribute to national GDP growth. With the Philippine Creative Industries Act of 2021 being reviewed, where does this leave the UX practice?

The rise of UX Jobs in the Philippines and interest in the UX career path is opportune to meet the demands for innovative solutions. These solutions are in demand given the rapid digitalization of products and services which was further intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic. UX opportunities in technology are growing as more companies become educated about what the field is and its importance in their path to digital transformation. In times of rapid change and development, equipping students and professionals alike with the knowledge and work experience to flourish in the UX career path can help shape and improve the overall development of products and services.

With this, UXPH calls for the inclusion of the UX practice and its career tracks into the Philippine Creative Industries Act of 2021. The value of UX as a widespread practice is that it merges creative problem solving with the practical use of technology. It helps society better adapt and address changes in the industry or environment. With further support from the government, more awareness can be raised for progressive UX practices and culture throughout the country. This can also help open more opportunities for innovation, employment, and advancement.

Broadening our reach

The State of UX in the Philippines is the first industry report that focused on the UX industry in the country. Pioneering such a large study has its limitations, especially on the sample size. We received 390 valid responses for this study and most participants reside in the National Capital Region (containing Metro Manila) or in metropolitan cities in the Visayas and Mindanao. Future studies should aim for a larger data sample in different regions, that can be a more accurate representation of the whole population of UX practitioners in the Philippines.

By growing connections in the Visayas and Mindanao, UXPH can also get a better understanding of how we can serve practitioners located in non-Luzon/non-Metro areas. These collaborations can enable access to a network of practitioners in these areas to help investigate a more holistic view of UX in the Philippines in the future. Furthermore, regional organizations and institutions can benefit from these partnerships through assistance and support from UXPH in their initiatives. UXPH will ensure a broader reach to a more regionally inclusive set of participants on future research studies we will conduct. With this, we are extending an open invitation to other UX-focused organizations in and outside of Metro Manila to reach out to collaborate with us, and bring more opportunities for growth and learning to your communities.

Since 2020, the pandemic has forced us to work and stay in our homes, but through technology, we are now more connected than ever. People have more access to opportunities away from their place of residence, whether it’s in another city, region, or even country. Communities can now gather virtually without constraints of travel and costs associated with it. UXPH, whose mission is to help raise the standards and practices of design throughout the Philippines, pledges to strengthen our relationships with other UX organizations throughout the country. We aim to raise more awareness of the benefits of human-centered design, foster more frequent collaboration and knowledge exchange, and inspire others to pursue a fulfilling career in design-related roles.

Additionally, the Philippines is composed of diverse local cultures. This gives us an opportunity to localize our information materials to further deepen engagements and partnerships with regional UX organizations, universities, and colleges. With this, we are extending an open invitation to design experts and consultants to be a part of a panel that will help champion the UX initiatives through the different regions of the Philippines for years to come.

We also invite more experts, consultants, and budding practitioners to share their experiences with the rest of the UXPH community. Collaboration and sharing are at the core of what we do, and there is so much to gain from giving back to the community. We can all benefit and move forward as a society by growing together.

Lastly, we invite students and educators to work with UXPH, volunteer for the community, and work towards bringing about a richer culture of learning and growth. It is our pledge to continue to help foster innovation, creativity, community, and help develop more UX leaders of tomorrow.

What’s next

Introduction
Section 1: A Look at Our Respondents
Section 2: Preparing for a UX Career
Section 3: Landing a UX Job
Section 4: The UX Workplace
Section 5: Industry Satisfaction
Section 6: Transitioning into UX
📍 You are here! Recommendations: Looking to the Future of UX in the Philippines

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.