What is a user experience manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

5 min read

Quoted expert

Kristin Snopkowski

A user experience manager designs and manages user experiences for digital products or services. They work to understand users' behaviors to create intuitive interfaces, engaging content, and elements that make using a product or service enjoyable and easy. User experience managers conduct user research, analyze data, and collaborate with designers, developers, and stakeholders. They also oversee the testing and evaluation of products. Ultimately, they aim to create effective, efficient, and satisfying products.

What general advice would you give to a user experience manager?

Kristin Snopkowski

Associate Professor, Boise State University

Within a degree in Anthropology, there are a wide variety of career opportunities. This can be both a benefit and a challenge - it allows you to pursue many different careers and if you find you don't like one particular job, there are a lot of other areas of employment that you would be qualified for, but at the same time, it makes it harder to decide which employment opportunities to pursue. Further, the onus is on you to explain how your anthropology degree prepares you for a particular job, given that many people do not know or understand the skills gained with a degree in anthropology.

ScoreUser Experience ManagerUS Average

Salary

8.0

Avg. Salary $115,443

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.5

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 8.15%

Black or African American 3.04%

Hispanic or Latino 8.67%

Unknown 5.32%

White 74.58%

Gender

female 40.88%

male 59.12%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

7.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.5

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a user experience manager?

Pros

High job demand and competitive salary
Ability to work remotely or in a flexible work environment
Ability to work on a variety of projects and industries
Opportunities for creativity and innovation
Potential for leadership and mentorship roles

Cons

High pressure to deliver high-quality results quickly
Tight deadlines and fast-paced work environment
Can be challenging to get buy-in from stakeholders who do not prioritize user experience
Potential for burnout due to long hours or high workload
Limited opportunities for creative freedom depending on company culture or industry norms

Key steps to become a user experience manager

Explore user experience manager education requirements

Most common user experience manager degrees

Bachelor's

67.7 %

Master's

15.3 %

Associate

8.9 %

Start to develop specific user experience manager skills

Skills	Percentages
User Experience	10.67%
Sketch	9.05%
User Research	7.18%
UI	5.72%
Customer Service	4.39%

Complete relevant user experience manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New user experience managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a user experience manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real user experience manager resumes.

Research user experience manager duties and responsibilities

Apply AngularJS to achieve front-end MVC.
Lead the planning, brainstorming, and execution of the Hayneedle brand launch.
Authore specifications and A/B test plans, design, optimize and manage features to release.
Create custom web application (from UI to back office admin) for OperaDC, which enable it to manage events.

Prepare your user experience manager resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your user experience manager resume.

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