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The differences between user experience managers and category managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 8-10 years to become both a user experience manager and a category manager. Additionally, a user experience manager has an average salary of $115,443, which is higher than the $102,035 average annual salary of a category manager.
The top three skills for a user experience manager include user experience, sketch and user research. The most important skills for a category manager are strategic sourcing, category strategy, and supplier performance.
| User Experience Manager | Category Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $115,443 | $102,035 |
| Hourly rate | $55.50 | $49.06 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 59,745 | 108,424 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 10 | 10 |
A user experience manager's role is to oversee the processes and the workforce involved in creating and designing web-based platforms or applications, ensuring all aspects are user-friendly and easy to navigate. Moreover, most of the user experience manager's responsibilities revolve around crafting strategies and systems, coordinating all personnel involved in web development, recommending guidelines and improvements to make platforms more user-friendly, and producing progress reports. Furthermore, as a manager, it is vital to lead and encourage the team, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
Category managers are usually employed in the retail industry. They are primarily responsible for the sales enhancement of a specific group of products. The managers are involved in pricing, marketing, inventory, and vendor management. Their daily tasks include meeting with suppliers to talk about the plans, conducting orientation to the market research company, and updating category reports. Qualified applicants must have a degree in business administration or a related field as well as relevant job experience in a related job.
User experience managers and category managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| User Experience Manager | Category Manager | |
| Average salary | $115,443 | $102,035 |
| Salary range | Between $69,000 And $190,000 | Between $74,000 And $138,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Nevada |
| Best paying company | Meta | McKinsey & Company Inc |
| Best paying industry | Insurance | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a user experience manager and a category manager in terms of educational background:
| User Experience Manager | Category Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Graphic Design | Business |
| Most common college | University of Wisconsin - Madison | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between user experience managers' and category managers' demographics:
| User Experience Manager | Category Manager | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 59.1% Female, 40.9% | Male, 55.7% Female, 44.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |