{"id":7132,"date":"2018-07-13T17:44:56","date_gmt":"2018-07-13T21:44:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.brainstation.io\/?p=7132"},"modified":"2020-05-20T18:03:37","modified_gmt":"2020-05-20T22:03:37","slug":"vancouvers-tech-boom-means-more-demand-for-ux-designers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/vancouvers-tech-boom-means-more-demand-for-ux-designers","title":{"rendered":"Vancouver’s Tech Boom Means More Demand for UX Designers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vancouver is a tech-industry hotbed in the midst of a heat wave, and it doesn\u2019t look like things are going to cool down anytime soon.<\/span><\/p>\n

In recent years, Microsoft has established <\/span>a\u00a0<\/span>stunning new office<\/span><\/a>; Amazon has promised to bring <\/span>3,000 new high-tech jobs<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>by 2022; and Facebook is planning to establish a major new downtown office (amidst companies like Calabrio, Samsung, and BlackBird Interactive also announcing new Vancouver offices). \u00a0Add the recently announced <\/span>Digital Technology Supercluster<\/span><\/a> \u2013 intended to create 50,000 new jobs and $15 billion in GDP \u2013 to a tech sector that already includes companies like Slack and Hootsuite, and the city\u2019s reputation for technical innovation seems set to increase. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Those developments, however, will also only further what has become <\/span>a serious shortage of local tech talent<\/span><\/a>. And few specialists are in as hot demand as User Experience (UX) Designers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe UX space has definitely gained the most notable increase in demand over the last two or three years out of any skillset,\u201d said Shaun Lemmer, a partner\/recruitment consultant at\u00a0<\/span>Benchmark Tech Recruitment\u00a0<\/span><\/a>with a decade-plus of experience in the Vancouver market.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBack around 2008-12, there was a lot of focus on business intelligence, big data, and the cloud \u2013 that was the buzz during that particular time. I would say that since then, UX, along with front-end development, have really been at the forefront. We\u2019ve seen a huge increase in demand for UX-related resources in the last three years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the\u00a0<\/span>2016 TechTalentBC Report<\/span><\/a>, UX Designer is one of the top 10 occupations in B.C. expected to experience the largest growth in demand over the coming years. Despite the B.C. government\u2019s pledge to invest\u00a0<\/span>$4.4 million into increasing the number of STEM graduates<\/span>, <\/span>experts expect the talent crunch to grow only more severe.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been a shortage of tech talent in Vancouver and good UX Designers are definitely hard to come by. I\u2019m constantly on the lookout myself for UX designers and it\u2019s definitely a tough find,\u201d said\u00a0<\/span>Jane Kim<\/span>, <\/span>creative director and senior UX\/UI Designer at the Vancouver-base<\/span>d\u00a0<\/span>FORM Athletica<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cIt is a good time to be a UX professional or specialist.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A Growing Profession <\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/span>It\u2019s only recently that UX Designers have come to be so valued.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou can ask many designers who have been working in the industry for the last decade and they would tell you that UX design wasn\u2019t really a \u2018thing\u2019 in the past,\u201d said Kim, who has worked with a long list of clients, including Electronic Arts, Telus Health, and WirelessWave.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe demand has grown substantially in the last recent years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

An Ideal Role for Career-Changers<\/span><\/h2>\n

Compared to roles that require extensive technical expertise, UX design is seen by some as a more accessible career path in tech.\u00a0<\/span>In fact, Lemmer says some companies are willing to consider candidates with strong creative backgrounds but little UX experience, if they show a commitment to learning.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEmployers are finally realizing they have to hire sometimes on potential, not always on experience,\u201d Lemmer said. \u201cIf somebody has decided to come into the UX industry, if they\u2019ve got that certification as well as enthusiasm and a defined interest, they could really succeed.\u00a0<\/span>I would say if there was ever a time to get into UX and make that career change, now is probably the time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Salaries for UX Designers Are On The Rise \u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

With increased demand comes increased leverage for talented and creative UX designers, so it\u2019s little surprise that salaries are surging.\u00a0<\/span>Indeed<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>pegs the average salary for a UX Designer in Vancouver at $75,346 \u2013 almost $10,000 more than the\u00a0<\/span>national average<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>of $66,908.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s increased demand and a shortage of supply, so we are definitely seeing salaries increase,\u201d Lemmer said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>It\u2019s not just that the positions are more lucrative \u2013 they\u2019re also more secure.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cTwo or three years ago, most of the UX positions were ON contract,\u201d Lemmer said. \u201cThese days, I would say that 70 to 80 percent are full-time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"ux<\/h2>\n

UX Design Skills Training Highly Valued<\/span><\/h2>\n

What are employers looking for? <\/span>In short: creativity, resourcefulness, and a comfort and competency with emerging trends.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUX Designers need to also know the latest trends in tech, do a lot of research, and be very creative problem-solving,\u201d Kim said. \u201cNaturally, they must also be able to brainstorm, wireframe, and prototype their designs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Continuing education is another focal point.<\/span><\/p>\n

At Thinkific, every team member receives $500 toward educational and self-improvement resources of their own choosing, including courses, workshops, books, and conferences.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we\u2019ve supported many folks through training or events at a higher cost if it means it will have a significant impact on their personal growth,\u201d Fomenoff said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe see it as an investment not only in our people, but in our company itself, since the skills they learn will directly impact our success as they apply them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

To meet this increasing demand, <\/span>BrainStation offers a\u00a0<\/span>User Experience Design<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>course online and at our campuses in Vancouver, Toronto, and New York, with an adaptive curriculum that covers: user research, conducting interviews and creating personas; information architecture; sketching and wireframing; and prototyping with InVision and collecting actionable feedback on your design.<\/span><\/p>\n

For those who do pursue UX design in Vancouver, however, be prepared: you will be busy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have been very fortunate in my design career to have had no shortage of work,\u201d Kim said. \u201cIt has been quite busy and I don\u2019t see it dying down anytime soon.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Interested in developing your design skills? Check out BrainStation’s User Experience Design program.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A serious shortage of tech talent in Vancouver is making one thing abundantly clear: now is a good time to be a UX Designer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":7151,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[158,157],"tags":[452,325,202,483,190,112,122,71],"yoast_head":"\nVancouver's Tech Boom Means More Demand for UX Designers | BrainStation\u00ae Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Vancouver continues to be a tech-industry hotbed as Amazon (and more) creates thousands of jobs. With the skills gap as prominent as ever, it's a good time to be a UX Designer, with demand increasing.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/vancouvers-tech-boom-means-more-demand-for-ux-designers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vancouver's Tech Boom Means More Demand for UX Designers | BrainStation\u00ae Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Vancouver continues to be a tech-industry hotbed as Amazon (and more) creates thousands of jobs. With the skills gap as prominent as ever, it's a good time to be a UX Designer, with demand increasing.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/vancouvers-tech-boom-means-more-demand-for-ux-designers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BrainStation\u00ae Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-07-13T21:44:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-05-20T22:03:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d2re7sjnpekmig.cloudfront.net\/prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/aditya-chinchure-568068-unsplash-e1531518835777.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1160\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"397\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"BrainStation\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"BrainStation\u00ae Blog\",\"description\":\"The Digital Learning Company\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/vancouvers-tech-boom-means-more-demand-for-ux-designers#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/d2re7sjnpekmig.cloudfront.net\/prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/aditya-chinchure-568068-unsplash-e1531518835777.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/d2re7sjnpekmig.cloudfront.net\/prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/aditya-chinchure-568068-unsplash-e1531518835777.jpg\",\"width\":1160,\"height\":397,\"caption\":\"Vancouver Tech\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/vancouvers-tech-boom-means-more-demand-for-ux-designers#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/vancouvers-tech-boom-means-more-demand-for-ux-designers\",\"name\":\"Vancouver's Tech Boom Means More Demand for UX Designers | BrainStation\u00ae Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/vancouvers-tech-boom-means-more-demand-for-ux-designers#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-07-13T21:44:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-20T22:03:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9f37983a6c4da6cf5dd422481ac8cf11\"},\"description\":\"Vancouver continues to be a tech-industry hotbed as Amazon (and more) creates thousands of jobs. With the skills gap as prominent as ever, it's a good time to be a UX Designer, with demand increasing.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/vancouvers-tech-boom-means-more-demand-for-ux-designers#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/vancouvers-tech-boom-means-more-demand-for-ux-designers\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/vancouvers-tech-boom-means-more-demand-for-ux-designers#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Vancouver’s Tech Boom Means More Demand for UX Designers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9f37983a6c4da6cf5dd422481ac8cf11\",\"name\":\"BrainStation\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/80c14b8388838ae1453aec36606b232d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/80c14b8388838ae1453aec36606b232d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"BrainStation\"},\"description\":\"BrainStation is a global leader in digital skills training, empowering businesses and brands to succeed in the digital age. Established in 2012, BrainStation has worked with over 250 instructors from the most innovative companies, developing cutting-edge, real-world digital education that has empowered more than 50,000 professionals and some of the largest corporations in the world.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/author\/brainstation\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Vancouver's Tech Boom Means More Demand for UX Designers | BrainStation\u00ae Blog","description":"Vancouver continues to be a tech-industry hotbed as Amazon (and more) creates thousands of jobs. With the skills gap as prominent as ever, it's a good time to be a UX Designer, with demand increasing.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/vancouvers-tech-boom-means-more-demand-for-ux-designers","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Vancouver's Tech Boom Means More Demand for UX Designers | BrainStation\u00ae Blog","og_description":"Vancouver continues to be a tech-industry hotbed as Amazon (and more) creates thousands of jobs. With the skills gap as prominent as ever, it's a good time to be a UX Designer, with demand increasing.","og_url":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/vancouvers-tech-boom-means-more-demand-for-ux-designers","og_site_name":"BrainStation\u00ae Blog","article_published_time":"2018-07-13T21:44:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-05-20T22:03:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1160,"height":397,"url":"https:\/\/d2re7sjnpekmig.cloudfront.net\/prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/aditya-chinchure-568068-unsplash-e1531518835777.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"BrainStation","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/","name":"BrainStation\u00ae Blog","description":"The Digital Learning Company","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/vancouvers-tech-boom-means-more-demand-for-ux-designers#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d2re7sjnpekmig.cloudfront.net\/prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/aditya-chinchure-568068-unsplash-e1531518835777.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d2re7sjnpekmig.cloudfront.net\/prod\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/aditya-chinchure-568068-unsplash-e1531518835777.jpg","width":1160,"height":397,"caption":"Vancouver Tech"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/vancouvers-tech-boom-means-more-demand-for-ux-designers#webpage","url":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/vancouvers-tech-boom-means-more-demand-for-ux-designers","name":"Vancouver's Tech Boom Means More Demand for UX Designers | BrainStation\u00ae Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/vancouvers-tech-boom-means-more-demand-for-ux-designers#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2018-07-13T21:44:56+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-20T22:03:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9f37983a6c4da6cf5dd422481ac8cf11"},"description":"Vancouver continues to be a tech-industry hotbed as Amazon (and more) creates thousands of jobs. With the skills gap as prominent as ever, it's a good time to be a UX Designer, with demand increasing.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/vancouvers-tech-boom-means-more-demand-for-ux-designers#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/vancouvers-tech-boom-means-more-demand-for-ux-designers"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/vancouvers-tech-boom-means-more-demand-for-ux-designers#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Vancouver’s Tech Boom Means More Demand for UX Designers"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9f37983a6c4da6cf5dd422481ac8cf11","name":"BrainStation","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/80c14b8388838ae1453aec36606b232d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/80c14b8388838ae1453aec36606b232d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"BrainStation"},"description":"BrainStation is a global leader in digital skills training, empowering businesses and brands to succeed in the digital age. Established in 2012, BrainStation has worked with over 250 instructors from the most innovative companies, developing cutting-edge, real-world digital education that has empowered more than 50,000 professionals and some of the largest corporations in the world.","url":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/author\/brainstation"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7132"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7132"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11791,"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7132\/revisions\/11791"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}