18 Top UX Statistics & Trends For 2024 (Latest Research)

Looking for UX statistics to help you come up with ideas for your latest design?

Or maybe you need to convince executives at your company of the benefits a UX design overhaul would bring.

In this post, we share user experience stats from around the web that provide insight on how the way a website functions affects things like sales and conversion rates.

We also share UX statistics for professionals.

General UX statistics

1. 75% of consumers judge a site’s credibility based on how it looks

According to data by Pop Web Design and cited by Startup Bonsai, 75% of consumers use your site’s design to judge its credibility.

The study even determined that consumers make this decision in as little as 3.42 seconds.

Source: Startup Bonsai

2. 63% of online orders are completed on mobile devices

According to a statistic reported by Statista, 63% of all online orders in the first quarter of 2023 were completed on mobile sites.

Mobile devices also accounted for 74% of all traffic to ecommerce stores.

This proves the importance of a good mobile UX.

This means when you design ecommerce stores, you should design them for mobile users by creating a responsive mobile design that’s easy to navigate.

Source: Statista

3. 93% of online shoppers expect a store’s online shopping experience to be the same or better than in store

Coveo surveyed consumers to discover what they expect out of an ecommerce store.

One of the biggest statistics from the report is the fact that 93% of consumers, an overwhelming majority, expect a store’s online shopping experience to mirror or be better than that store’s in-store shopping experience.

Common issues consumers run into on ecommerce websites include the following:

• Customer service shortfalls – 48% of consumers chose this option
• Website navigation – 32%
• Search deficiencies – 29%
• Post-transaction problems – 27%

It seems if ecommerce stores want to improve the user experiences on their sites, they should expand or retrain their customer service staff or completely revamp the way they approach customer service.

They should also improve their navigation menus and search widgets so potential customers can find the products they’re looking for much easier.

Finally, they should improve their account features so customers can view their orders, track packages, initiate returns with a click of a button and contact customer support easily.

Source: Coveo

4. Users spend 80% of their time on a web page looking at the left-hand side of the screen

According to a study on eye tracking, which was conducted by the Nielsen Norman Group, users look at the left-hand side of a web page 80% more than the right.

The study was conducted on a 1920x1080p monitor. There were 120 internet users who participated in the study. They were asked to view mainstream, news and ecommerce websites.

The study cut that 1920px into sections to determine where users spent the majority of their time:

• Left
  • 0-192px – 6% of users fixate on this section of the screen
  • 193-384px – 17%
  • 385-576px – 20%
  • 577-768px – 20%
  • 769-960px – 17%
• Right
  • 961-1,152px – 9%
  • 1,153-1,344px – 6%
  • 1,345-1,536px – 2%
  • 1,537-1,728px – 1%
  • 1,729-1,920px – 1%

This study proves that users would benefit from having crucial navigation and call to action buttons featured on the left-hand side of the screen but more toward the center (but not dead center).

Source: Nielsen Norman Group

5. 59% of consumers would rather browse a beautiful website design than a simple one

Adobe surveyed website users from around the world and asked them about the type of web design they’d prefer to view if they were only given 15 minutes to browse websites from around the world.

Their choices were “something beautifully designed” and “something simple and plain.”

59% chose “something beautifully designed” while the remaining 41% chose “something simple and plain.”

This means you’re better off meeting somewhere in the middle by keeping a beautiful design simple.

Here’s how this statistic differed by region:

• Something Beautifully Designed
  • United States – 66% chose this option
  • France – 62%
  • Australia – 61%
  • Germany – 59%
  • United Kingdom – 58%
  • Japan – 49%
• Something Simple and Plain
  • Japan – 51% chose this option
  • United Kingdom – 42%
  • Germany – 41%
  • Australia – 39%
  • France – 38%
  • United States – 34%

This means the only country who prefers simple website designs over beautiful ones is Japan.

Source: Adobe

UX statistics on UX design’s effect on a website’s conversion rate

6. Sites that load in one second convert 3x better than sites that load in five seconds

According to a study on page load time conducted by Portent, sites that load in one second have three times as many conversions as slow-loading websites that load in five seconds.

This statistic decreases to “2.5x” when you only account for ecommerce sites.

They also discovered that sites that load in one second have five times as many conversions as sites that load in 10 seconds.

This statistic decreases to “1.5x” when you only include data for ecommerce sites.

The bottom line is simple: if you want customers to convert, your site needs to load as quickly as possible.

Source: Portent

7. Customers who interact with Q&A content on product pages are 194.2% more likely to convert

In our post on statistics related to conversion rate, we cited a statistic from PowerReviews that said that customers who interact with the Q&A section of product pages are 194.2% more likely to convert.

This means if you want to improve the UX design of product pages, you should add a Q&A section to it to answer customers’ top questions about products and to allow them to ask additional questions.

The statistic goes on to explain how much different UI elements increase conversions:

• Show More Answers – Hiding answers behind a simple “Show More” button increases conversions by 217.9%.
• Click Read Answers – 192.9%
• Voting for Each Answers’ Helpfulness – 192.9%

Source: Blogging Wizard

8. Customers who interact with reviews are 108.3% more likely to convert

PowerReviews’ study on conversion rate also revealed how much having access to reviews on product pages increases conversions.

In fact, customers who interact with reviews are 108.3% more likely to convert.

Here’s how much conversions increased based on different review-based UI elements:

• Helpful “Yes” votes – Reviews with helpful “Yes” votes increased conversions by 414.3%
• Helpful “No” votes – 292.9%
• Review search – 260.7%
• Filtering reviews so only 1-star reviews show – 85.7%

This means that not only should you add reviews to product pages, you should also make sure users are able to vote on whether or not reviews are helpful, search for reviews, and filter reviews by rating.

Source: Blogging Wizard

9. Featuring user-generated images on product pages increases conversions by 106.3%

According to PowerReviews’ study, the presence of user-generated images on product pages increases conversions by 106.3%.

Furthermore, when customers interact with a product’s image gallery, conversions increase by 110.7%.

Source: Blogging Wizard

Statistics on UX design’s effect on business

10. Every $1 spent on UX generates $100 for businesses on average

According to a study conducted by Forrester, every $1 businesses spend on user experience generates $100 in return.

That’s a return on investment of 9,900%.

The statistic, as well as the study in general, helps sales, marketing and development teams make a case for updating a business’ website or app design.

Source: Forrester

11. Businesses lose an average of 35% of sales due to bad UX design

According to a statistic cited by Startup Bonsai, businesses lose as much as 35% in sales due to poor experience.

The data comes from Amazon Web Services, who estimate that that “35% in sales” translates to $1.4 trillion in sales annually due to poor UX.

They also stated that businesses with good UX designs generated $5.4 trillion collectively across the global ecommerce market.

Source: Startup Bonsai

UX statistics from case studies

12. JobNimbus was able to raise their app’s ratings from 2.5 stars to 4.8 by analyzing its UX design

UXCam is an analytics software application that helps its customers analyze the user experience of their mobile apps to uncover poor mobile UX traits.

It does this with heatmaps that show which sections of an app users interact with most as well as a key feature called session replays, which let app developers view screen recordings of their users’ actions.

Session replays were key in helping JobNimbus increase ratings for their app. They were able to see exactly where users were getting stuck and eventually leaving.

JobNimbus is a CRM software targeted toward roofing contractors.

By optimizing their app and raising its ratings from 2.5 stars to 4.8 over an 18-month period, JobNimbus was able to increase their ratings by 92%.

They were also able to raise adoption rates from only 0.51% to as high as 25% in only four weeks.

The case study goes on to explain how JobNimbus’ mobile app is now one of the business’ top three methods for retaining customers when it used to be a top cause for churning them.

Source: UXCam¹

13. Recora was able to reduce ticket submissions by 142% by changing one button

Recora is a virtual cardiac rehabilitation app that allows heart patients to recover from procedures at home.

The app requires cooperation from Recora, the hospital that treated the patient as well as the patient themselves.

Recora began receiving numerous complaints about the company’s tablets not working. Before analyzing the app’s UX issues, the usual fix involved having patients send their tablets back to Recora, then having the app’s dev team service them before finally delivering them back to patients.

Recora used UX testing software application UXCam and discovered, through the help of application’s heatmap and event analytics features, that users were encountering issues with the app’s “Join Session” button.

Instead of tapping the button, users were holding it, which inhibited the event action from triggering.

By redesigning the button behavior to also work with a press-and-hold gesture, Recora was able to reduce ticket submissions by 142%.

Source: UXCam²

14. PlaceMakers doubled their sales by changing their messaging for low-stock products

PlaceMakers Trade is a New Zealand-based supply company that specializes in construction materials.

They launched their app during the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 when worldwide supply chain issues ran amok.

This led to a common complaint among customers: they would add products to their carts, but by the time they would get to the app’s checkout page, the item would be out of stock.

PlaceMakers created what they called a “Constrained Products” tag to let customers know about products that were low or out of stock. However, the release of this feature brought sales down by 80%.

The company used UXCam’s session replay and heatmap features to identify the problem: their messaging for low-stock items was too strong.

After settling on a lighter tone for Constrained Products, PlaceMakers was able to double sales from their app in spite of the industry’s supply chain issues.

Source: UXCam³

UX statistics for professionals

15. The average UX designer makes $106,224/year in the United States

According to Indeed, the average “user experience designer” in the United States makes $106,224/year.

This number comes from over 1,300 reported salaries and ranges from as low as $68,874/year to as high as $163,828.

Here’s how much UX designers make based on their experience in the field, according to Indeed:

• 1 to 2 years: $91,098/year
• 3 to 5 years: $127,518/year
• 10+years: $141,366/year

Source: Indeed

16. Stefanini IT Solution is the highest-paying company for UX design in the United States with an average salary of $150,799/year

The highest-paying companies for UX design in the United States are Stefanini IT Solution, Microsoft, Google, SAP and LinkedIn.

The statistic comes from five reported salaries. The company itself has a 3.8-star rating from over 400 employee reviews on Indeed.

Here are statistics for other top-paying companies in the role of UX designer:

• Microsoft – $139,003/year on average based on 16 reported salaries | 4.2-star-rating from over 8,200 reviews
• Google – $135,824/year on average based on 37 reported salaries | 4.3-star rating from over 5,100 reviews
• SAP – $135,020/year on average based on 10 reported salaries | 4.2-star rating from over 2,800 reviews
• LinkedIn – $133,236/year on average based on 24 reported salaries | 4.3-star rating from over 400 reviews

Source: Indeed

17. Salaries for UX job roles were $10,000 lower in 2023

Wall Street Journal got in touch with a few skilled professionals to ask for their thoughts and insights on the state of the job market.

One such professional was experienced in UX design.

She said that she only interviewed for a small handful of the 2,000 jobs she applied for over a one-year period.

She also said that salaries advertised with job listings fell by $10,000 during that period.

Source: Wall Street Journal

18. The highest-paying city for UX design roles is Annapolis Junction, Maryland

According to data obtained from six salaries reported to Indeed, the highest-paying city in the United States for the role of “user experience designer” is Annapolis Junction, Maryland with an average salary of $159,497/year.

Here are other top cities in the United States for this position, according to Indeed:

• Santa Clara, CA – $140,552/year on average based on 10 reported salaries
• Redmond, WA – $135,560/year on average based on 38 reported salaries
• Irvine, CA – $114,934/year on average based on 16 reported salaries
• Orlando, FL – $112,414/year on average based on 13 reported salaries
• Houston, TX – $108,455/year on average based on 21 reported salaries
• Denver, CO – $100,493/year on average based on 19 reported salaries
• Austin, TX – $97,021/year on average based on 98 reported salaries
• Huntsville, AL – $90,668/year on average based on 27 reported salaries

Source: Indeed

Final thoughts

Many businesses try to follow popular web design trends. Others mimic the designs of their competitors.

However, many of these statistics prove that businesses could benefit from better UX designs and that they should follow proven UX design tactics when they do.

These include improving site navigation, search features, and placing key navigation buttons and information on the left-hand side of the screen.

Businesses should also consider using a UX analytics tool to determine where users are getting stuck.

Lastly, the job market for UX design may be oversaturated, but those who can find positions have lucrative careers ahead of them, even if starting salaries are lower.

If you want to learn more about web design trends, check out our post featuring statistics on web design.

Sources

• Startup Bonsai
• Statista
• Coveo
• Nielsen Norman Group
• Adobe
• Blogging Wizard
• Forrester
• UXCam¹
• UXCam²
• UXCam³
• Indeed
• Wall Street Journal