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May 15, 2024

The State of User Research in Africa 3rd Edition

Since 2021, YUX has been on a mission to uncover the latest insights and trends, and this year's edition is packed with fresh discoveries. It has been broken down into bite-sized parts, so you can easily digest all the juicy insights!

PART 1
In Part 1, YUX delves deeper into understanding the landscape by revisiting themes explored in previous years, particularly focusing on who is doing research, their pathways into research and how research is conducted on the African continent. Here are the top 5 key insights uncovered on these various themes:

  • UX roles are penetrating more industries  Gaming and Entertainment, Property Technology (PropTech), e-Gov tech, and HR tech platforms, showcasing the broad spectrum of opportunities and the far-reaching influence of UX.
  • The UX field attracts individuals from varied backgrounds—teaching, healthcare, anthropology, data science—indicating a rich diversity of skills. A lot more are beginning their careers directly in UX research signifies its established status as a distinct career path.
  • More people are returning to the offices in a hybrid work arrangement, fusing the interactive benefits of office environments (depending on your view) with the autonomy and flexibility of remote work. - is this a subtle strategy for RTO?
  • Out of all the respondents, 15.7% didn't share their salary details, even though the survey was anonymous. But many mentioned that not having clear salary info and industry benchmarks in Africa makes it hard to negotiate for higher pay.- the paradox!


PART 2
Part 2, which will be released in the next couple of months explores ;

  • 🤖 The impact of AI tools on UX research in Africa.
  • 🔍 The inclusion of Research Ops (operations) in the workflow.
  • 🧠 Approaches to researcher health and wellness, because they're the ultimate champions of users!

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The findings of this study are derived from a combination of remote and in-person interviews with 10 industry professionals hailing from different countries across the continent, along with insights gathered from 134 survey responses spanning 23 countries.

Thanks to the design communities that teamed up, rallying their members to lend their voices to this project.  A heartfelt shoutout goes to UX Ghana, Fof Ghana, UX Kitchen KE, Design with Rooks, Kampala Design Community, Research Bookmark, Fof Cotonou, Fof Lomé, Zomra, Designwhine and BuiltInAfrica.


Want to know more about YUX? 
YUX Design is a pan-African research and design agency with headquarters in Senegal and teams spread across Nigeria, Ghana, Kigali, Kenya, and Cote d’ivoire. 

Their passion? - Putting user research front and center in the development process and making research accessible to everyone on the African continent!

Why? - To ensure that services meet the needs of diverse populations on the African continent, they believe that it is crucial. And guess what? They are here to empower researchers, product managers, and designers like you to level up your practices and shout to your boss, "Let's go talk to some users!"

The report is available to download here. 

Stay agile and  curious!