Also called: User Researcher, Design Researcher
Studies how people use products through interviews, tests, and data so designers build the right thing.
They plan studies, interview users, watch them use prototypes, and turn findings into clear recommendations. One week might be visiting farmers to see how they use an agriculture app. It's psychology applied to technology.
Estimate.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Master's degree, about 6 years after high school. Bachelor's or master's in psychology, HCI, anthropology, or design.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $60k – $150k.
Majors to look at: Psychology, Human-Computer Interaction, Anthropology, Cognitive Science.
Growing about average. Demand rose fast, then cooled with tech layoffs.
Medium risk for 10 years. AI transcribes and summarizes interviews and even simulates users; planning studies, reading people and influencing teams stay human.
Classes: AP Psychology, AP Statistics, English composition.
Official data: O*NET occupation 19-3039.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.