Also called: User Researcher, Design Researcher
Studies how real people use technology and turns what they learn into better product decisions.
You visit a farmer to watch how he uses a crop app in a dusty tractor cab, then share video clips that convince your team to redesign it. Interviews, surveys, and experiments are your tools.
Estimate; the research job market tightened in 2023-25.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Master's degree, about 6 years after high school. Bachelor's in psychology, anthropology, or HCI; many have a master's or PhD.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Psychology, Anthropology, Human-Computer Interaction, Sociology.
Growing about average. Competitive after tech layoffs.
Medium risk for 10 years. AI transcribes and summarizes interviews and runs quick surveys; building real empathy with users stays human.
Classes: AP Psychology, AP Statistics, Sociology.
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.