What Does a UX Project Manager Do?

UX design project management, also known as user experience management, is a discipline that combines UX design approaches with traditional project management techniques and processes to effectively create a product that meets user expectations. 

Discover more about a UX project manager, how these two disciplines blend and complement each other, the salary and job outlook, and how to start this career path.

Read more: Project Management Career Overview: Resources for Your PM Journey

What does a UX project manager do?

A UX project manager oversees the process and project team that strives to enhance a person's experience using a digital product, such as an application, website, or online stream. As a project manager, you seek to use the team's individual strengths to launch a product that is enjoyable, interactive, and user-friendly. You'll typically manage a team that may include UX designers, web designers, researchers, and other professionals. 

In this role, your ultimate focus is the human experience and how your product is optimized for maximum enjoyment. You'll also focus on business aspects, such as how you:

• Grow the project

• Attract investment

• Increase demand

• Increase sales and revenue

Duties and responsibilities

The duties of a UX project manager vary depending on the product or service you work on, the scale of your project, and your team. Still, in general, you will likely have the following responsibilities:

• Managing the user experience of a website, app, or other digital product that includes user engagement

• Developing strategies to combine the skills of all disciplines involved in creating a user experience

• Facilitating collaboration between various creative professionals

• Moving a UX product through its lifecycle with the best possible result

• Leading user research and analysis, including interviews, surveys, and usability testing

• Using effective project management methodologies, such as Waterfall or Agile

• Keeping open communication channels to the whole team in order to work together

• Setting clear roles and responsibilities within the team

• Looking for investment opportunities

• Monitoring budgets and increasing revenue

• Communicating with stakeholders

UX project manager skills

Working as a UX project manager involves combining the technical skills and understanding of UX design with the skills of a project manager. Workplace and technical skills are essential to this role, which works closely with people. These skills include the following:

Technical skills

• Project management

• UX design

• Strategic planning

• Adhering to standards 

• Project management software

• Agile and Waterfall methodologies

• Graphic design programs

• Spreadsheets

• Visual design

• Testing

• Wireframes

• Prototyping

• Customer research tools

Workplace skills

• Attention to detail

• Analytical thinking

• Problem-solving

• Collaboration and teamwork

• Communication and listening 

• Ability to meet targets and deadlines

• Leadership

• Delegation

• Stress management

• Organization 

Read more: 11 Key Project Management Skills

UX project manager salary and job outlook

Project management within UX design is growing, given the need for organization and facilitation between a multidisciplinary team. UX designers have the technical skills but not necessarily the project management skills needed to bring a project together, so a professional skilled in both is essential for this role. 

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the job outlook for digital designers, which includes UX designers, is excellent. BLS expects a 16 percent growth rate from 2022 to 2023, which is well above average [1]. Management specialists also have an average job outlook of 6 percent which is faster than the average of 3 percent for all jobs in the US [2]. 

Building project management skills as a UX designer is a great form of professional development and an excellent way to combine these career paths. According to Payscale, UX designers in the US earn an average annual salary of $78,722, but a UX designer with project manager skills earns an increased average annual salary of $84,114 [3, 4]. According to Glassdoor, a UX project manager's average annual base salary is $93,783 [5].

UX project management career path

UX project management is an effective way to use your digital design skills and build on them to advance in your career. With a bachelor’s degree, skills, and experience, UX designers can advance into management positions.  

To work as a UX project manager, you need a unique blend of technical and workplace to manage project goals and outcomes. Let’s take a look in more detail at the education, training, and experience you need to work as a UX design project manager.

Read more: Types of Project Management: Methodologies, Industries, and More

Education and training

The position of UX project manager is generally a progression from the role of UX designer. To work as a UX designer, you typically need a bachelor’s degree in a relevant major such as computer science, design, or communications. However, a degree isn’t your only option, and it’s possible to enter the field of UX design through boot camps, gaining experience, and self-directed learning. 

To step up into UX management, you generally need a bachelor's degree. Sometimes, employers may expect you to have a master’s degree. Project management also requires additional training and certifications, most widely in project management methodologies, which are integral to the role.  

UX project managers may use various project management methodologies, including Agile, Scrum, Kanban, and Lean UX, so you may need training and certifications to match. 

Certifications to consider include:

• CompTIA Project+

• PMI Project Management Professional (PMP)

• PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)

Read more: 6 Project Management Certifications to Advance Your Career

Experience

To work in a management position, you must demonstrate UX design experience and leadership capacity. Depending on your employer and abilities, this could take up to 10 years or more.

It’s also essential that you have experience in leadership roles managing people and projects. This might be an entry-level role, an internship, taking on extra responsibility as a UX designer, shadowing senior positions, or becoming a mentor to less experienced colleagues. 

Read more: 5 UX Designer Career Paths: Stepping Up Your Design Career

Getting started with Coursera

A UX project manager uses a blend of UX design and project management skills to ensure an engaging and useful user experience with digital products. If you’re looking to advance in your career as a UX project manager, take a look at some online courses and Professional Certificates to boost your skills and resume. Consider the Google Project Management Professional Certificate, which includes Agile Project Management.