◆ Psychology

What a ux researcher
really does.

18 tasks, each one witnessed by the sources that watched the job — and behind every one, a prompt you can use tonight.

18evidenced tasks
3,450in the US (2025)
$76,750median pay / year
8systems it runs on
See the 18 tasks ↓Open in the atlasThe full career map →
This is what one task looks like here
Research historical data and evidence
Gather primary manuscripts, archived usability notes, and log files da…4 sources agree

The shape of the day

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The work, task by task

18 tasks
Hands on the work12
Analyze and interpret historical data+
Synthesize the decade of session transcripts, survey datasets and field notes into a narrative of changing user needs, run cross-tab checks for inconsistency, highlight causal claims supported by evidence, and deliver an annotated interpretation memo by Thursday.
jdonetwiki3 agree
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
Organize and maintain historical collections+
Create a dated catalogue of research artifacts, assign consistent identifiers, add source descriptions and access restrictions, migrate orphaned files into the archive, and deliver the curated collection index and ingestion log by Friday.
jdonet2 agree
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
Advise on historical authenticity and accuracy+
Review the design team's period pieces and advise on historical accuracy, list five anachronisms with source citations, propose corrections that preserve usability, and send the advisory note to Priya and the design lead by Wednesday.
jdonet2 agree
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
Evaluate the reliability of historical sources+
Assess twenty cited primary documents for provenance, author bias, and internal consistency, grade each source as high, medium or low reliability with justifications, and produce a reliability table and recommendations for future use by Friday noon.
jdwiki2 agree
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
Trace historical development in a particular field, such as social, cultural, political, or diplomatic history.+
Trace the field’s development from 1900 to 2000, identify the key turning points, primary actors, and landmark publications, annotate each claim with its archival source and a confidence level, and deliver a narrated timeline and evidence appendix by next Thursday.
onet
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
Edit historical society publications.+
Edit the historical society’s spring bulletin: tighten prose, fact-check dates and citations against the society’s archive files, standardise captions and style, and return a print-ready PDF proof to the editor by Friday afternoon.
onet
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
Coordinate activities of workers engaged in cataloging and filing materials.+
Coordinate the cataloguing team for the next two weeks: assign folders for accession numbers 1200–1350, set metadata fields and controlled vocabularies, track progress daily, and flag any items needing conservation to Anna by end of day.
onet
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
Translate or request translation of reference materials.+
Locate reference materials in French, Russian, and German for the literature review, request professional translations where machine quality is insufficient, track translator assignments and deadlines, and deliver translated excerpts with original citations within ten days.
onet
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
Grow the practice6

What the work runs on

named inside the evidenced tasks
5 tasksMicrosoft SharePointstores and indexes collections, manages versioning and access for archived documents
4 tasksMicrosoft Officecomposes, formats, and manages citations for a long-form research manuscript ready for peer review
4 tasksMicrosoft Excelstructures the reliability table, enables grading, filtering, and summary statistics for the evaluated sourcesOpen its task library →
4 tasksMicrosoft PowerPointcreates a clear ranked recommendation deck linking questions to methods for stakeholders
3 tasksMicrosoft Worddrafts the recruitment blurb and detailed materials list for circulationOpen its task library →
2 tasksIBM SPSS Statisticsperforms statistical tests and cross-tabulations to support interpretation of historical research data
1 taskMicrosoft Accessbuilds and maintains a relational catalogue for artifacts, identifiers, and access metadata
1 taskAdobe Acrobatchecks and prepares print-ready PDFs and verifies embedded fonts and links
Browse every evidenced software task →

The same task, four heights

this page is height one
ExecuteDo today's task, with fewer mistakesyou are here → ImproveMake it easy for the next person to acceptin the atlas → DecideWork out the right move when it is unclearin the atlas → BecomeLearn the pattern so it stops coming backin the atlas →

Can AI actually do this job?

the honest answer

It can

where it genuinely helps
  • Explain the theory behind the work
  • Draft, tidy and structure your writing
  • Rehearse a hard conversation before you have it
  • Build a study plan that fits your gaps

It cannot

where it stops, completely
  • Be in the room where a ux researcher actually works
  • Carry the responsibility when the call is wrong — that weight stays yours
  • Notice what no one wrote down: the hesitation, the thing left unsaid
  • Live with the outcome

What the work pays

two countries, two different measures

United States

this exact occupation · BLS 2025
  • $76,750 a year — the middle: half earn more, half earn less
  • The lowest tenth earn near $42,730; the top tenth near $131,810
  • 3,450 people employed in this occupation

India

the occupation GROUP, not this job · PLFS via ILOSTAT 2025
  • ₹38,298 a month — the median for Professionals, the group this work sits in
  • India publishes pay by broad occupation group, so this covers many jobs besides this one. It is a shape, not a salary.
read this carefullyThese two numbers are not comparable and must not be converted into each other. One is a yearly figure for this job alone; the other is a monthly figure for a whole family of jobs. What travels between them is the pattern, not the amount: experience lifts pay almost everywhere.

Where the evidence lives

open any of it yourself
O*NETThe US Department of Labor's own record of this job10 of these tasks ESCOThe European skills and occupations register5 of these tasks Job descriptionsReal postings, in the wild9 of these tasks WikipediaHow the world describes this work3 of these tasks US Bureau of Labor StatisticsPay and employment, by occupation2025 figures

Close to this work

12 nearby
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Questions people actually ask

You spend mornings reading and collecting past reports, user logs, design docs and recorded interviews, then tag and store them in Microsoft SharePoint or Access. That keeps sources organized for later analysis.

Afternoons are analysis and synthesis: run quantitative checks in Microsoft Excel or IBM SPSS Statistics, code qualitative notes, draft timelines or storyboards in PowerPoint, and save drafts in Word or Acrobat. You also meet designers to explain historical patterns and plan user tests.

Start with Microsoft SharePoint to store, share, and version historical collections and research files—teams rely on it. Learn Excel next for cleaning and plotting data, and PowerPoint for timelines and presentations.

Then get comfortable with Word and Adobe Acrobat for reports. If you’ll do stats, learn IBM SPSS Statistics. Microsoft Access helps when you need a structured local database of sources.

You apply source criticism by checking who produced the data, when, and why—document that in your metadata fields in SharePoint or Access. Rate reliability: firsthand logs or validated usability tests score higher than vague recollections.

Cross-check claims against multiple sources, note contradictions in your report (Word/Acrobat), and flag uncertain items for designers so product choices reflect evidence strength, not guesswork.

Yes, but use AI as a drafting tool only. Feed AI precise source snippets, dates, and document IDs from SharePoint; never ask it to invent facts. Always verify each AI-generated claim against original files and cite the exact source.

Keep a revision log and save verified drafts in Word/Acrobat. If confidential material is involved, follow your company’s data policy—don’t upload private files to public AI services.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for this SOC (19-3093.00), about 3,450 are employed. The median pay is $76,750 per year; the lowest tenth is $42,730 and the top tenth is $131,810. Those are BLS numbers.

Pay varies by sector: museums or non-profits often sit near the low end, tech or consulting firms pay toward the high end. Experience with SPSS, SharePoint, and large archival projects raises value.

A historian writes long interpretive narratives and books; an archivist organizes, preserves, and catalogs original materials. A UX researcher focuses on how historical evidence explains user behavior and product decisions.

You still catalog and evaluate sources like an archivist and interpret trends like a historian, but your deliverables are short research reports, timelines (PowerPoint/Word), and design recommendations rather than academic monographs.