What is it like to be a UX designer in Italy? An initial analysis of job advertisements to improve training and education in HCI

This paper analyzes the Italian job market of UX designers through a qualitative analysis of 100 randomly selected job announcements. We employed a deep qualitative analysis for extrapolating the dimensions that characterize the professional figure of a UX designer. Our analysis reveals as the UX designer is considered a technical figure closer but often distinct from the professional figure of the front-end software developer. Although software development competence is still required in some cases, in several others, the core aspects of User-Centred Design seem to be correctly understood, and the required competencies and skills denote a relatively high UX maturity. On the other hand, the request for more straightforward web design is still high, and the UX designer's role often overlaps (or it is confused) with the role of the graphical designer. Furthermore, the Italian companies seem not yet ready to catch the strategic role that UX can play in aligning with business and marketing areas. Although our main objective for this study was to assess and align academic training for UX designers, we believe that it might also be the basis to better advocate the UX design profession to companies.