State of UX in Hawaiʻi research report
Building community and finding our unique gifts
Outcomes
Community contributors engaged
Businesses involved
%
UXHI Participation increase
Calls to action
Observe
Case Context
The UX and design fields in Hawaii are unique in the world. There is a limited local UX job market, and a sluggish awareness of the industry’s importance to business outcomes. The state’s geographic and time zone isolation and small population dampen attracting and retaining talent and investment in broader technology innovation. Doing business in Hawaii, necessitates understanding its distinct cultural and environmental contexts, which requires specialized knowledge and sensitivity that is not always galvanized locally.
Stakeholders
UX Hawaiʻi professional interest group and community. Local businesses, government, and education institutions.
Role
Design strategy, interview research, and report concept + writing.
Collaborators
Design researchers, quantitative, and graphic design teams.
Reflect
To arrive at a holistic picture of the state of UX in Hawaiʻi, the research team used a community-driven mixed-methods approach, synthesizing and triangulating qualitative and quantitative data. We aimed to hear from across industries and sectors, as the previous 2022 report was largely self-reflective within the design community. Using LinkedIn, personal networks, and open calls during technology and innovation events, we gathered a spectrum of viewpoints from around the islands and abroad.
Methods
- Survey
- User interviews and ride-alongs
- Participatory action research
- Cluster analysis
- Affinity mapping
Software
Figma, Coda, Excel, LLMs
Act
In synthesizing the data, the research team learned that the same aspects that limit technology, design, and UX innovation horizons in Hawaiʻi, are the very aspects that may be recognized as our unique gifts. This repositions the conversation to celebrate our cultural gifts, our geographic neutrality, and our uncommon talent pools. The UXHI research team arrived at community calls to action that will strengthen and further differentiate the community as a significant player in a global market.
Renewing our mission:
UXHI aims to create opportunities and common resources that help us define our own competitive characteristics, and differentiate our offerings in a local and global context. The very attributes of doing business in our unique situation can be repositioned as a value. We bring the human, the local, the empathetic, and the giving. (especially in the face of automation and artificial intelligence).
Action Items
Help individuals transform their careers:
- Publish a ‘Transitioning to UX’ field guide.
- Create and publish stories of individual pathways to UX.
- Maintain a working doc of known Hawaii-based UX upskilling programs.
- Publish a transferable skill database to help would-be practitioners enter the field.
Help Hawai‘i-based companies:
- Create a design manifesto for working from the islands, to define a set of values common to all.
- Define a set of portable, stable job descriptions for the UX field to help business hire for these roles.
- Design a UX maturity framework reference infographic to help organizations understand their UX maturity and position themselves to rise to the next level.