ES
Results
01 Type of service designer 02 How they formed their experience 03 Gender 04 Age 05 Education level 06 State 07 Since when they consider themselves SD 08 Seniority 09 Team Leadership 10 Size of teams 11 Sector 12 Monthly net income 13 Perception of fairness of payment 14 How much they think they should be earning 15 Overview of SD in Mexico 16 Looking for job opportunities
Insights
01 Income vs. Education 02 Expectation of Salary by Gender
Survey with SDMX Alumni
Where do they apply new knowledge
 
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State of Service Design
in Mexico 2018
An initiative by SDMX
Introduction

In 2017 Service Design was still a little-known discipline in Mexico. Those designers in search of meaning and value in their practice resorted to Design Thinking, Strategic Design, Innovation or UX to satisfy that need. Today we can find around a dozen companies that have opened their Service Design area, while our SDMX initiative has just completed one year of teaching courses.

The mission of this survey is to capture the current situation of the practice, so we can be able to measure its growth. The survey was published in June of this year, and remained open for 4 weeks. We received response from 200 participants who consider themselves part of the Service Design sector (or similar disciplines).

Below you will find the results, as well as some interesting insights obtained by correlating data. To view all the insights download the full report below.

— Gabriela Salinas, September 2018
Results
01.
Type of
Service Designer
Service Designers in Mexico are mainly working in large corporations, followed by agencies and freelance work.
29% Professional - In-House
25% Professional - Agency
24% Freelance Consultant
14% Student
3% Teacher
5% Just curious
02.
How they formed their experience
Service Designers in Mexico have obtained their knowledge in a mixed way, triangulating between practical work, self-taught learning and courses.
19% Studying
24% Self-taught
26% Working
31% Mixed
03.
Gender
The discipline aims to be an inclusive space for women, and in general a balanced practice on gender issues.
54% Woman
46% Man
04.
Age
70% Millennials
26% Gen X
4% Baby Boomers
05.
Education level
Service designers are usually well prepared academically, with a large percentage of practitioners with a postgraduate level.
55% University
40% Master's
3% Doctorate
2% Other
06.
State
63% Mexico City
9% State of Mexico
9% Nuevo Leon
5% Jalisco
5% Queretaro
3% Puebla
2% Baja California
1% Guanajuato
1% Oaxaca
0.5% Yucatan
0.5% Coahuila
0.5% Morelos
0.5% Sonora
07.
Since when they consider themselves SD
Service Design is still a young practice in Mexico, with most of the designers considering themselves as such for 2 years or less.
29% Less than 1 year
31% 1-2 years
24% 3-4 years
12% 5-6 years
4% More than 7 years
08.
Seniority

The seniority spectrum of service designers is broad across all levels. In general, a medium level of knowledge and professional growth predominates.

10% Junior
11%
14%
26% Mid Level
16%
12%
11% Director
09.
Team Leadership
Amount of designers that report having a team.
52% Yes
48% No
10.
Size of teams
5% 1 person
61% 2 to 5
22% 6 to 10
12% More than 10
11.
Sector

After agencies, service designers in Mexico are working mainly in the Financial sector.

31% Agency/Consulting
23% Financial
13% Other
12% Technology
5% Social Innovation
4% Retail
4% Education
2% Government
2% Communications
2% Tourism
1% Food
12.
Monthly net income
These data by themselves are merely statistical, but they become interesting when correlating with other demographics such as age, schooling or gender (whose insights you can see below). Salaries are in Mexican Pesos.
4% Less than $10,000
5% $10,000 - $15,000
18% $15,001 - $20,000
10% $20,001 - $25,000
12% $25,001 - $30,000
14% $30,001 - $35,000
9% $35,001 - $40,000
6% $40,001 - $45,000
6% $45,001 - $50,000
10% $50,001 - $100,000
2% $100,001 - $200,000
1% More than $200,000
3% Not Applicable
13.
Perception of fairness of payment
*Learn some of the reasons in the report
41% Yes
58% No
14.
How much they think they should be earning
4% $20,001 - $25,000
17% $25,001 - $30,000
23% $30,001 - $35,000
7% $35,001 - $40,000
3% $40,001 - $45,000
3% $45,001 - $50,000
6% $50,001 - $55,000
12% $55,001 - $60,000
6% $70,001 - $80,000
6% $80,001 - $90,000
5% $90,001 - $100,000
4% $100,001 - $200,000
4% More than $200,000
15.
Overview of SD
in Mexico
75% Optimistic
16.
Currently looking for job opportunities
64% Yes
36% No
Insights
01.
Income vs. Education
In Mexico, a service designer with a university degree is earning an average of $31,800 (MXN), while one with a master's degree earns an average of $ 44,750 (MXN).
The lowest salaries are coincident with students or recent graduates. We did not obtain enough Doctorate data to be able to show a representative average, but the little information seems to indicate that higher education does not necessarily represent a salary increase higher than the Master's
$31,800 University
$44,750 Master's
02.
Expectation of Salary by Gender
Although the percentage of men and women who express feeling "poorly paid" is very similar, by contrasting their current income with their expectations, disparity in current wages between genders can be observed.

Women indicate having lower wages in general, and at the time of projecting their expectations it does not usually rise as much as men's.
Monthly income of women and men dissatisfied with their salary
Desired monthly income of women and men dissatisfied with their salary
Women Monthly Income Men
11%  
Less than $10,000
  0%
11%  
$10,000 – $15,000
  0%
21%  
$15,001 – $20,000
  24%
11%  
$20,001 – $25,000
  14%
14%  
$25,001 – $30,000
  10%
14%  
$30,001 – $35,000
  13%
4%  
$35,001 – $40,000
  5%
10%  
$40,001 – $50,000
  22%
0%  
$50,001 – $60,000
  5%
0%  
$60,001 – $80,000
  1%
0%  
$80,001 – $100,000
  4%
0%  
$100,001 – $200,000
  1%
0%  
More than $200,000
  1%
Women Monthly Income Men
0%  
Less than $10,000
  0%
0%  
$10,000 – $15,000
  0%
0%  
$15,001 – $20,000
  0%
8%  
$20,001 – $25,000
  0%
22%  
$25,001 – $30,000
  14%
25%  
$30,001 – $35,000
  23%
9%  
$35,001 – $40,000
  9%
15%  
$40,001 – $50,000
  5%
7%  
$50,001 – $60,000
  14%
7%  
$60,001 – $80,000
  5%
7%  
$80,001 – $100,000
  13%
0%  
$100,001 – $200,000
  9%
0%  
More than $200,000
  8%
Download the report
to see insights on:
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  • Income vs. Age
  • Income vs. Seniority
  • Income vs. Years of Experience
  • Education level by Gender
  • Income by State
  • The benefits they enjoy besides their salary
    • SDMX Alumni Survey
    01.
    Where do they apply
    new SD knowledge

    After a year of doing courses, 4 generations and almost 100 students, we have tracked the expectations of the students and the results after taking our courses. Of the percentage of students seeking to make a career change, 50% achieve it during the first year after taking the course.

    The salary conditions in which they make the change vary, some take junior salaries while starting again in a new industry for them (and without having formal education in the subject, ie. university or masters). Although others also manage to maintain their current salary when doing the jump (typically from UX or similar).

    80% Incorporate new skills into their current practice
    20% Change career to Service Design
    About the Survey


    METHODOLOGY

    We used Typeform for the survey and Google Sheets for data filtering. The results percentages were rounded to the next closed number, and the salary figures are handled as net earning. The survey was closed to 200 responses, but around 15 responses were left out of people from industries that seemed too far from service design.

    ANALYST

    Gabriela Salinas is co-founder of Service Design Mexico, an institution dedicated to service design training. Her passion for design, strategy and research has led her to create initiatives focused on promoting the new design disciplines in the country. She has ten years of experience in design and six years in strategic design and user research, as well as 3 years of teaching in various universities in the country. Gabriela is currently Head of Service Design & Research at GBM.

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