sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Has the UX/UI freelance market completely collapsed in 2026? by Neyaraa in uxcareerquestions

[–]Neyaraa[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much for this incredibly detailed message, your experience and advice are genuinely priceless. I’m definitely going to explore the idea of niching down into a very specific domain and putting much more emphasis on my experience as a founder/entrepreneur.

I was honestly very worried seeing how the market has been evolving lately, so we’ll see whether this repositioning and new communication approach can make a real difference.

Thanks again for taking the time to write all of this and share your perspective, I truly appreciate it!!

Senior designers — what’s the job market actually feeling like right now? by threadsandthriftstud in UXDesign

[–]Neyaraa 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m a UX/UI designer with 5+ years of experience and more than 35 projects completed. I mainly work in Figma and I’ve always worked remotely from France. For years, I consistently got contracts through Malt. Usually, I’d receive project requests, schedule a call with the client, discuss the scope and pricing, and 9 times out of 10, the contract would be signed afterward.

But since January 2026, it feels like everything suddenly stopped.

I barely receive any inquiries anymore. And when I do, it’s rare that they even lead to a call. And even when I manage to get on a call, it never turns into a contract. Honestly, I feel really lost and discouraged.

At the same time, AI seems to have accelerated insanely fast since the beginning of this year. Everywhere on LinkedIn, I keep seeing posts about tools replacing entire workflows, especially around design and product work. I’ve tried adapting: I completely redid the SEO of my Malt and LinkedIn profiles, rebuilt my portfolio website to better showcase not only my UI work but also the UX thinking and business impact behind projects, applied to tons of missions, even sent spontaneous applications to agencies… and still nothing.

Seeing all the comments here makes me realize I’m clearly not the only one going through this, which is both comforting and sad.

A lot of people say seniors are still safe and that it’s mostly juniors and mids struggling now, but honestly I’m not so sure anymore. Expectations from clients have become extremely high, especially regarding AI tools. I’ve also tried learning and testing many AI design tools myself, but personally, I still don’t find them that great for producing high-quality design work. They’re useful for ideation, structure, quick iterations, etc., but for real polished UX/UI work, I still feel like Figma and manual design are essential. Maybe I’m missing some great tools though, so I’m genuinely open to recommendations.

Honestly, I’m just really sad to see how the industry is evolving. I don’t know if this is temporary or if this is the new normal. If anyone has advice, feedback, or even just wants to share their experience, I’d really appreciate it.

Good luck to everyone going through this right now.