[IxDA Discuss] Fair Hourly Rate for Usability Test

[Barbara Ballard]

Hi Bora,

In my experience, there are three factors driving hourly cost for tests:
- facility and travel costs
- expertise level - mobile frequently costs more because there's a bit
of specialized expertise necessary
- where the consulting firm is located

We, for example, charge a premium due to our mobile expertise, but as
we're in Kansas we can pay our people less than half what we'd have to
pay in San Francisco. We then use focus group facilities - anywhere -
to run the actual test.  So $160/hour is more than what we'd charge
for the work. But then there's the facility, travel, and recruiting
costs.  It still adds up to less than $160/hr.

If you want a Bay Area firm, I'm not sure what the average rates would be.

Barbara

On 10/30/07, Bora Ultas <boraultas at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello all. I am new to this list, but I wanted to get some people's opinion.
> I received an SOW from a usability firm in San Francisco for user testing on
> a mobile device. They want to charge $160 per hour for their consulting time
> and some material costs. This seems like a very high rate, but I have never
> hired such a company before, so I don't know what is fair. Does this seem
> like a standard rate or is it too high? Any advice would be very helpful.
>
> Bora



-- 
Barbara Ballard
barbara at littlespringsdesign.com 1-785-838-3003