What Is the Ideal Ratio for PM, UX, and Engineering?

Every tech company is going to need product managers, user experience designers, and engineers. But what’s the ideal ratio for all three?

There are plenty of simple-sounding formulas out there, but finding the right answer can be complicated. Let’s take a look at some of the best tips.

What Is the Ideal Ratio for Product Management, UX, and Engineering?

Based on the details floating around on the internet, the most common recommendations for a ratio range from 1:1:5–1:1:10 (PM:UX:Eng). That’s one UX employee for every PM employee and five to ten engineers for every UX employee.

However, in practice, some companies have a ratio of 1:1:1, while others are closer to 1:1:50. That’s quite a range. And just because so many voices recommend 1:1:5–1:1:10, that doesn’t mean that range will be ideal for you. So what is the right ratio?

The answer is that there may not be a one-size-fits-all solution. That 1:1:5–1:1:10 sweet spot may be perfect for you, of course. But depending on the details of your company and product, you may fit more comfortably on the higher or lower end of the spectrum.

Here are some general guidelines that might help you decide if you belong on one end or the other.

High Ratio

By high end, we mean companies with a larger gap between PM/UX and engineering—more along the lines of 1:1:50. This kind of ratio is generally most suited to companies with the following characteristics:

• A complicated back-end: If your product is designed to interact extensively with other machines or has heavy computing requirements, you’re more likely to employ engineers who aren’t involved with the user interface at all. This would make a higher engineer-to-PM-and-UX ratio more effective.
• Fewer, larger features: If your product has a few simple features that are used by many people, you will generally need more engineering staff compared to PM and UX staff. This will make it more likely that you can keep your features functional at all times and deal with any problems as quickly as possible.
• API-centricity: The B2D (business-to-developer) model has been picking up lately, with companies like Stripe and Twilio forgoing the user interface almost entirely. But even companies with a small team of engineers focusing on the API will probably need far fewer UX designers to go around. And while PMs are important for APIs, the role will likely be pretty straightforward, meaning fewer would be required.

Low Ratio

With a low ratio, you’ll see more PM and UX employees relative to engineers—approaching (or hitting) 1:1:1. Some characteristics that might define the companies this would work for include:

• UX-centric culture: UX is important at every tech company, but some companies consider it their primary competitive advantage. For companies that do, a higher ratio of UX and PM team members will make more sense.
• Simple back-end: Some companies manage their back-end and offer an API as their product. Others are mostly nice-looking faces for APIs. Common examples include aggregator websites like Indeed or Kayak. In those cases, your engineers are probably focusing more on your front-end and web design, and you’ll want a higher ratio of UX and PM.

What about B2B vs. B2C?

You may notice that we haven’t mentioned business-to-business (B2B) versus business-to-customer (B2C) companies yet. How does that distinction factor into the ideal PM:UX:Eng ratio? There’s some debate about that.

On the one hand, B2B companies tend to put less emphasis on the usability of their products, instead focusing on adding as many features as possible to appeal to non-user buyers. This might suggest that UX and PM team members would be less important.

On the other hand, because B2B products often have more features, you might expect that those companies need more PM and UX staff to design and optimize them.

In the end, other factors besides B2B vs. B2C will likely play a bigger role in determining whether a high or low ratio is right for a given company.

How Do I Know If My Ratio Is Off?

There are tech companies out there whose product teams consistently run like a well-oiled machine. They’re the exception to the rule, however. In most cases, there’s room for improvement.

So how should you go about optimizing your product teams? The first step is to diagnose the problem. Is your ratio of PM and UX to engineers too high or too low? Here are two of the most common problems to look out for and what they might mean:

Problem 1

Your product managers and UX designers are continually adding more projects to an already massive backlog. The product does what it’s supposed to reasonably well, but there are major holes in its functionality that are keeping it from competing against established competitors.

If this sounds familiar, your problem may be too few engineers. Consider hiring more to establish a higher ratio.

Problem 2

Your engineers make the core decisions for how your product functions and how users interact with it. This makes the product cluttered and intimidating for users. You have no trouble competing on functionality, but you’re losing prospects who get frustrated with the lack of user-friendly features. Customer churn is also a constant concern.

If this sounds more like your company, then your problem is probably a deficiency of PM and/or UX staff. Once again, the solution is to hire more of the missing ingredient(s). Then, you can reorganize how your product teams operate, giving PM and UX more control over user interactions.

Optimize Your Company with the Help of an Org Chart

Is your current PM:UX:Eng ratio working smoothly, or could it use a little tweaking? If you need to reorganize and optimize your company’s structure, one of the best tools you can use is an org chart. This will give you a bird’s-eye view of exactly how your company fits together—and how it could be improved.