User Experience Researcher/Designer

$76,400 - $130,000/Yr

Harvard University - Cambridge, MA

Full-time - Mid Level

Remote - Cambridge, MA

501-1,000 employees

Educational Services

About the position

The UX Researcher/Designer at Harvard University will play a pivotal role in the Reimagining Discovery Project, aimed at enhancing access to Harvard's extensive collections. This position involves engaging with users to understand their needs and preferences for a unified search system, conducting user research, and synthesizing findings into actionable insights. The role requires collaboration with library staff and the creation of wireframes and prototypes to inform product development. This is a full-time, 2-year term position with a Monday through Friday schedule.

Responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate research efforts for the unified search system.
• Select appropriate research methodologies such as user interviews, surveys, or prototype testing.
• Partner with staff stakeholders to refine research questions and gather study participants.
• Recruit and schedule participants for research studies based on research needs.
• Analyze and synthesize findings from research and produce high-quality artifacts like personas and journey maps.
• Transform findings into actionable insights and recommendations for product development.
• Present findings from studies in both in-person presentations and written summaries.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, HCI, Computer Science, Library & Information Science, Digital Communications, Web Design or a related field.
• Minimum of 2 years of experience in UX, design, human factors, customer experience, libraries, or a related field.
• Excellent written communication and oral presentation skills.
• Experience using software for online collaboration (i.e. Miro), prototyping software (i.e. Figma), and survey creation (i.e. Qualtrics).
• Ability to work independently and collaborate with a team.

Nice-to-haves

• Demonstrated commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, belonging, and antiracism.
• Experience conducting research in library environments, museums, and/or higher education.
• Experience with project management software such as Jira or Trello.
• Familiarity with WCAG principles and best practices for accessible design.
• Familiarity with semantic search or other AI technologies.

Benefits

• Commuter assistance
• Paid parental leave
• Disability insurance
• Health insurance
• Dental insurance
• Tuition reimbursement
• Paid time off
• Employee assistance program
• Vision insurance
• Life insurance
• Retirement plan