User Experience Researcher

$57,520 - $121,793/Yr

Stride K12 - Columbia, SC

Full-time - Mid Level

Columbia, SC

Educational Services

About the position

As a User Experience Researcher at Stride, you will play a pivotal role in enhancing the user experience across our product offerings. This position requires a collaborative spirit as you will work closely with various teams including marketing, product, design, engineering, and data partners. Your primary focus will be to understand user experience research throughout the product design lifecycle, ensuring that user needs are at the forefront of product development. You will need to balance collaborative team dynamics with the autonomy and initiative required for individual ownership of projects. Managing multiple projects simultaneously at different phases of the product life cycle will be essential to your success in this role. Your responsibilities will include independently leading research efforts in collaboration with stakeholders to support product development. You will work with cross-functional teams to clarify and define research objectives, employing a variety of research methodologies and tools to gain insights into user experiences, needs, goals, attitudes, and behaviors. Additionally, you will be responsible for operational tasks such as participant recruiting and gift card distribution, ensuring that research insights are effectively communicated to key decision-makers and stakeholders. By equipping designers and product managers with valuable insights, you will help inform product strategy and development decisions, ensuring that features and functionality meet user needs and address feedback. Creating empathy throughout the organization by continuously sharing insights about user needs, pain points, and experiences will be a key aspect of your role. You will also be expected to foster a culture of continuous improvement within the team by identifying areas for optimization and implementing strategies for enhancement. This position does not have formal supervisory responsibilities, but it requires a strategic thinker who is a creative problem-solver and an enthusiastic team player.

Responsibilities

• Independently lead research efforts in collaboration with stakeholders to support product development across the product development lifecycle.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams of UX designers, product owners, product managers, developers, and researchers to clarify and define research objectives.
• Employ a variety of research methodologies and tools to understand user experiences, needs, goals, attitudes, and behaviors.
• Own research operational and administrative tasks like participant recruiting and gift card distribution.
• Present and communicate research insights to key decision-makers and stakeholders.
• Equip designers, product managers, and other stakeholders with insights about users' experiences to inform product strategy and development decisions.
• Work closely with product teams to ensure features and functionality meet users' needs and address user feedback.
• Develop and maintain a product roadmap that aligns with the company's business goals, budgets, and timelines.
• Create empathy throughout the organization by continuously sharing insights about users' needs, pain points, and experiences.

Requirements

• Three (3) years of industry experience in UX research, product research, or related fields (such as psychology, UX design, software development, etc.) OR equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Proven track record of collaborating with cross-functional teams to develop and execute product strategies.
• Ability to foster a culture of continuous improvement within the team by identifying areas for optimization and implementing strategies for enhancement.
• Deep knowledge of human-centered design and product research methodologies, tools, and best practices needed across the product development lifecycle.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, and ability to work with diverse personalities and cross-functional teams.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
• Must be highly organized and able to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Experience with building surveys, developing unmoderated tests, synthesizing analytics dashboards, and facilitating moderated usability tests and interviews.
• Ability to pivot and adapt, when necessary.
• Strategic thinker, creative problem-solver and enthusiastic team player.
• Proficiency in Microsoft (Sharepoint, Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) and web proficiency.

Nice-to-haves

• Bachelor's degree or industry-recognized certification in a relevant field such as human-computer-interaction, human factors, psychology, sociology, or product management.
• Prior experience conducting user experience or product research within the EdTech sector.
• Knowledge of the EdTech market and trends.
• Understanding of GDPA, COPPA, and FERPA standards, and other user experience research ethical standards.
• Experience using Heap, Hotjar, Qualtrics, UserTesting.com, Figma, and other similar tools related to user experience design and research.

Benefits

• Health benefits
• Retirement contributions
• Paid time off
• Eligible employees may receive a bonus