Design Researcher

Job description

In IBM DBG CXG we focus on creating no seams, no friction experiences for IBM customers and employees across our complex digital landscape. We are a small but mighty Journey System team helping bring an outside-in focus to IBM. We're also part of a larger UX and Visual Design team, and work closely with our fellow UX and Visual Designers.

You will help build a deep understanding of users, competition and market, and conduct analyses in a fast-paced agile environment. You'll have experience conducting a variety of qualitative and quantitative analyses in different situations, from exploratory ethnographic research in the field to generate hypotheses, to conducting resonance testing for new concepts, to conducting usability tests on existing products and driving UX health metrics that shape the ibm.com experience. You'll inspire change at all stages of product development by delivering insightful, actionable and exciting oral, written and visual presentations about your findings. Your primary job as a design researcher and advocate for our users is to help the Digital Business Group's Customer Experience & Growth team provide insights that shape a user's experiences of ibm.com to be natural, useful, delightful, relevant and trustworthy.

Key Responsibilities:
• Design, plan, conduct, synthesize and communicate user research projects to inform product design including but not limited to: ethnographic research, usability studies, heuristic evaluations, interviews, surveys, user personas, journey maps, service blueprints and benchmarks

• Demonstrated skill and creativity for selecting the right mix of methods to provide actionable insights to research questions and business goals, and the capacity to invent new methods when the right user method does not exist 

• Experience designing simple user research surveys (with tools like Google Forms, Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey or Typeform) and then working with your results using basic descriptive analysis (like percentages, sums, and averages) 

• Work closely with product teams to identify the right user research methodology for the situation, create research guides that ensure the right data is being collected for the purpose 

• Communicate your findings in a clear, concise, and visual (as appropriate) manner to our key stakeholders on the product and design teams, and drive meaningful action based on those findings 

• Work cross-functionally with Design Researchers, Visual / Interaction / Content Designers, Program Managers and Software Engineers in a fast-moving agile environment 

• Communicate, track, and drive research insights with stakeholders to ensure positive impact on the ibm.com digital experience 

• Produce impactful artifacts generated from research findings 

• Advise partners and team members on research opportunities and best practices at various stages of the product concept process. 

• Manage your own process: Identify and execute on high-impact projects, triage external requests, and bring projects to conclusion in time for the results to be useful, taking full responsibility for every detail of your work 

• Mentor and advise researchers 


Qualifications:
• A degree in anthropology, psychology, design, HCI, a related field, or equivalent industry or Military experience 


Auto req ID

152307BR
Required Education

Bachelor's Degree
Role ( Job Role )

Software Developer
State / Province

NEW YORK
Primary job category

Software Development & Support
Company

(0147) International Business Machines Corporation
Contract type

Regular
Employment Type

Full-Time
Is this role a commissionable/sales incentive based position?

No
Travel Required

Up to 10% or 1 day a week
IBM Business Group

DigitalBusGrp
Preferred Education

Master's Degree
City / Township / Village

NEW YORK
EO Statement

IBM is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. IBM is also committed to compliance with all fair employment practices regarding citizenship and immigration status.
Required Technical and Professional Expertise

• 3+ years of hands-on experience conducting product design research 

• End-to-end experience with all aspects of the user design research lifecycle: study design, recruiting, moderation, analysis, reporting, and executive presentations 

• Demonstrated experience with basic mixed-methods research that includes synthesizing qualitative and quantitative data, user insights & trend research, usability studies, ethnographic field research in-depth interviews, heuristic evaluations, value proposition assessment, concept testing, user journey maps, benchmarks, competitive reviews, statistical modeling, surveys

• Strength in a particular research specialty: design strategy, generative and exploratory research, surveys, statistical modeling, analytics/visualization, etc. 

• Passion for learning new technologies and understanding the needs of users across a wide range of technical abilities 


Country/Region

United States
Preferred Technical and Professional Experience

• 5+ years of hands-on experience conducting industry product design research 

• Experience working in consultancies or other professional services organizations, or Fortune 500 companies 

• Experience working with remote teams


Eligibility Requirements

At this time, IBM will not sponsor a new applicant for employment authorization for this position
• IBM is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment

Position Type

Professional
Early Professional Track

Not Applicable - Professional Hire