Description
Our User researchers work as part of multidisciplinary agile scrum teams to deliver high-quality digital services that meet the Government's Digital by Default Service Standard. As a User researcheryou will lead the formal usability testing process for a digital service - from developing user recruitment briefs through to test moderation, analysis and report writing. You will work closely with designers, business analysts and software developers to turn user data into actionable user stories that influence product/service direction and prototype development.
My client is one of the biggest of any organisation in the UK and we run the biggest digital operation in Government. Our digital business runs the IT behind tax and benefits services for 45 million individual and 4.9 million business customers. We are undergoing a major transformation programme, which includes a £200 million investment in digitisation, so customers can do more for themselves online and in Real Time, on computers, tablets and smartphones, bringing them bang up to date, in line with banks and other large customer operations.
We are building a team of outstanding people who will create and run these new and improved digital services. We will be using modern technology and agile development methods, and release as much of our work as possible as open source software.
As a User Researcher you will:
- Work with Service/Product Managers to devise appropriate research strategies to generate focused insights to inform service development
- Plan, design and conduct in-house research to test new service ideas (including user requirements gathering, early stage concept and prototype testing, guerrilla research and usability testing sessions)
- Design, script and analyse quantitative surveys
- Manage qualitative/quantitative research projects such as proposition development, visual identity and customer experience mapping
- Present findings, recommendations and customer insights to senior decision makers
- Manage day-to-day operations with usability and market research partners, with accountability for schedules, value for money and deliverables
- Deliver a consistent user experience across a broad range of digital products and services
- Contribute to the continuous development and enhancement of products and services
- Mentor and/or line manage junior user researchers where necessary
- Participate in the wider user research community, building relationships with other user researchers and identifying best practices we can adopt
Skills and Experience:
- Proven experience of a range of usability testing methodologies to reveal actionable customer insights and gather user needs for web based services
- Proven experience of creating research strategies/approaches
- Proven experience of managing, executing and analysing usability test sessions, and facilitating workshops
- Excellent analytical and problem solving skills, and the ability to quickly develop recommendations based on quantitative and qualitative evidence
- Proven ability to explain user needs to decision makers and act as a persuasive advocate for those needs
- Extensive knowledge of human factors, ethnography, and the user-centered design process for products and services in an iterative development environment
- Demonstrable knowledge, experience in and passion for user centered design practices
- Proven experience of audience modelling and developing design personas
- Experience across web content, tools and transactional services, especially those with complex user journeys (involving development of a logical sequence of steps to complete transactions)
- Ability to work with data, from gathering and analysis through to design and presentation
- mentor for other user researcher(s)
- Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to quickly develop strong working relationships in high pressure environments
- Experience of working in an agile development environment with designers, business analysts and developers to create new digital products and services
- Experience of identifying the needs of users with accessibility requirements