Job Summary
We are seeking a Senior UX Designer / UX Researcher to support its digital modernization initiatives. This is a research- and design-focused position responsible for improving the usability, accessibility, and overall user experience of complex enterprise applications.
The ideal candidate will have strong experience in UX research, user-centered design, usability testing, information architecture, journey mapping, wireframing, prototyping, Figma, and accessibility/WCAG standards. The candidate will work closely with the Lead UX/Accessibility Architect, product owners, technical teams, and agency stakeholders.
The immediate priority will be supporting the Iowa Department of Education's Student Reporting in Iowa (SRI) initiative, with additional support for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and other state modernization projects as needed.
Key Responsibilities
- Plan and conduct UX research and usability studies to evaluate complex workflows and identify opportunities for improvement.
- Moderate user testing sessions and usability labs, synthesize findings, and provide actionable design recommendations.
- Perform heuristic evaluations of interfaces against established usability principles and design standards.
- Create user journeys, personas, user flows, and information architecture for complex, data-heavy applications.
- Conduct card sorting and other research techniques to organize information and improve navigation.
- Develop wireframes, mockups, interactive prototypes, and high-fidelity designs using Figma.
- Translate research findings and user behavior data into practical, data-driven design recommendations.
- Collaborate with product owners, developers, architects, business stakeholders, and agency teams throughout the design process.
- Ensure accessibility is incorporated into designs from the beginning, following WCAG 2.2 Level AA principles.
- Evaluate interfaces for keyboard navigation, focus management, color contrast, ARIA requirements, and overall accessibility.
- Document design decisions, research findings, usability issues, design specifications, and recommendations.
- Support development and adoption of enterprise UX and accessibility standards across multiple state initiatives.
- Clearly communicate research findings, design rationale, and usability recommendations to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Support UX initiatives involving chatbot and conversational interfaces and other modern digital experiences.
Required Skills & Qualifications
- 8+ years of UX Design and/or UX Research experience.
- Strong experience with UX research methodologies and user-centered design.
- Advanced proficiency with Figma and interactive prototyping.
- Extensive experience with:
- Usability testing
- User interviews
- Heuristic evaluation
- User journey mapping
- Persona development
- Information architecture
- Card sorting
- User flows
- Wireframing
- Interactive prototyping
- Strong knowledge of WCAG 2.2 Level AA and digital accessibility principles.
- Practical understanding of:
- Keyboard navigation
- Focus management
- Color contrast
- Accessibility auditing
- ARIA concepts
- Strong stakeholder communication and presentation skills.
- Ability to transform research findings and user behavior data into actionable design recommendations.
- Experience designing responsive web application interfaces and complex enterprise workflows.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with heat-map and analytics tools such as Hotjar, Crazy Egg, or similar platforms.
- Experience with data-driven UX research and user behavior analysis.
- Experience with US Web Design System (USWDS).
- Nielsen Norman Group (NN/g) training or certification.
- Google UX Design Certification.
- Formal education in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Human-Centered Design, UX Design, or a related discipline.
- Experience with semantic HTML5 and responsive CSS/SASS.
- Experience integrating UX designs into Angular or MVC .NET environments.
- Front-end development experience is a plus but not required.
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