User Experience Researcher Wanted for Google « Hire Vine – Jobs for Thought Leaders

This position is based in San Bruno, CA.

The area: User Experience

We follow a simple but vital premise in the User Experience group: “Focus on the user and all else will follow.” We’re passionately interested in our users and strive to learn everything we can about their behaviors, attitudes and emotions to help define the products and experiences we create. The User Experience team is a critical driving force behind gathering these insights and then using them to inspire and inform design. We are a multi-disciplinary team of interaction designers, visual designers, user researchers, copywriters and Web developers who collaborate closely with each other and with engineering and product management to create innovative, usable, great-looking products that people love to use.

The role: User Experience Researcher

As a User Experience Researcher for YouTube, you will help set strategy for, design, and conduct user research studies across the product cycle, from the concept phase to post-launch evaluation. You will be highly skilled in a range of research methods and will have significant experience working on discovery research for new web-based applications. YouTube researchers work in close collaboration with designers, product managers, marketing staff and engineers to build products with a laser-like focus on the needs of real users. Researchers possess strong quantitative UER skills, are able to adapt to our fast paced environment, have outstanding communication skills, are able to work successfully with interdisciplinary teams, and coach/lead UERs on the team to develop new methods and improve their current areas of expertise fostering their career development.

You should be able to demonstrate a successful track record in three or more of the following areas: accessibility and universal design, creation of personas, field-based research techniques such as ethnography, analysis of web server log data, summative evaluations or benchmarking of technological products, management of outsourced user research projects, participatory design techniques, testing applications for mobile devices, online communities and social computing. Additional helpful skills are experience working with vendors to support research and design, working with geographically dispersed teams, experience with internationalization and localization, and the ability to turn design research findings into a workable set of principles or design standards.

While we assume that most qualified applicants will have an advanced degree in a relevant research field, we welcome applications from research practitioners whose qualifications have come from less traditional paths. If you’ve acquired your expertise in user research through non-academic means, or through non-traditional courses, please include a note explaining how you’ve come to be part of the research field.

Responsibilities:

• Carry out and/or supervising laboratory based evaluations of web-based products, including working with teams, deciding on methods and timelines for studies, and demonstrating positive impact on projects and products.
• Set up a system to ensure high quality research and effective communication, help the UER team work more efficiently, take advantage of larger UER community at Google and improve the infrastructure of the team (i.e. participant recruiting).
• Design and conduct different types of user research studies, including lab-based usability studies, field studies, and usability inspections (heuristic evaluations or cognitive walkthroughs) as well as participation in product reviews and strategic research planning.
• Explain the fundamentals of research practice to non-specialists and drive change based on research findings.
• Advocate the team’s abilities and user experience research to incorporate it into the overall product cycle and help grow the discipline at YouTube.

Requirements:

• B.S. in Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Psychology, Computer Science, and/or at least 5 years of relevant work experience including experience/interest with some of the following: social media, search, content rich sites, user generated content, communities.
• Excellent analytical ability, especially with regard to observation of user behavior.
• Strong oral and written communication skills; can present findings concisely and effectively.
• Can work well in cross-functional teams, including engineers, product managers, and UI designers.
• Knowledge or experience with web design/HTML and analysis of web server log data.
• Training or knowledge of research methods and statistics including lab-based usability studies, field studies, and usability inspections.
• Flexible: can adapt to changing schedules and different types of products, and develop new user research methods where needed.

To all recruitment agencies: Google does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our jobs alias, Google employees or any other company location. Google is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.

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