Senior Design Researcher (Product Quality)

5-month contract for a Senior Design Researcher – Product Quality in San Francisco or San Diego, CA (remote)

We can only consider US Citizens and US permanent residents for this role

Overview:

• The Senior Design Researcher will support the Product Quality initiative, conducting structured research to evaluate critical product workflows, identify usability challenges, and develop actionable insights to improve the customer experience.
• This role will focus on evaluating 15 critical product journeys over a 4–6 month period, using qualitative research, observational studies, usability testing, and journey mapping.
• The Senior Design Researcher will be responsible for moderating research sessions, documenting and scoring usability friction points, maintaining standardized research findings, and creating detailed end-to-end user journey maps.
• The position requires strong expertise in UX research, interface design, usability, data synthesis, and cross-functional collaboration.

Responsibilities

UX Research & Usability Testing

• Plan and execute qualitative evaluative research across 15 critical product journeys.
• Moderate observational research sessions, shadowing sessions, and contextual inquiries.
• Conduct research across targeted customer segments, including:
• New to Franchise
• Solo Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs)
• Accountants
• Evaluate customer interactions with product workflows to identify usability challenges.
• Track standardized usability metrics, including:
• Task completion
• Task success and failure
• Friction severity
• Categorize task completion using established tiers:
• Success
• Failure
• Disaster
• Apply Product Quality Score (PQS) baseline evaluation methods to assess workflow performance.

Research Data Collection & Synthesis

• Capture, categorize, and code usability friction points identified during research sessions.
• Assign friction severity scores using a 1–4 rating scale.
• Maintain standardized research documentation and tracking spreadsheets.
• Manage the PQS Findings Log, categorizing research findings by:
• Product area
• Friction type
• Root cause
• Participant profile
• Severity score
• Analyze qualitative research findings to identify recurring usability issues.
• Connect research findings to:
• Existing Voice of Customer (VOC) data
• Jira backlogs
• New or unresolved research questions
• Ensure findings are accurately documented and integrated into the team's central tracking repository.

User Journey Mapping

• Develop comprehensive end-to-end user journey maps for evaluated product workflows.
• Translate observed user behaviors into detailed visual representations.
• Document key journey elements, including:
• User motivations
• Decision paths
• Entry points
• User actions
• Pain points
• Friction moments
• Mental models
• Reach and severity estimates
• Create high-fidelity journey maps using Figma and Google Docs.
• Ensure journey maps clearly communicate usability challenges and opportunities for product improvement.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Research Communication

• Collaborate with Product, Design, and Engineering stakeholders.
• Facilitate cross-functional workshops to review research findings and identify opportunities.
• Translate complex research observations into clear, actionable insights.
• Summarize research outcomes for executive audiences.
• Support alignment and consensus across teams regarding usability challenges and potential improvements.
• Communicate findings in a structured and consistent format.

Research Deliverables & Performance Goals

• Complete PQS baseline evaluations across all 15 targeted critical journeys within six months.
• Maintain fully documented, coded, and severity-scored PQS Findings Logs.
• Ensure research findings are integrated into the team's central tracking repository.
• Publish high-fidelity end-to-end user journey maps for each evaluated workflow.
• Maintain consistent research documentation and reporting throughout the engagement.

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience as a UX Researcher or Design Researcher.
• Strong hands-on experience with:
• Qualitative research
• Contextual inquiry
• Usability testing
• Observational research
• User journey mapping
• Critical expertise in interface design and usability.
• Strong understanding of task-based usability metrics and research evaluation methodologies.
• Experience with taxonomy coding and qualitative data synthesis.
• Advanced proficiency with:
• Figma – User journey mapping and visual research documentation
• Google Docs and Google Sheets – Data analysis, documentation, and research tracking
• Remote testing platforms – HeyMarvin, UserTesting, or similar tools
• Proven ability to facilitate cross-functional workshops.
• Experience presenting complex research insights to executive audiences.
• Ability to drive consensus among Product, Design, and Engineering stakeholders.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working with complex SaaS platforms.
• Experience researching financial software products.
• Familiarity with workflow-heavy enterprise applications.