Lead Design Researcher for XD Lab

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Job description

Job Description:

At Bank of America, we're guided by a common purpose: to help make financial lives better by connecting clients and communities to the resources they need to be successful. Bank of America's Experience Design team includes a cross section of design and research disciplines focused on creating human-centered digital experiences that serve that common purpose.
The XD Research and Innovation Lab has a charter to explore, measure, test and experiment against all aspects of the customer experience within the Bank of America ecosystem. From financial centers and ATMs, to digital products, emerging technologies and anything in between and beyond. The XD Research and Innovation Lab is embedded with the delivery teams to ensure high quality, user-centered solutions while also identifying new opportunities to inform mid to long-range product planning.
Expectations of a Lead Researcher
This position reports directly to the XD Lab Director. As a lead researcher, you will be aligned to a digital product or portfolio and work closely with that design director. You'll be expected to manage the research pipeline, drive research activities with designers, and play an advisor and strategic consultant empowering the designers with actionable insights that guide and inspire the solution space.
It's critical that you work with designers and product owners to understand the requirements or problem space and define the appropriate research approach. You'll successfully manage your partner's expectations and gain alignment on what to study and the desired outcomes of the research. At times, you will manage other researchers to support multiple workstreams when the demands spike in your portfolio of work. As a lead researcher, you'll be expected to leverage a full stack of research methods to achieve generative or evaluative needs. You must demonstrate leadership and mastery in your craft; you'll be accountable to coach team members working closely with you to raise research skillsets across the organization. You will Influence all XD designers, researchers, and collaborators in the proper use of research methods to ensure quality, consistency, and efficiency. As a lead researcher you'll be expected to learn and become a subject matter expert in your product/portfolio domain and support the broader activities to benchmark and measure the digital ecosystem. Ultimately, you must demonstrate leadership qualities to successfully influence your peers, leaders, partners, and the digital products you support.
Responsibilities:
• Work closely with cross-functional product and design teams to develop research plans that will effectively meet the bank's business and design objectives.
• Conduct a variety of qualitative and quantitative research activities to provide the bank's product and design teams with a more comprehensive understanding of the digital experience. This includes, but is not limited to: usability studies, heuristic evaluations, interviews, contextual inquiries, surveys, benchmarking, diary studies and other longitudinal studies.
• Identify, evangelize, and pursue research opportunities that will proactively assist the work of your product and design teams.
• Communicate and share your work at all times, generating visual artifacts that make the research process and your findings digestible and easily understood beyond XD.
• Learn and contribute to Bank of America's customer persona framework and be able to identify and recruit customer participants that meet the requirements of each research study.
• Contribute thought leadership across the XD Lab and drive strategic initiatives to raise the quality and consistency of research.
• Provide quarterly research reports [to the XD Lab Director] which provide evidence of process rigor, outcomes, and design and/or business impacts.
You're a person who has (required skills)
• 8+ years of well-rounded design strategy and research experience
• Degree in Usability Engineering, Research, Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Psychology, Anthropology or related design studies, or equivalent learning
• An outstanding portfolio that exemplifies excellence in strategic thinking, presentation, and visual story-telling
• Knowledge of both Agile and Waterfall design and development processes
• Knowledge of best practices in user interface design and the ability to make research-based design recommendations
• Experience in performing ethnographic research as well as moderating lab-based and remote qualitative and quantitative design and usability research activities
• Expertise in the use of tools and techniques in qualitative and quantitative design research
• Expertise in designing for a wide range of customer and product experiences, spanning digital and physical touchpoints
• Expertise in Design Thinking and human-centered design, with strategic experience in persona development, journey and experience mapping
• Expertise in planning and executing generative empathy research, and in planning and facilitating workshops and design ideation sessions
• Experience in performing ethnographic research as well as moderating lab-based and remote qualitative and quantitative design and usability research activities
• Experience with balancing user, business and technology value when designing research plans and presenting your findings
• Strong project and team leadership experience, with a track record of inspiring teams to deliver in the face of internal and external challenges
• Analytical skills and the ability to communicate insights gleaned from generative and evaluative research data in a manner that generates actionable design concepts
• Skill with identifying themes and opportunities for digital innovation through research, and can build a data-driven case for change
• Possesses enthusiasm about experience design and research, and is a highly motivated self-starter with a strong work ethic
• Self-identifies as a continuous learner, remaining open to feedback and adapting quickly and positively to changes
• Maturity and self-awareness to nurture strong working relationships with colleagues, whether co-located or in distributed teams
• Command of communication and collaboration skills to confidently lead cross-functional teams through research planning to execution and reporting, and represent the work to all levels within the organization.
• Confidence to question customer experiences & processes to make improvements
• Is exceptional at problem-solving, issue resolution, and time management
You'll be better prepared if you have (desired skills)
• Master's degree or PhD in Usability Engineering, Research, Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Psychology, Anthropology or a related field
• Experience mining insights from large data sets through Python, R-, or statistical methods, or a willingness to learn
• Experience with UserZoom and InVision Freehand
• Exceptional facility with Keynote, Powerpoint, Excel, Jira
• Deep knowledge of and experience with research platforms, techniques, and statistical analysis
• Familiar with other presentation, prototyping and design collaboration tools
• Excellent communication and internal networking skills; able to influence and drive consensus

Job Band:
H5

Shift:
1st shift (United States of America)

Hours Per Week:
40

Weekly Schedule:

Referral Bonus Amount:
0
--> Job Description:

At Bank of America, we're guided by a common purpose: to help make financial lives better by connecting clients and communities to the resources they need to be successful. Bank of America's Experience Design team includes a cross section of design and research disciplines focused on creating human-centered digital experiences that serve that common purpose.
The XD Research and Innovation Lab has a charter to explore, measure, test and experiment against all aspects of the customer experience within the Bank of America ecosystem. From financial centers and ATMs, to digital products, emerging technologies and anything in between and beyond. The XD Research and Innovation Lab is embedded with the delivery teams to ensure high quality, user-centered solutions while also identifying new opportunities to inform mid to long-range product planning.
Expectations of a Lead Researcher
This position reports directly to the XD Lab Director. As a lead researcher, you will be aligned to a digital product or portfolio and work closely with that design director. You'll be expected to manage the research pipeline, drive research activities with designers, and play an advisor and strategic consultant empowering the designers with actionable insights that guide and inspire the solution space.
It's critical that you work with designers and product owners to understand the requirements or problem space and define the appropriate research approach. You'll successfully manage your partner's expectations and gain alignment on what to study and the desired outcomes of the research. At times, you will manage other researchers to support multiple workstreams when the demands spike in your portfolio of work. As a lead researcher, you'll be expected to leverage a full stack of research methods to achieve generative or evaluative needs. You must demonstrate leadership and mastery in your craft; you'll be accountable to coach team members working closely with you to raise research skillsets across the organization. You will Influence all XD designers, researchers, and collaborators in the proper use of research methods to ensure quality, consistency, and efficiency..... click apply for full job details