Remote-Senior UX DesignerResearcher (Accessibility Specialist) IA-DOM-DOIT-SDP6-
Job Location:
Des Moines, IA - USA
Monthly Salary:
Posted:
Application Deadline:
Vacancies:
Job Summary
Location:Remote
Duration: 12 months
Purpose
Pure UX research and design role. No coding expected.
- Graduates of ISU HCI (Human Computer Interaction) program highly desired.
- UX research
- User-centered design
- User journey mapping
- Wireframes and prototypes
- Design recommendations
- Accessibility-first design
- Design documentation and annotations
- Advanced Figma
- UX research methodologies
- User flow creation
- Prototyping
- Accessibility (WCAG)
- Stakeholder collaboration
- Design documentation
- Heat maps (Crazy Egg Hotjar etc.)
- Card sorting
- Usability testing
- Nielsen Norman Group training
- Google UX Certification
- Formal UX/HCI education
Research Experience Desired:
- Heat maps
- Crazy Egg or similar analytics tools
- Card sorting
- User behavior analysis
- Data-driven design recommendations
- UX research experience
- Figma proficiency
- Accessibility knowledge
- Design thinking methodology
- Analytics-driven recommendations
- No SQL
- No front-end development
Core Responsibilities
User Experience Research: Design plan and execute formal user experience research to evaluate complex workflows ensuring applications are intuitive and efficient for educators and state employees.
Usability Testing: Moderate hands-on user testing sessions and run usability labs to actively identify and resolve workflow friction.
Heuristic Evaluation: Audit early layouts and interfaces against usability best practices and design standards.
User Journey & Persona Mapping: Translate complex district data reporting and environmental workflows into clear intuitive user journeys and behavioral personas.
Information Architecture: Structure massive data-heavy reporting categories logically using techniques like card sorting.
Accessibility Alignment: Integrate digital accessibility from the ground up aligning design systems and user research with WCAG standards to ensure digital services are universally accessible to all Iowans.
Collaborative Design: Partner with our lead Architect to scale technical user experience and research practices across multi-agency initiatives chatbot interfaces and global state projects.
Clear Communication: Collaborate effectively with cross-functional agency teams product owners and technical stakeholders to clearly articulate design findings and research data.
Required Technical Skills & Qualifications
Senior UX Design Expertise: Extensive experience designing responsive web application interfaces wireframes and interactive prototypes.
Specialized UX Research Skills:
Demonstrated mastery in moderating user testing sessions executing usability labs performing heuristic evaluations mapping user journeys and managing information architecture.
WCAG 2.2 Level AA Mastery: Practical knowledge of implementing WCAG 2.2 Level AA requirements focus management keyboard navigation mechanics and color contrast principles within visual layouts.
Strong Communicator: Ability to clearly explain user research insights interface design choices and usability standards to technical team members developers and agency stakeholders.
Preferred Qualifications (Optional Assets)
Front-end engineering experience writing semantic HTML5 and modern responsive CSS/SASS.
Experience integrating interface designs into Angular or framework environments.
Experience utilizing or extending the U.S. Web Design System (USWDS).
Required Skill sets
User Experience Research Usability testing Usability labs Heuristic evaluation User journey mapping Persona development Information architecture Card sorting Wireframing Interactive prototyping UX design WCAG 2.2 Level AA compliance Focus management Keyboard navigation mechanics Color contrast requirements Accessibility auditing technical communication Design system vs usage
| Skill | Required / Desired | Amount | of Experience |
| Demonstrated mastery in moderating user testing sessions executing usability labs performing heuristic evaluations mapping user journeys and | Required | ||
| managing information architecture. | Required | 8 | Years |
| WCAG 2.2 Level AA Mastery: Practical knowledge of implementing WCAG 2.2 Level AA requirements focus management keyboard navigation mechanics and | Required | ||
| color contrast principles within visual layouts. | Required | 8 | Years |
| Strong Communicator: Ability to clearly explain user research insights interface design choices and usability standards to technical team members | Required | ||
| developers and agency stakeholders. | Required | ||
| Front-end engineering experience writing semantic HTML5 and modern responsive CSS/SASS. | Required | 8 | Years |
| Experience integrating interface designs into Angular or framework environments. | Required | 8 | Years |
| Experience utilizing or extending the U.S. Web Design System (USWDS). | Required | 8 | Years |
| User Experience Research Usability testing Usability labs Heuristic evaluation User journey mapping Persona development | Required | 8 | Years |
| Information architecture Card sorting Wireframing Interactive prototyping UX design WCAG 2.2 Level AA compliance Focus management | Required | 8 | Years |
| Keyboard navigation mechanics Color contrast requirements Accessibility auditing technical communication Design system vs usage | Required | 8 | Years |
Required Skills:
Demonstrated mastery in moderating user testing sessionsexecuting usability labsperforming heuristic evaluationsmapping user journeysandmanaging information 2.2 Level AA Mastery: Practical knowledge of implementing WCAG 2.2 Level AA requirementsfocus managementkeyboard navigation mechanicsandcolor contrast principles within visual Communicator: Ability to clearly explain user research insightsinterface design choicesand usability standards to technical team membersdevelopersand agency -end engineering experience writing semantic HTML5 and modernresponsive CSS/ integrating interface designs into Angular or framework utilizing or extending the U.S. Web Design System (USWDS).User Experience ResearchUsability testingUsability labsHeuristic evaluationUser journey mappingPersona developmentInformation architectureCard sortingWireframingInteractive prototypingUX designWCAG 2.2 Level AA complianceFocus managementKeyboard navigation mechanicsColor contrast requirementsAccessibility auditingtechnical communicationDesign system vs usage
