Design Research, Digital Methods IDEO San Francisco Bay Area
Job Description Our Bay Area offices are looking for a Design Researcher. The role involves collaborating with interdisciplinary IDEO teams and clients to create innovative products, services, spaces, interactions and experiences. Design Researchers play a key role in the IDEO process by leading the team through user research to uncover insights that inform and inspire design and innovation.
We are looking for…
Candidates who have experience using digital methods to uncover needs. Some examples of digital methods include experience conducting online ethnography, implementing remote user studies, using sensors or digital tracking tools, moderating/monitoring online communities, creating apps to track behavior, building web or digital prototypes to gather feedback, etc.
We’re seeking individuals who are naturally empathetic and passionate about people. Design Researchers bring to life the voice of the people they’re designing for, connecting the internal design team and client organization to the human experience.
Skills & Experience Applicants should have experience with all of the following:
Leading user research/fieldwork ‐ Design Researchers must be prepared to plan and lead fieldwork to discover insights first-hand. *We are looking for people who can maintain a high degree of rigor throughout, but who also experiment in their approach and methodology. Candidates must have a strong foundation in qualitative methods and contextual inquiry and have built on them using digital methods. *
Uncovering and articulating deep insights ‐ Applicants must have experience developing deep insights that help the team read between the lines and discover latent needs. Leading synthesis ‐ Design Researchers must be able to lead the team (and often the client) through the analysis and synthesis processes – distilling down to focus on the most important insights, linking them together in frameworks or principles for design.
Connecting insights to design ‐The insights and information drawn from research must be translated into an inspirational and useful foundation for design.
Shaping strategy ‐ In the variety of work that we do, many of our projects involve Design Researchers leading strategic, systems thinking based upon the insights gathered. Business, brand, systems and/or strategic skills are desirable.
Working flexibly and efficiently ‐ Our projects vary in length and are fast‐paced. The Design Researcher should be comfortable adapting their approach to fit the project’s needs and constraints. They also must exercise a *balance between design/inspiration and academic research rigor *in order to move quickly from research planning, to conducting the fieldwork, to synthesizing insights, to recommending design directions and opportunities.
Ideally, candidates have…
Experience working in a variety of industries‐ Within the domain of Design Research we are looking for people who have worked in areas such as software, healthcare, service design, industrial design, interaction design, brand strategy, communications design, and environmental design. It will benefit your application to show how you have worked across a wide variety of domains.
We are always looking to grow diversity *within our Design Research community. We welcome candidates with backgrounds in design, business, interaction design and more, but all must have a high level of research rigor. Candidates must have a *depth in research and be able to articulate with confidence to the Insight, Marketing, and R&D teams on the client‐side, as well as the internal IDEO team.
Please submit a list of several major research projects you worked on with a 1‐2 line description for each. And, please select 2‐5 cases to share with us in more detail (the methods used, synthesis process, insights generated, output developed and challenges encountered, etc.). It helps us to see your process and a range of work done.
This position is based in Palo Alto and San Francisco, so projects may be based in either location. This position also entails frequent travel.
Company Description IDEO has roots dating back to 1978. Today, IDEO is an award-winning global design and innovation consultancy. We create positive impact through design by taking a human-centered approach to helping organizations in the public and private sectors innovate, grow, and bring to market new ideas.
We partner with leaders and change agents to identify new market opportunities, add value, and solve meaningful problems.
We design and launch innovative products, services, ventures, and brands by combining business acumen with human-centered market insights.
We help organizations to build the capabilities required to sustain innovation.
*Pronounced “EYE-dee-oh”
Additional Information Posted: Jun 24 2013 Type: Full-time Experience: Mid-Senior level Functions: Distribution,Consulting Industries: Design Job ID: 6171053