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User Researcher

Employer
Microsoft Corporation
Location
Redmond, Washington
Closing date
Jun 19, 2021

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Position Type
Research Scientist / Analyst
Hours
Full Time
Organization Type
Business
Xbox is one of the world's most valuable brands and enjoys millions of players and passionate fans. An important part of our plan is to grow our global player base and our multi-billion dollar a year Xbox console and accessories business. At Xbox, we believe Gamer Happiness is at the core to our mission of empowering every person and organization on the planet to achieve more.
Xbox Research & Design is a leader in gaming and entertainment experiences for customers worldwide. We design for gamers of all types across Console, PC, Web, Mobile, and beyond. Most importantly, we design for fun.
To put it simply, we are all about fun! And at Team Xbox, we care deeply about facilitating fun for everyone.
Are you curious about how people interact with games and technology? Do you excel in storytelling with data? We are seeking a researcher with a passion & skill for generating consumer insights to help drive the development of world-class entertainment games and experiences. You will be joining a unique, diverse team at Microsoft known for pioneering and institutionalizing the adaptation of psychological research methods to games and the entertainment industry.
Responsibilities
In this position, you'll need to excel in understanding the needs, wants, and desires of our customers to help inform the content we create for Microsoft's entertainment platforms (including Xbox One, Windows, and future platforms). You will:
- Partner with design & development teams to understand product goals and strategies
- Create research plans that involve and engage your team and impact product design and quality
- Design and execute appropriate research activities to answer relevant design and/or business questions, leveraging and triangulating both qualitative and quantitative methods (observation, interviews, journals, ethnography, surveys, lab studies, instrumentation, etc.)
- Provide your design team partners with research context, perspective, and recommendations on what will make our products and services both useful and delightful
- Communicate research findings through persuasive, compelling written reports and group presentations
- Bring a wide range of both established and innovative research methods to your work and develop new methods where needed to evolve the desirability of our experiences
- Contribute your research and perspective through the entire product design cycle, from planning to implementation to post-release
- Partner with other researchers across a diverse team
Qualifications
We're looking for a passionate and innovative User Researcher to join our team. Strong candidates will have the following experiences and qualities:
Minimum Requirements
- Bachelors, Masters or PhD in behavioral or social sciences, such as psychology, human-computer interaction, human factors, sociology, anthropology or a related field-or equivalent experience/skills.
- Experience conducting research using standardized methodologies
- Demonstrated experience designing and executing research projects using established quantitative and/or qualitative methodological approaches (e.g. interviewing, ethnography, field studies, questionnaire development and survey research, experiments, usability studies, contextual inquiry, instrumentation, biometrics, etc.).
- Ability to quickly and effectively analyze and present data to influence product design and implementation.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills, persuasiveness, and the ability to make compelling group presentations
- Ability to distill complex ideas into succinct thought and impactful storytelling
- Ability to develop creative approaches to researching complex user experience problems
- A love of entertainment and any or all kinds of gaming (mobile/tablet, PC, console, board games, etc.)
Preferred Skills
- Two or more years of hands-on experience conducting UX research
- Expertise in one or more qualitative research methods (e.g. fieldwork, observation, interviewing, etc.) with experience applying those methods to product development
- Fluency in both qualitative and quantitative methodologies
- Insight into game design principles highly desirable.
Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request via the Accommodation request form (https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/accommodationrequest) .
Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.
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