Experience Designer at Sage

Job Description    

• At Sage, Experience Designers play a mission critical role by using empathic methods to design and deliver products and services that delight our users.
• Experience Designers are expected to have a good understanding and some experience in all the areas of design (research, product design, interaction design and visual design). This role requires solid experience or speciality in the area of user research.

FOUNDATIONS THAT ARE REQUIRED TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN THIS ROLE:

•  5+ years of professional experience;
•  3+ years in an experience design role;
•  Well-spoken with an excellent command of the English language;
•  Excellent working knowledge of UX;
•  Experience with design optimisation based on user insight and data by applying design thinking to determine the best solution;
•  Able to communicate design (giving and receiving feedback);
•  Experience with some design tools (Sketch, Figma, Adobe XD, Marvel, Zeplin, etc);
•  Solid grasp of Design Thinking, Design Sprint, Agile and Lean methodologies;
•  Proactive and collaborative attitude;
•  Experience with design involving high volume processing software. (Preferred - But not required);
•  Some experience with Payroll, HR or Accounting software (Preferred - But not required).

Key Responsibilities    

This role focusses on User Research, so the candidate will demonstrate the strong ability to:

Manage the User Research process and tools

•  Identify and implement User Research best practices throughout the entire design life cycle (from empathise to iterative test phase) as it relates to processes, methodologies & tools;
•  Design, organise and oversee User Research activities;
•  Maintain databases of user feedback and activity results, etc;
•  Recruit participants for research activities.

Get to know and understand users (their needs, frustrations, expectations, etc.)

•  Discover how users experience our products and cultivate a deep understanding of user needs, behaviors, attitudes and emotions;
•  Conduct research activities with users (i.e. Interviews, shadowing, surveys, moderated & unmoderated user testing, etc.);
•  Put in place metrics and measures for evaluating User Experience in products;
•  Analyse the statistical data we have from sources such as Analytics tools, data from CRM, NPS, etc.;
•  Collect and analyse user data internally from Sage departments such as Customer Services, Sales, Training, Customer Experience, etc.;
•  Conduct expert evaluation of competitors solutions.

Perform user testing

•  Plan and lead testing activities (prototype testing, usability testing, A/B testing, perception testing, card sorting, tree testing, etc.);
•  Advocate for users, and help deliver design that surprises and delights.

Analyze and share feedback & results

•  Visualise and communicate user behavior and needs through output like mental models, personas, scenarios and storyboards;
•  Present the aforementioned findings with the broader XD team and internal stakeholders;
•  Analyse, interpret, compile, communicate and action verified user insight based on information from research findings, user testing outcomes, databases of user feedback, analytics (web, database, server logs), A/B testing and competitor analysis.
• While this role focuses on User Research, the duties are not definitive and only outlines Key Accountabilities. Sage colleagues are expected to be flexible regarding their accountabilities and will also get involved in the following broader Design activities:

The candidate will demonstrate the ability to:

•  perform customer-centric exploration of problems and solutions;
•  perform competitor analysis, understand business rules, legislation, and constraints.
•  apply Design Thinking to determine the best solution;
•  communicate complex ideas, requirements and solutions clearly, articulately and effectively by using the most appropriate tools and methods;
•  transform complex tasks into intuitive, accessible and easy-to-use designs for everyone, from first-time users to experts;
•  define the user model, information architecture and user interface of a product;
•  create compelling screen flows, rapid prototypes, layout patterns, information architecture and wireframes;
•  produce final UI and interaction specifications and to work with engineering squads;
•  apply design techniques to improve usability and accessibility and also apply methods to evaluate them;
•  bring iconography, typography, colour, space and texture together to create innovative, great-looking Sage products that people love to use;
•  set visual direction while aligning with brand and design language systems;
•  produce high-fidelity pixel-perfect visual designs, and key treatments while considering motion, transition, animation;
•  produce visual specifications and assets for engineering;

Generally, the candidate will also demonstrate the ability to:

•  collaborate with multidisciplinary UX and/or product teams (motion, interaction, UX research, engineering, content strategy);
•  keep up with design standards, processes, and industry best practice;
•  help with developing the Sage brand, pattern libraries and design language systems;
•  build strong, cross-departmental relationships and champion the value of design;
•  change with resilience and flexibility;
•  practice Agile behaviours and stay future oriented;
•  to share knowledge and cascade learning to others;
•  and willingness to coach, mentor and teach others;
•  comfortably work with teams from multiple countries, nationalities, languages, religious beliefs, cultural backgrounds, sexual orientations, gender identities, ages, races, etc.