Lead Design Researcher

Kodu; Droitwich Spa; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

10% bonus

Private medical insurance after six mo

25 days holiday + bank holidays + buy

Pension

Protection cover

Free product after probation

Job summary

Kodu in the United Kingdom is seeking a Senior Design Research Lead to own the discipline, conducting in-home visits, contextual inquiry, usability testing and co-creation sessions. You’ll turn findings into opportunities, design principles and innovation roadmaps.

You’ll set methods from near zero, work alongside industrial designers and engineers, and tell persuasive stories so the business acts on insights. Travel for field research and four days a week on site in Droitwich are required.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading design research on physical products, including home visits.
• Track record turning research into product direction with a concrete example.
• Confidence across ethnography, contextual inquiry and usability testing; survey design and quant data reading.
• Experience collaborating with industrial designers and engineers; ability to influence senior stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design research discipline and run fieldwork (home visits, workshops).
• Translate learnings into opportunities, design principles and innovation roadmaps.
• Collaborate with industrial design, development and product management teams.
• Tell compelling stories to ensure the business acts on findings.
• Set research methods and standards from near zero baseline.

Skills

Design research leadership

Turning research into product方向

Mixed methods

Cross-disciplinary presentation

Job description

The role

You'll lead the design research discipline and run the work yourself: home visits, contextual inquiry, usability testing, concept validation and co-creation sessions. You'll turn what you learn into opportunities, design principles and innovation roadmaps. You'll sit alongside the industrial designers and advanced development engineers, and work closely with product management. A big part of the job is telling the story, so the business acts on what you find.

You'll set the methods and standards from a near standing start. If you're a senior researcher ready for your first lead role, this is a discipline to make your own.

What you'll need

• Proven experience leading design research on physical products, including going into people's homes and watching them use what they own.
• A track record of turning research into product direction, with a concept, feature or roadmap decision you can point to that came from your insight.
• Confidence across mixed methods: ethnography, contextual inquiry and usability testing, plus designing a survey and reading quant data.
• Experience working side by side with industrial designers and engineers, and presenting evidence well enough to change a senior stakeholder's mind.

The details

• Reporting to the Head of Industrial Design and Design Research
• Working alongside industrial design and advanced development
• Travel for in-home and field research
• Commutable from Worcester, Birmingham and Cheltenham
• Start: ASAP
• 10% bonus, half personal and half company
• Private medical insurance after six months
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays, with three more to buy
• Pension, protection cover and free product after probation

What it isn't

This isn't a research team to inherit. You build the discipline from close to zero and run the home visits and workshops yourself. It isn't screen-based UX either. It's physical products, used in real homes. The innovation team is still taking shape, so expect loose briefs and fast cycles. And it's four days a week on site in Droitwich, so be sure the commute works first.