Specialist, Experience Design

Pearson; United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Pearson is seeking an Experience Designer to contribute to accessible, user-centered digital experiences within a Pearson context. You will turn user and business needs into journeys, wireframes and prototypes, collaborating with cross-functional teams including POs, BAs, engineers and testers.

The role emphasizes usability, accessibility, and design-system consistency, with strong stakeholder communication and alliance with external clients. A hybrid UK-based arrangement is offered.

Qualifications

• Experience designing accessible digital products, services or workflows in an agile environment.
• Ability to convert user and business needs into clear journeys, wireframes and interactive prototypes.
• Experience working directly with external clients and users to understand needs and test concepts.
• Strong knowledge of user-centred design, interaction design and responsive layouts.
• Experience with design systems, components and patterns.

Responsibilities

• Design accessible and usable experiences from concept to development-ready designs.
• Gather and interpret external client and user needs with stakeholders.
• Create user journeys, task flows, wireframes and interactive prototypes.
• Plan usability reviews and translate findings into actionable design improvements.
• Work with engineers to ensure designs are technically feasible and implementable.
• Agree with product owners and analysts to align designs with goals and user stories.
• Identify and resolve usability and accessibility issues before implementation.
• Contribute to design systems and documentation for handover.
• Present design concepts clearly to clients and stakeholders.
• Deliver iterations within sprint and delivery plans.
• Contribute to continuous improvement in design practice and ways of working.

Skills

User journeys & wireframes

Usability testing & research

External client collaboration

Accessibility & inclusive design

Agile delivery

AI prototyping tools

Tools

Figma

AI prototyping

Job description

Role: Specialist, Experience Design

Division: PQAssessment & Qualifications Delivery

Location: United Kingdom

This role aligns with positions commonly known in the external market as UX Designer, Product Designer or Interaction Designer.

About Pearson

At Pearson we ‘add life to a lifetime of learning’ so everyone can realise the life they imagine. We do this by creating vibrant and enriching learning experiences designed for real-life impact. Pearson was founded in 1844 and has been built on our ability to grow with and adapt to a constantly evolving market. Our employees are dedicated to creating high-quality, digital-first, accessible and sustainable resources for lifelong learning.

About UK Assessment & Qualifications

We are the UK's largest awarding body and we are regulated by Ofqual (England), CCEA Accreditation (Northern Ireland) and Qualifications Wales (Wales). We offer academic and vocational qualifications that are globally recognised and benchmarked, with educational excellence rooted in names like Edexcel and BTEC. In 2025, we issued 6.5 million grades to candidates worldwide.

About the job

The Experience Designer role operates as a professional individual contributor within product and delivery teams. The role applies strong foundational experience-design knowledge to moderately complex work, creating user journeys, wireframes and interactive prototypes, conducting usability reviews and contributing to the ongoing development of design systems. Working with growing autonomy, the Experience Designer turns external client, customer and operational needs into accessible, usable and consistent digital experiences across products and services.

Working across multidisciplinary teams including Product Owners, Business Analysts, Engineers, Architects, Testers, Service Owners and Scrum Masters, the Experience Designer ensures proposed solutions reflect user needs and remain technically feasible. The role contributes evidence-based design recommendations, incorporates research findings and feedback into design iterations, and identifies usability issues before implementation.

The Experience Designer is responsible for delivering assigned design outcomes to the required quality and timescale, while maintaining design-system integrity and producing clear, accessible documentation to support effective development handover. The role does not include people-management responsibilities.

About you

You can demonstrate experience designing accessible digital products, services or workflows in an agile environment. You are comfortable converting user and business needs into clear user journeys, wireframes and interactive prototypes, and using usability findings to improve proposed solutions. You can manage moderately complex design tasks independently while recognising when additional guidance or escalation is needed.

You bring a customer-focused, collaborative and detail-oriented approach. You can explain design choices clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders, respond constructively to feedback and balance user needs, business outcomes, accessibility and technical constraints. Experience working directly with external clients and users to understand needs, test concepts and communicate design decisions is required.

Key Responsibilities

• Design accessible and usable experiences for moderately complex product and service initiatives, from early concepts through to development-ready designs.
• Gather and interpret external client, customer, user and operational needs in collaboration with Product Owners, Business Analysts and other stakeholders.
• Create user journeys, task flows, wireframes, interface designs and interactive prototypes appropriate to the stage of delivery.
• Plan and conduct usability reviews and evaluative research activities, documenting findings and translating evidence into practical design improvements.
• Use user feedback, research findings, service insight and product data to inform design decisions and iterations.
• Collaborate with Engineers and Architects to ensure designs are technically feasible, clearly understood and implementable within agreed constraints.
• Work closely with Product Owners and Business Analysts to align designs with product goals, requirements, user stories and acceptance criteria.
• Identify and resolve usability, consistency and accessibility issues before implementation, escalating complex or high-impact decisions where required.
• Apply and contribute to P design systems, patterns and standards, proposing improvements where these enhance usability, consistency or efficiency.
• Produce clear design specifications, annotations, assets and supporting documentation for effective development handover.
• Review implemented experiences against approved designs and provide timely feedback to protect design quality and accessibility.
• Present design concepts and recommendations clearly to external clients and internal stakeholders, explaining evidence, options and trade-offs.
• Complete design iterations in line with sprint and delivery plans, communicating progress, risks, dependencies and outstanding decisions.
• Contribute to continuous improvement in design practice, design-system adoption, team collaboration and ways of working.

Key Skills & Experience

• Professional experience as an Experience Designer, UX Designer, Product Designer or equivalent within digital product or software delivery.
• Experience creating user journeys, task flows, wireframes, interface designs and AI interactive prototypes for moderately complex digital experiences.
• Demonstrable experience working directly with external clients and users, building trusted relationships and translating feedback into effective design outcomes.
• Experience planning or supporting usability reviews, synthesising findings and integrating research evidence into design iterations.
• Strong working knowledge of user-centred design principles, interaction design and responsive digital design.
• Applied understanding of accessibility standards and inclusive design, with experience incorporating accessibility into design decisions and deliverables.
• Experience working with and contributing to established design systems, reusable components and interaction patterns.
• Ability to produce accurate design specifications and documentation that support efficient development handover.
• Strong communication, presentation, collaboration and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Experience working effectively with Product Owners, Business Analysts, Engineers, Architects and Testers in an agile delivery environment.
• Ability to manage assigned design tasks with growing autonomy and deliver high-quality outputs in line with sprint timescales.
• Proficiency with industry-standard collaborative design and AI prototyping tools.

Desirable Skills, Qualifications & Experience

• Experience in assessment, education technology, public-sector services or another regulated digital environment.
• Experience designing large-scale technology products, platforms or services used by external clients and operational teams.
• Working knowledge of front-end development considerations and the design constraints of responsive web applications.
• Experience supporting accessibility reviews, design assurance or validation of implemented designs.
• Relevant qualification or certification in user experience, interaction design, service design, human-computer interaction or a related discipline.

Key Performance Indicators

• Interactive prototypes are accurate, usable and appropriate for validating proposed experiences.
• Design iterations and supporting outputs are completed on time and aligned with sprint and delivery milestones.
• Research findings and user feedback are integrated effectively into design decisions and deliverables.
• Design-system components and patterns are applied consistently, with appropriate contributions to system improvements.
• Design specifications and documentation provide sufficient clarity for effective development handover.
• Usability and accessibility issues are identified and resolved before implementation wherever practicable.
• Knowledge of accessibility standards – WCAG 2.2 AA
• Have some knowledge of European Accessibility Act (EAA EN 301 549)
• Implemented experiences align with approved designs and agreed user needs with minimal avoidable rework.

Behavioural Expectations

• Customer Centricity: prioritise external client and user feedback in design decisions and maintain focus on genuine user needs.
• Raise the Performance Bar: introduce practical improvements that enhance usability, accessibility, consistency and efficiency.
• Exceptional Collaboration for Value: engage proactively with cross-functional teams to resolve design challenges and deliver feasible solutions.
• Our Leaders Inspire: take ownership of assigned tasks, respond positively to feedback and remain committed to high-quality outcomes.

Job Location and Hours

The role is based in the United Kingdom and operates under Pearson’s hybrid working model. Occasional out-of-hours support may be required during business-critical delivery periods.

Who we are:

At Pearson, our purpose is simple: to help people realise the life they imagine through learning. We believe that every learning opportunity is a chance for a personal breakthrough. We are the world's lifelong learning company. For us, learning isn't just what we do. It's who we are. To learn more: We are Pearson.

Pearson is an Equal Opportunity Employer and a member of E-Verify. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit and business need. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status or any other group protected by law. We actively seek qualified candidates who are protected veterans and individuals with disabilities as defined under VEVRAA and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act.

If you are an individual with a disability and are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our career site as a result of your disability, you may request reasonable accommodations by emailing [e-mail].

Job: Design

Job Family: PRODUCT

Organization: Assessment & Qualifications

Schedule: FULL_TIME

Workplace Type: Hybrid

Req ID: 26241