Usability Researcher

Aquent; Redmond (WA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

subsidized health, vision, and dental

retirement plans with match

free online training through AquentGym

Job summary

Aquent Talent is seeking a Usability Researcher to shape the future of our products and services. You will identify customer needs, map journeys, and translate insights into design decisions with cross-functional teams.

Influence product strategy, ensure intuitive and secure experiences, and mentor teams on research rigor while advancing research-driven roadmaps and metrics across global offerings.

Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in HCI, Human Factors, CS, or related field with 1+ year UX research experience.
• Bachelor’s Degree with 2+ years UX research experience or equivalent.
• 1+ year domain experience in technology sector.
• Strong English communication skills (oral and written).
• Proficiency in qualitative and quantitative research methods.

Responsibilities

• Create and drive research plans and roadmaps for product areas.
• Apply diverse research methods to guide multi-person studies.
• Synthesize data into actionable insights to inform design and engineering.
• Clarify customer contexts, needs, and journeys to inform strategy.
• Assess insights across the full user journey from awareness to retention.
• Partner with product, design, and engineering; embed security as a development factor.
• Produce insights on industry trends to reduce uncertainty for future initiatives.
• Collaborate across teams, educating on research value and methodology.
• Develop recruitment screeners and data collection instruments with privacy in mind.
• Provide templates for capturing assumptions as testable hypotheses.

Skills

UX Research

Qualitative Methods

Quantitative Methods

Data Analysis

Communication Skills

Stakeholder Management

Project Management

Security UX

Education

Master’s Degree in HCI/UX/related

Bachelor’s Degree in HCI/UX/related

Job description

Aquent is partnering with a global technology leader renowned for its groundbreaking innovations that shape how millions worldwide connect, work, and live. This company is at the forefront of developing cutting-edge products and services that define the digital landscape. Joining this team means contributing to a legacy of excellence and driving the next generation of user experiences.

Are you a passionate advocate for the user, eager to dive deep into understanding human behavior and translate insights into impactful product decisions? We are seeking a talented Usability Researcher to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of our products and services. In this dynamic position, you will be instrumental in identifying customer needs, assessing user journeys, and ensuring that our offerings are intuitive, secure, and delightful. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams, influence product strategy, and directly contribute to creating experiences that resonate with users on a global scale.

What You’ll Do

• Create and drive research plans and roadmaps for various product areas, defining problems and success criteria aligned with business needs.
• Apply diverse research methods to execute studies effectively, guiding multi-person research efforts for strong product outcomes.
• Synthesize and distill data into actionable insights, communicating findings to activate design and engineering processes.
• Conduct research to clarify customer identities, contexts, needs (e.g., Jobs To Be Done), and journeys to inform product strategy.
• Assess user insights across the entire user journey—from awareness through adoption and retention—leveraging both quantitative and qualitative data.
• Contribute to solution formation by partnering with product management, design, and engineering, integrating security as a fundamental aspect of development.
• Produce research-driven insights on industry and vertical trends to reduce uncertainty for future initiatives.
• Collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams, educating and mentoring on research value, rigor, and methodology.
• Develop recruitment screeners and review data collection instruments, ensuring privacy and security compliance.
• Provide effective tools and templates for product makers to capture assumptions and express them as testable hypotheses.
• Collaborate with the team to create well-formed user experience goals, signals, metrics, and criteria, integrating security UX KPIs.
• Apply experience checkpoints and iterative research processes to ensure product quality and drive continuous improvement.

Required Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Technical Communications, Information Science, Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Behavioral Science, Social Sciences, or a related field AND 1+ year(s) User Experience Research experience; OR
• Bachelor’s Degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Technical Communications, Information Science, Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Behavioral Science, Social Sciences, or a related field AND 2+ years User Experience Research experience; OR equivalent experience.
• 1+ year(s) relevant domain experience within the technology sector.
• 1+ year(s) experience in research methods impacting both product direction and detailed experience design.
• English language proficiency, with clear, accurate, and understandable oral and written communication, presentations, and research writing skills.
• Proficiency in qualitative and quantitative research methods, quality assurance, user acceptance testing, and user scenario creation and application.
• Strong analytical thinking, data analysis, problem-solving, and translation of insights.
• Experience with collaborative innovation, conflict resolution, distillation of results, industry trends, and stakeholder management.
• Demonstrated decision-making ability, outcome-driven innovation, project management, project visioning, and scope management.
• Creativity, interaction design, user experience, user interface design, and user-centered design principles.

Preferred Qualifications

• Doctorate in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Technical Communications, Information Science, Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Behavioral Science, Social Sciences, or a related field AND 2+ years user experience research experience; OR
• Master’s Degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Technical Communications, Information Science, Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Behavioral Science, Social Sciences, or a related field AND 3+ years user experience research experience; OR
• Bachelor’s Degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Technical Communications, Information Science, Information Architecture, User Experience Design, Behavioral Science, Social Sciences, or a related field AND 5+ years user experience research experience; OR equivalent experience.

About Aquent Talent

Aquent Talent connects the best talent in marketing, creative, and design with the world’s biggest brands. Our eligible talent get access to amazing benefits like subsidized health, vision, and dental plans, paid sick leave, and retirement plans with a match. We also offer free online training through Aquent Gymnasium. More information on our awesome benefits!

• subsidized health, vision, and dental plans, paid sick leave, and retirement plans with a match.
• free online training through Aquent Gymnasium.

Aquent is an equal-opportunity employer.

We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics.

We’re about creating an inclusive environment-one where different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives are valued, and everyone can contribute, grow their careers, and thrive.