User Experience Designer

Montgomery College; Nashville (TN); On-site; USD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Vanderbilt Health in Nashville is seeking a User Experience Designer to apply human factors and user-centered design to healthcare technology. You will conduct field observations, interviews, usability testing, and translate findings into actionable design insights that improve usability and clinical workflow integration.

You will work with cross-functional teams on digital and medical device projects, ensuring compliance with safety standards, and guiding products from research through

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent; master’s preferred in a relevant field.
• Minimum 2 years in user experience or healthcare tech environments.
• Experience applying human factors methods to digital/medical device products.

Responsibilities

• Ensures system design complies with regulatory requirements.
• Conducts field observations, interviews, and usability testing.
• Translates findings to actionable design insights for usability improvements.
• Collaborates with designers, developers, and researchers to integrate findings.
• Defines usability testing plans and conducts formative and summative tests.
• Supports cross-functional teams to improve clinical workflow integration.

Skills

User research

Formative usability testing

Summative usability testing

Interviewing

Field observations

Design workshops

Qualitative data analysis

Collaboration with cross-functional

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Master's degree preferred

Tools

Figma

Axure

Job description

Discover Vanderbilt Health

With eight hospitals and over 180 clinics, we are the region’s largest comprehensive academic health system. Vanderbilt Health has a long tradition of providing world‑class care to the people of the Mid‑South, living out our mission of moving medicine forward through preeminent programs in patient care, education and research. Here you’ll find a spirit of collaboration and a supportive community where your expertise is valued, your knowledge expanded and your uniqueness celebrated. We are committed to fostering an environment where talented, compassionate people are united in bringing the most advanced care to our neighbors throughout the region.

Organization

Anesthesiology

Job Summary

NOTE: This position focuses on optimizing the end user experience through the application of evidence-based human factors methods to healthcare technology. In your pivotal role as User Experience Designer, you will apply human factors and user‑centered design principles to support the development and evaluation of digital and medical device technologies. You will conduct, with occasional guidance, all phases of the user‑centered design process, including field observations, interviews, design workshops, formative and summative usability testing, and post‑implementation evaluation. You also will collaborate with cross‑functional partners to translate user experience findings into actionable insights that improve usability, clinical workflow integration, safety, and system performance.

Education Requirements

Bachelor's Degree (or equivalent experience). Master’s level degree in human factors, human computer interaction, ergonomics, applied cognitive psychology, systems engineering, or related field preferred.

Experience Level

2 years (academic projects may count toward experience if directly relevant).

Work Hours and Location

You will work standard daytime business hours, Monday‑Friday on site at the VUMC Medical Arts Building (MAB), located at 1211 21st Ave S, Nashville, TN 37212.

Department Summary

The Department of Anesthesiology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine has a long tradition of innovation. This creative impulse has kept the Vanderbilt Anesthesiology Department in the vanguard of clinical discovery, basic science research, and translational application of new knowledge throughout perioperative medicine. For more information, please visit https://www.vumc.org/anesthesiology/message-chair.

Key Responsibilities

• Ensures system design compliance with relevant regulatory requirements.
• Exhibits strong organizational and interpersonal skills, both for internal and external projects.
• Works collaboratively and independently to move projects forward.
• Carries out all phases of the user‑centered design process to ensure that all products and services meet institution safety standards and end‑user needs.
• Works with research, operational, and external client teams to conduct formative and summative user testing of digital and medical device technologies.
• Conducts qualitative data collection and analysis to define user experience and clinical workflow integration requirements.
• Translates data into actionable insights and design requirements.
• Work closely with designers, developers, and researchers to define project goals and integrate findings into the product development process.
• Conducts user research to improve the team’s understanding of end‑user needs, workflows, and potential technology design solutions.
• Applies human factors and user‑centered design principles to research and operational projects.
• Conducts user testing, task analyses, interviews, design workshops, and direct observation of clinical and patient work to understand the environment of use, current workflows, and user needs.
• Defines and implements usability testing plans including scenarios and tasks to meet project testing priorities.
• Organizes and manages multiple projects simultaneously.
• Works with designers and developers to create positive user experiences.
• Promotes value of user experience across organization.

Minimum Technical Capabilities

• Human Factors Engineering (Novice): Possesses sufficient fundamental proficiency to successfully demonstrate Human Factors Engineering in practical applications of moderate difficulty. Contributes to the development of innovative user interface designs in response to marketing requirements, user analyses, product innovation, technology, and business needs. Conducts research to understand consumer trends, needs, and physiological findings. Performs anthropometric, biomechanics, ergonomic and systems safety analyses to product development programs and proposals.
• Business Systems Analysis (Novice): Demonstrates the ability to conduct business systems analysis tasks in a team environment or independently to build or enhance a simple system. Has conducted the basic phases of business systems analysis including analyzing problem areas and preparing business requirements definitions.
• User Interface (Novice): Has worked with various levels of relationship management throughout the development of projects. Has participated in and conducted meetings with users. Has kept users informed of system status via standard reporting techniques. Has met the continuing service needs of user groups, including requests for changes in work content. Has met unplanned requirements without disruption in service levels. Demonstrated an orientation and sensitivity to customer service.

Core Accountabilities

• Organizational Impact: Executes job responsibilities with the understanding of how output would affect and impact other areas related to own job area/team with occasional guidance.
• Problem Solving/ Complexity of work: Analyzes moderately complex problems using technical experience and judgment.
• Breadth of Knowledge: Has expanded knowledge gained through experience within a professional area.
• Team Interaction: Provides informal guidance and support to team members.
• Supporting Colleagues: Develops Self and Others: Invests time, energy, and enthusiasm in developing self/others to help improve performance and gain knowledge in new areas.
• Supporting Colleagues: Builds and Maintains Relationships: Maintains regular contact with key colleagues and stakeholders using formal and informal opportunities to expand and strengthen relationships.
• Supporting Colleagues: Communicates Effectively: Recognizes group interactions and modifies one's own communication style to suit different situations and audiences.
• Delivering Excellent Services: Serves Others with Compassion: Seeks to understand current and future needs of relevant stakeholders and customizes services to better address them.
• Delivering Excellent Services: Solves Complex Problems: Approaches problems from different angles; Identifies new possibilities to interpret opportunities and develop concrete solutions.
• Delivering Excellent Services: Offers Meaningful Advice and Support: Provides ongoing support and coaching in a constructive manner to increase employees' effectiveness.
• Ensuring High Quality: Performs Excellent Work: Engages regularly in formal and informal dialogue about quality; directly addresses quality issues promptly.
• Ensuring High Quality: Ensures Continuous Improvement: Applies various learning experiences by looking beyond symptoms to uncover underlying causes of problems and identifies ways to resolve them.
• Ensuring High Quality: Fulfills Safety and Regulatory Requirements: Understands all aspects of providing a safe environment and performs routine safety checks to prevent safety hazards from occurring.
• Managing Resources Effectively: Demonstrates Accountability: Demonstrates a sense of ownership, focusing on and driving critical issues to closure.
• Managing Resources Effectively: Stewards Organizational Resources: Applies understanding of the departmental work to effectively manage resources for a department/area.
• Managing Resources Effectively: Makes Data Driven Decisions: Demonstrates strong understanding of the information or data to identify and elevate opportunities.
• Fostering Innovation: Generation of New Ideas: Proactively identifies new ideas/opportunities from multiple sources or methods to improve processes beyond conventional approaches.
• Fostering Innovation: Applies Technology: Demonstrates enthusiasm for learning new technologies, tools, and procedures to address short‑term challenges.
• Fostering Innovation: Adapts to Change: Views difficult situations and/or problems as opportunities for improvement; actively embraces change instead of negative elements.

Position Qualifications

This role offers the opportunity to make a meaningful impact within Vanderbilt Health, supported by a comprehensive benefits package which may include health, disability, retirement and/or wellness offerings to enhance your well‑being and professional growth.

People Are at the Heart of All We Do

Great health care takes great people. We’re looking for like-minded individuals driven to make a difference. We invite you to explore careers at Vanderbilt Health, where we value collaboration, embrace continuous learning and foster an environment where everyone can thrive.

About Vanderbilt Health

We’re the largest private employer in Middle Tennessee, with a growing team and an expanding footprint across towns and communities throughout the region. We employ more than 43,000 people who work in inpatient and outpatient clinical care, research and graduate medical education. Our employees also serve in critical supporting roles in administration, information technology and informatics, finance, legal and community affairs, communications and marketing, fundraising, groundskeeping and facilities, and many other departments.

Our growing academic health system has more than 2,100 licensed hospital beds at eight hospitals: Vanderbilt University Hospital, Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital, Vanderbilt Stallworth Rehabilitation Hospital, Vanderbilt Bedford Hospital, Vanderbilt Clarksville Hospital, Vanderbilt Tullahoma-Harton Hospital, Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital.

Clinical Excellence and Research

Vanderbilt Health is the Mid‑South’s largest provider of specialty care, with hundreds of outpatient clinic and surgical locations throughout the region, and Tennessee’s only National Cancer Institute‑designated Comprehensive Cancer Center for adults and children. We are one of the nation's busiest critical care centers, home of Middle Tennessee’s only Level 1 Trauma Center and Burn Center for adults and children, and Middle Tennessee’s only Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. We are the nation’s largest transplant center, and last year we performed the most heart transplants than any center worldwide.

Vanderbilt Health is an epicenter for biomedical research, winning over $1billion in annual research awards from government, industry, foundations and donors. We are also a national leader in medical training and education, with the largest clinical training center in the Mid‑South and the only training center in Tennessee for many adult and pediatric specialties.

We’re honored to be consistently recognized among the nation’s best hospitals for quality, safety and patient satisfaction. Three of our hospitals — Vanderbilt University Hospital, Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital and Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital — have been awarded a Five‑Star Quality Rating from Medicare.

Our Vision and Mission

Vision: The world leader in advancing personalized health. Mission: Personalizing the patient experience through our caring spirit and distinctive capabilities.

Equal Opportunity

Vanderbilt Health is committed to fostering an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and is committed to the principles of equal opportunity. EOE/Vets/Disabled.