User Researcher

User Researcher

Department             Digital Services/Digital Archiving

Reports to                User Research Manager/Senior User Researcher

Line manages           'None'

Band                       Band E

Location                   The National Archives, Kew - hybrid working

Job Purpose

The Digital Services & Digital Archiving departments at The National Archives are committed to delivering high quality, innovative and user-friendly digital services, such as our website and online catalogue, as well as services that preserve and provide enhanced access to the Nation’s digital heritage. We are determined to avoid building technologically perfect services that are under-used. We want to test our assumptions thoroughly and regularly with our users, both public and within the civil service, so that we develop services in line with the needs of these users and ultimately attract new and more diverse audiences to our collections.

We’re currently looking for three enthusiastic user researchers to join our growing user-centred design community. As part of a multi-disciplinary team you will deliver products that will enable users to access The National Archives collection and our digital offering.

Understanding our users and creatively thinking about how they interact with our services is central to how we work. We are committed to developing services rooted in user-centred design, so we are looking for a user researcher who has a deep understanding of usability and accessibility practices and an excellent knowledge of a variety of user research methods and how they should be applied.

Being able to confidently analyse and evaluate research findings to reveal actionable insights and recommendations will help us to build a rich picture of our users and their requirements so that together we can create the best digital services for our users.

Role and Responsibilities

As part of a multi-disciplinary team you will:

• Communicate and collaborate effectively within your team to ensure all work is solidly grounded in user research and evidence.
• Use a range of qualitative and quantitative user research techniques to gather evidence from a wide cross-section of user groups and stakeholders to gain understanding of user needs and requirements. 
• Apply the principles of the user-centred design process and knowledge of accessibility guidelines, combined with an understanding of how people experience and interact with digital services, to help improve user experience on site and online.
• Work independently and collaboratively to design and plan in-house user research and analysis to meet design/development objectives and ensure that users of all abilities and experience can use our services. 
• Conduct hands-on user research with The National Archives’ users and non-users, including “guerrilla” / pop-up testing, remote and co-located usability sessions, in-depth interviews, surveys, and questionnaires.
• Analyse and synthesise user research findings and develop recommendations about the best approach to take to ensure our services are innovative and inclusive.
• Communicate user research processes and outcomes to stakeholders and colleagues in other teams in clear, interesting and engaging ways.
• Manage workflows, research documentation and design artefacts
• Be a champion of user-centred design practice, and enthusiastic about sharing your expertise throughout the team, the department, and the organisation.

Working Conditions

• Normal office environment
• Display Screen Equipment user

Person Specification

Essential

• Significant experience in user-centred design for websites, digital services, or software development.
• Experience of designing a wide range of qualitative and quantitative user research activities based on an understanding of the strengths and limitations of different research methods. 
• Knowledge of accessibility guidelines and how to apply user research so that services are inclusive, useable and accessible for everyone.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with a multidisciplinary team as well as the wider business/sector to gain an understanding of the problems you are trying to solve and the ability to align user research appropriately, so all our work is grounded in sound user-centred principles and insights
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to plan iterative user research to support continuous improvement of our services.
• Experience in conducting user research sessions with users with the ability to communicate in an open, engaging and sensitive manner.
• Strong critical thinking, analytical skills and a demonstrable ability to collate, synthesise and present user research findings in a clear rational way that is easy for colleagues to interpret and contribute to.
• A good communicator, you will have a passion for sharing best practice, contributing to research papers and sharing outcomes of user-research with others in the user-research discipline.

Desirable:

• Understanding of agile practices and collaborative working in a multi-disciplinary team.
• Experience of applying user research to all the cycles of development (Alpha, Beta, Live)
• Awareness of the technologies used to build and operate digital services.
• Qualification in Human Computer Interaction, or a similar discipline.

Other Requirements

• Occasional travel for user research will be required
• A combination of onsite and home working is available and applicants should be able to travel regularly to our Kew site.

We are an equal opportunities employer, welcoming applications from all sections of the community and from people of diverse ages, experience and backgrounds, including people with disabilities. We are keen to explore the widest possible pool of talent for all our roles.