Job Title: Senior UX Designer/Researcher (Accessibility Specialist)
Client: Direct State Client
Location: Des Moines, IA
Position Type: Contract (40 hrs/week)
Core Responsibilities- UX Research & Usability Testing: Design, plan, and execute formal user experience research. Moderate hands-on user testing sessions and run usability labs to resolve workflow friction.
- Heuristic Evaluations: Audit early layouts and interfaces against usability best practices and design standards.
- User Journey & Persona Mapping: Translate complex district data reporting and environmental workflows into clear user journeys and behavioral personas.
- Information Architecture: Structure data-heavy reporting categories logically using techniques such as card sorting.
- Accessibility Integration (WCAG 2.2 AA): Integrate digital accessibility from the ground up, aligning design systems and research with WCAG standards to ensure services are universally accessible.
- Collaborative Design & Communication: Partner with the Lead UX Architect and cross-functional agency stakeholders to scale digital standards, articulate research findings, and optimize UI.
Required Qualifications & Skills- UX Research Mastery (8+ Years): Demonstrated experience moderating user testing sessions, running usability labs, executing heuristic evaluations, mapping user journeys, and managing information architecture.
- WCAG 2.2 Level AA Expertise (8+ Years): Practical knowledge of implementing WCAG 2.2 Level AA requirements, focus management, keyboard navigation mechanics, and color contrast principles within visual layouts.
- Figma & Prototyping: Advanced proficiency in Figma, wireframing, and interactive prototyping.
- Stakeholder Communication: Ability to clearly explain user research insights, interface design choices, and usability standards to technical teams, developers, and agency stakeholders.
Preferred Experience & Optional Assets- Education: Formal UX/HCI degree (Iowa State University HCI program graduates highly desired) or certifications (Nielsen Norman Group, Google UX).
- Research Analytics: Experience with heat maps and behavior analysis tools (e.g., Crazy Egg, Hotjar).
- Systems & Frameworks: Familiarity with the U.S. Web Design System (USWDS), semantic HTML5/CSS, or design integration into Angular/.NET environments.
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