Human-Centered Design (HCD) Specialist

Magpie Health Analytics • Baltimore, MD

4d

About The Position

Magpie Health Analytics is seeking a Human-Centered Design (HCD) Specialist to improve digital applications and services supporting the federal health clients. The role focuses on understanding how people use these systems and making them easier to navigate and use. The HCD Specialist will research user needs, test design ideas, and work with product managers, developers, and customer stakeholders to turn findings into practical improvements.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Human-Computer Interaction, User Experience Design, Psychology, Information Science, Human Factors, Design, or a related field.
• At least 4 years of experience in human-centered design, UX research, service design, or product design for digital applications.
• Experience with user interviews, usability testing, and journey mapping.
• Experience creating or contributing to prototypes, wireframes, and user flows.
• Ability to turn research findings into design recommendations, requirements, or user stories.
• Knowledge of Section 508, WCAG, and accessible design practices.
• Strong analytical, communication, and collaboration skills.

Nice To Haves

• Experience supporting CMS, HHS, federal digital services, or healthcare technology.
• Experience with complex web applications, electronic forms, or reporting systems.
• Experience with Figma, Miro, Mural, Lucidchart, or similar tools.
• Experience with Agile or SAFe teams and tools such as Jira and Confluence.
• Experience using product analytics to evaluate design changes.

Responsibilities

• Plan and conduct qualitative and quantitative user research, including interviews, usability studies, and collaborative discovery sessions, to understand user needs, workflows, and challenges.
• Analyze research findings, develop user personas and journey maps, and define problems and opportunities for improvement to inform product and design decisions.
• Develop or contribute to wireframes, prototypes, and other design concepts to explore potential solutions and gather feedback from users and stakeholders.
• Apply Section 508, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), and U.S. Web Design System standards to support accessible and consistent user experiences.
• Conduct usability and accessibility testing, including testing with users of assistive technologies, to evaluate proposed designs and implemented functionality.
• Review application usage metrics, help desk trends, and user feedback to assess the effectiveness of implemented changes and recommend improvements.
• Work with product managers, developers, and testers to translate research findings and design recommendations into user stories, acceptance criteria, and prioritized backlog items.
• Document and present research findings, design decisions, testing results, and recommendations to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level