User Experience Designer II-Software

Western Governors University•Salt Lake, UT

About The Position

WGU is driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs and is committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, receiving praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Working for WGU helps students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families. The User Experience Designer II-Software role is a step toward senior designer leadership, interfacing with product managers, business leaders, internal clients, developers, and students to deliver an engaging user experience for public, employee, and student-facing products. This designer is transitioning from a junior role, gaining more leadership opportunities. Innovation, discovery, and functionality are key to this role's success, with the designer creating a user experience that aligns with the WGU brand and ultimately leads to student success.

Requirements

In-depth understanding of User Experience (UX) design principles
Understanding of HTML and CSS as it applies across different browsers and screen solutions
Knowledge of color theory, typography, layout/composition, grid systems, and animation/transitions
Knowledge and experience implementing discovery and research techniques.
Deepening understanding of data visualization and data representation.
Ability to conduct research and validation on their own.
Takes on a bigger role of identifying and suggesting research and validation that should take place.
Proven ability to conceptualize a multi-product UX framework
Ability to be a contributor with some meetings but is driving most meetings on projects they are leading
Solid communication skills, including the ability to initiate and run meetings and is comfortable working with different teams within the organization.
Beginning to have a solid understanding of the why and how of solving the problem at hand and communicating this.
Asks for specific feedback and focuses on areas of greater importance to the goal of the design.
Strong attention to detail and a feeling of pride and ownership over the quality of our product
Proficiency in design tools such as, Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, etc.
Bachelor's Degree in Visual Communications, Graphic Design, or a related field
4 years of experience
Strong portfolio work showing excellence in design and functionality
Experience in design for web and mobile applications
Experience in designing for Enterprise scale products
Equivalent relevant experience performing the essential functions of this job may substitute for education degree requirements. Generally, equivalent relevant experience is defined as 1 year of experience for 1 year of education and is the discretion of the hiring manager.

Nice To Haves

Broad knowledge of project management
Experience working in an Agile development process
Experience using user research throughout the product life cycle, incorporating data from multiple sources into decision-making.
Higher Education experience
Agency experience

Responsibilities

Creates designs for web desktop, responsive, and mobile applications.
Moves from a mindset of ‘what’ (What needs to be designed? What design artifacts and deliverables are needed?) to ‘how’ (How are we approaching this problem?).
Owns design for several features and mid-sized projects with a domain or domains.
Follows direction from senior designers/UX domain leads but may be given the opportunity to lead other designers on other projects.
Understands the user-base who will be working on the application and designs the UX accordingly.
Participates, and on occasion leads, in exercises of discovery, research, and testing with stakeholders and product team members to identify problems to solve and business requirements.
Can synthesize the data to provide recommendations of work that should be done.
Rapidly produces prototypes, mockups, and wireframes that reflect the business needs to gain quick insight and make design decisions.
Builds finished screens using the developed prototypes that can be re-used across multiple lines of business.
Maintains an appropriate balance between performance and content delivery.
Collaborates with developers to ensure technical feasibility of designs.
Mentors UX Designers, whether working together on complex projects or helping them with their own design decisions.
Optimizes graphics for multiple platforms, as needed by various team members.
Acts as a role model for excellence in UX design, encompassing branding strategies and best practices.
Handles more complex and high-exposure UX projects and initiatives.
Influences some product metrics.
Performs other job-related duties as assigned.