Description

West Virginia University Libraries is currently accepting applications for a (Remote) UX Designer (Professional Technologist 3).

About the Opportunity

The designer reports to the Director of Systems in the WVU Libraries and works as part of the Systems department. In this role, the UX designer will guide the development of front-end products for the WVU Libraries websites, web applications, digital collections, and other web-based resources, developing and conducting usability testing as part of a collaborative environment consisting of library, university, and community stakeholders.

The designer has a strong commitment to user-centered services, improving user experience, web accessibility, and service excellence. This position develops and conducts usability testing, evaluating and visualizing the results. The designer communicates results and makes recommendations to improve digital collections, web applications, websites, and services based on both usability testing data and market research. The designer leads the Web Team and works collaboratively with library faculty and staff to use the information gathered through testing to design user-friendly and intuitive interfaces.

This position works in a fast-paced, deadline-driven, work environment and works well both independently and as part of a team. The designer works with library faculty and staff, other professional technologists at WVU, and WVU students, and has strong interpersonal communication and design management skills.

We strongly believe in work-life balance and keeping time for things we love outside our work. WVU offers generous benefits, including:

• 37.5-hour work week
• 13 paid holidays (staff holiday calendar)
• 24 annual leave (vacation) days per year
• 18 sick days per year (for when you're ill, for when you need time to care for sick family, for your own, or your family's, regularly scheduled medical appointments. Who is family for the purpose of this leave? A lot of people in your life including immediate relatives and in-laws as well as others considered to be members of your household living under the same roof)
• WVU offers a range of health insurance and other benefits (this position is a benefits-eligible, non-classified staff position)
• 401(a) retirement savings with 6% employee contribution match, eligibility to continue health insurance, and other retiree perks. Looking for more retirement benefits information? Check out retirement health insurance benefits, retirement income, and FAQ's.
• Wellness programs

What you'll do:

Digital Collections, Online Exhibits, and Websites

• Create digital collections and online exhibits and websites in collaboration with content creators that adhere to WVU University Relations standards, as well as web standards for accessibility, compatibility, performance, search engine optimization, responsiveness, and content management sustainability.
• Conduct design research for incremental development and redesign for WVU Libraries digital collections and websites.
• Manage and update website content using the university's content management system (CMS), CleanSlate. Management includes ensuring accuracy, currency, ease of access, and consistency of content throughout WVUL websites and webpages.
• Troubleshoot technical issues related to library websites, digital collections, and online exhibits.

Web Applications

• Work as part of the Libraries' Systems department to design, develop, maintain and improve web application user interfaces. This includes web applications developed in-house, as well as vendor-provided and open-source applications. These applications may be for WVU faculty, staff, and students, community members, or library employees.
• Propose and implement user interface enhancements and updates based on market research and usability testing.
• Improve user experience related to web application accessibility, compatibility, performance, and responsiveness.
• Design, develop, and work in a shared/version-controlled development and deployment environment with content specialists, designers, and developers.

Market Research/Usability Studies

• Design and conduct usability testing and gather feedback to improve user experience and accessibility of library websites, digital collections and exhibits, and web applications.
• Research and employ UX best practices to create seamless workflows and intuitive navigation paths for library users and employees.
• Analyze website usage data and user behavior to identify areas for improvement and optimization.

Miscellaneous

• Lead and act as a liaison between the Library Web Team and other stakeholders (e.g. faculty librarians, library staff, college faculty, etc.)
• Collaborate closely with the Director of Public Relations and Events to shape the library's image, brand, and user experience online.
• Meet monthly, or as needed, with WVU University Relations, and other digital collection/library user experience groups.
• Attend and actively contribute to weekly departmental meetings.
• Supervise design, social media, and web design graduate assistants and/or student workers, as needed.
• Serve as a resource for library employees in best practices in web accessibility and usability.
• Provide training and support for website management tools as needed.
• Perform other miscellaneous duties as required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in graphic design or related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• A minimum of four (4) years of experience in graphic design, web design and development with 2 years of usability testing.
  • Experience working with WCAG and Section 508 accessibility requirements.
  • Experience with various design research mechanisms including analytics, focus groups, intercepts, pathway mapping, surveys, and usability tests.
• Demonstrated proficiency in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator software.
• Demonstrated skills with HTML, CSS, SCSS, JavaScript, and content management systems (CMS)
• Understanding of Ajax, JSON, and Restful systems.
• Demonstrated ability to work with revision control systems, such as Git.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team.
• Analytical skills to research and evaluate new technologies for front end web development.
• Ability to scale a design to multiple development frameworks and template engines across a variety of Content Management Systems, services, and software.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree in graphic design, Human-Computer Interaction, or User Experience Design.
• Experience developing in Node.JS, Angular, React, Express, Bootstrap, Webpack, and/or other JavaScript frameworks.
• Experience with service design.
• Experience designing HTML emails for communication and marketing.
• Experience using PHP and Ruby.
• Experience with data visualization and presentation.
• Experience designing responsive web applications.
• Experience with design management and group facilitation.
• Experience using component-based systems and modern tooling to generate production CSS/JS.

Certifications:

• UX Certification by internationally recognized group preferred.