User Experience Researcher, DonorsChoose
$72-90k
Salary varies with location
More information about location
Online crowdfunding platform
Job no longer available
Online crowdfunding platform
201-500 employees
Job no longer available
$72-90k
Salary varies with location
More information about location
201-500 employees
Company mission
To make it easy for anyone to help a teacher in need, ensuring a nation where students in every community have the tools and experiences they need for a great education.
Role
Who you are
- Our ideal candidate blends rigor with a bias for action, has a passion for digital products, and is committed to addressing systemic inequities in education
- You have 1-3 years of experience working on a tech product in a research role
- You have relevant knowledge in the fields of human-computer interaction, UX research, social sciences, or related
- You have a deep understanding of qualitative research and analysis methods
- You have a basic understanding of statistics that you apply to designing surveys, sampling, analyzing data, and presenting results
- You’re a strong collaborator. You look for common goals, take steps to understand the perspectives of others, and jump in when you have something to contribute
- You’ve developed an ethical compass and are mindful of the potential negative impacts that research may have on participants, your team, and yourself. You actively take measures to minimize these risks and ensure the well-being of all parties
- You balance risk, rigor, and resources when recommending approaches and timelines
- You embrace flexibility — you can take shifting priorities in stride and pivot when needed
- You can admit when you don’t have an answer - we value knowing what we don’t know
- You’re organized, ensuring our practices and learnings are documented for current and future use
- You can work independently but are not afraid to seek help when stuck
- You have a growth mindset — you’re excited to build internal and external networks from which to learn, and invest in your own knowledge so that you can improve and increase your impact
- Experience with business intelligence and research software is a plus: UserTesting, Qualtrics, R, Looker, etc
- Conversational Spanish proficiency is not required, but is a plus
- If you don’t check every box listed here, or you know you’d bring additional experience to the table, we hope you’ll submit your application
What the job involves
- We are growing our research practice in order to participate in these initiatives
- The UX Researcher will report to the Lead UX Researcher, joining our team of 4 product managers, 3 product designers, 1 researcher, and 1 research operations specialist to improve the on-site experience for teachers, donors, and partners, directly impacting the educational outcomes for students across the US
- We are looking for a UX researcher who is a curious collaborator with a deep knowledge of user research methods
- UX Researchers at DonorsChoose play an integral role in shaping and enhancing features throughout the DonorsChoose ecosystem
- We conduct research at every stage of product development, from initial discovery to refining solutions, covering planning, execution, analysis, and sharing results
- Working closely with designers, product managers, and engineers, you’ll have significant influence on product decisions, impacting the lives of thousands of teachers, students, donors, corporate and foundation partners, and others
- You’ll be joining a small, supportive team and you’ll play a huge role in our success as we work to create useful and usable experiences and improve education across the US
- Identify opportunities to conduct impactful research
- Work with Lead UX Researcher and stakeholders across the organization to uncover research opportunities that will help teams make successful decisions
- Collaborate with colleagues on the right questions to ask
- Advocate for research when it can be useful and coach folks on when a different tack is better suited
- Design approaches that get to the heart of a question
- Employ a breadth of methods, including in-depth interviews, usability testing, field studies, contextual inquiry, surveys, and more, designing approaches that address key research questions and drive projects forward
- Create research plans, discussion guides, surveys, and screeners
- Work with research operations to design sampling criteria and oversee recruiting
- Collaborate with designers and product managers to ensure prototypes and mock-ups are study-ready
- Collect and analyze data
- Moderate one-on-one interviews, usability tests, field studies, and other qualitative studies
- Analyze qualitative and quantitative data, using basic statistics when appropriate and a variety of qualitative analysis methods (e.g, thematic, content, mental model diagramming, etc.)
- Bring colleagues into the data collection, observation, and analysis process when advantageous and appropriate
- Socialize findings with teammates and other stakeholders
- Write reports, design slide decks, hold workshops, and lead debriefs, depending on the audience and specific-project needs,
- Work with designers, product managers, and other colleagues to understand business needs and translate research insights into recommendations
- Shepherd your research, ensuring that evidence-based insights are reflected in our product decisions
- Contribute to team operations
- Work with the Research Operations Specialist and Lead UX Researcher to suggest improvements to our processes, including participant recruitment, workflows, and knowledge management
- Help build out our new research insights repository
- Engage with the UX community
- Keep up-to-date with industry trends and emerging research methodologies in user experience
- Seek opportunities to improve research processes and methodologies
- Take advantage of professional development opportunities: attend conferences, write blog posts, or contribute to industry publications
Our take
A 2020-21 survey found that public educators spent, on average, at least $750 of their own money on supplies for their students. Teacher-turned-founder, Charles Best, figured that people would more likely help if they could see where their money was going. With DonorsChoose, teachers can post funding requests, and donors can choose the ones they want to support.
DonorsChoose understands that each classroom has unique needs based on the students. By allowing teachers to post their own needs, donors can help in a multitude of specific ways, such as funding school trips, providing flexible seating in the classroom, or resourcing basic classroom materials – whatever the teacher feels will improve the quality of their student’s education. Aware of the value of transparency and efficiency, donors are shown exactly how their money was spent and receive a thank you from the kids themselves.
DonorsChoose continues to raise a huge amount of money for public school teachers - at least one teacher in 87% of all US public school districts uses the platform. The company's positive work culture earned them the title of #1 "Best Nonprofit to Work For" by the Nonprofit Times whilst large companies such as United Airlines are among its donors.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
13% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 4 rounds)
Jul 2024
$0.1m
GRANT
May 2020
$1.2m
GRANT
Total funding: $7.1m
Company benefits
- Flexible work environment
- 5 weeks paid vacation
- 100% paid health, dental and vision coverage
- Stipend for professional growth
- Monthly guest speakers
- Snacks and gourmet coffee
- Generous time off for new parents
Company HQ
Garment District, New York, NY
Leadership
Charles Best
(Founder & Board Member)Started as a Social Studies teacher at Wings Academy, a Bronx public high school, before founding DonorsChoose. Has been a Board Member for GuideStar, BMe Community, iMentor.
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