Mixed-Methods UX Researcher, Google Maps

Minimum qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
  
• 4 years of experience in an applied research setting (e.g., product or academic), or similar.
• 2 years of experience applying qualitative and quantitative research methods, including interview sessions, literature review, concept testing, and survey analysis.
• Experience with research methods (e.g., usability, studies, contextual inquires, 1:1 interviews, unmoderated research studies).

Preferred qualifications:

• Master's degree or PhD in Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Science, Statistics, Psychology, Anthropology, or related field.
  
• 2 years of experience conducting UX research on products, managing projects, and working in a changing organization.
• 2 years of experience working with cross-functional stakeholders to form research questions from ambiguous problems.

About the job:

At Google, we follow a simple but vital premise: "Focus on the user and all else will follow." User Experience Researchers (UXRs) make this possible.

Google User Experience (UX) is made up of multi-disciplinary teams of UX Designers, Researchers, Writers, Content Strategists, Program Managers, and Engineers: we care deeply about the people who use our products. The UX team plays an integral part in gathering insights about the needs, attitudes, emotions, and behaviors of people who use our products to inspire and inform design. We collaborate closely with each other and with engineering and product management to create industry-leading products that deliver value for the people who use them, and for Google’s businesses.

As a User Experience Researcher (UXR), you’ll help your team of UXers, product managers, and engineers understand user needs. You’ll work with stakeholders across functions and levels and have impact at all stages of product development. You’ll play a critical role in creating useful, usable, and delightful products. You’ll explore user behaviors and motivations by conducting primary research such as field studies, interviews, diary studies, participatory workshops, ethnography, surveys, usability testing, and logs analysis.

The UXR community at Google is unique and will help you do your best work. You’ll have the opportunity to work with and learn from UXRs across Google through regular meetups, mentor programs, and access to internal research tools.

Geo's mission is to assist people everywhere as they navigate and explore. The team's focus is to provide first-person experiences to assist users with information needs.

The Geo team is focused on building the most accurate, comprehensive, and useful maps for our users, through products like Maps, Earth, Street View, Google Maps Platform, and more. Every month, more than a billion people rely on Maps services to explore the world and navigate their daily lives.

The Geo team also enables developers to use the power of Google Maps platforms to enhance their apps and websites. As they plot a course for the future of mapping, they are solving complex computer science problems, designing beautiful and intuitive product experiences, and improving our understanding of the real world.

The US base salary range for this full-time position is $129,000-$185,000 + bonus + equity + benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include bonus, equity, or benefits. Learn more about benefits at Google.

Responsibilities:

• Influence stakeholders across organizations to gain support for research-based, user-centric solutions. 
  
• Own project priorities in alignment with product goals, and oversee allocation of resources within the project. 
  
• Drive ideas to improve products and services through research-driven insights and recommendations. 
  
• Lead teams to define and evaluate product, service, ecosystem impact.
• Own the idea and strategy discussions through research by analyzing, consolidating, or synthesizing what is known about user, product, service, or business needs.