About the job

Xbox is one of the world’s most valuable brands and enjoys millions of players and passionate fans. An important part of our plan is to grow our global player base and our multi-billion dollar a year Xbox console and accessories business. At Xbox, we believe Gamer Happiness is at the core to our mission of empowering every person and organization on the planet to achieve more.

As part of XPS (Xbox Products Services), Xbox Research & Design is a leader in gaming and entertainment experiences for customers worldwide. We design for gamers of all types across Console, PC, Web, Mobile, and beyond. Most importantly, we design for fun.

Are you passionate about understanding how people interact with games and technology? Do you excel in storytelling with data? We are seeking a Senior User Researcher with a passion for generating consumer insights to drive the development of world-class entertainment, games, and experiences. You will be joining a unique team at Microsoft known for pioneering and institutionalizing the adaptation of psychological research methods to games and the entertainment industry. To put it simply, we are all about fun! And at Team Xbox, we care deeply about facilitating fun for everyone

Responsibilities

In this position, you’ll help drive the understanding of customer needs, wants, and expectations to ensure player safety through positive and respectful experiences for players of all ages, including children and parents. Your proactive research and consumer insights will help inform the content we create for Microsoft’s entertainment platforms (including Xbox, Windows, Game Pass, and future platforms).

This Role Will

• Partner closely with design and development team leadership to deeply understand and inform product goals and strategies
• Develop research plans that involve and engage your team and impact business strategy, product design and quality
• Design and execute appropriate research activities to answer relevant design and/or business questions through leveraging and triangulating both qualitative and quantitative methods (observation, interviews, ethnography, surveys, lab studies, instrumentation, etc.)
• Bring a wide range of both established and innovative research methods to your work, and develop new methods where needed to evolve the desirability of our experiences
• Provide your design and development teams with research context, perspective, and recommendations on what will make our products and services both useful and delightful
• Communicate research findings through persuasive, compelling written reports and group presentations
• Contribute your research and perspective through the entire product design cycle, from planning to implementation to post-release
• Partner with and leverage other researchers across a diverse team
  

Qualifications

We're looking for a passionate and innovative Senior User Researcher to join our team. Strong candidates will have the following experiences and qualities:

• Minimum 5-7 years UX research experience
• Strong cross-team collaboration skills
• Proven experience in planning and executing on complex partner-facing initiatives
• Demonstrated ability to design, execute, and explain high quality mixed-method UX research
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, persuasiveness, and the ability to make compelling group presentations
• Ability to develop creative approaches to researching multifaceted user experience problems
• A love of entertainment and any or all kinds of gaming (mobile/tablet, PC, console, board games, etc.). Insight into game design principles highly desirable.
• Ability to distill complex ideas into succinct thought and impactful storytelling
• An advanced degree (Master’s or Ph.D.) in social sciences such as psychology, human-computer interaction, human factors, anthropology, sociology, or a related field, or equivalent industry experience
  

Preferred Skills

• Expertise in one or more qualitative research methods (e.g., fieldwork, contextual inquiry, observation, interviewing, etc.) with experience applying those methods to product development
• Experience in constructing, analyzing, and interpreting survey data
• Accessibility UX research experience
• Research experience with social experiences and online safety
• Research experience with children, parents, and families
  

Apply today to join our influential and established team of interdisciplinary user researchers.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request via the Accommodation request form.

Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.