Digital/Web User Experience Designer

Description

The Penn State University Libraries is seeking a Digital/Web User Experience Designer. The individual will be designing and creating an intuitive, aesthetically pleasing, and brand-consistent online presence across the entire Libraries’ digital landscape, the Libraries Digital User Experience Designer will have the opportunity to make an important impact on the Libraries’ teaching, learning and research.  Optimizing the experience for every interaction across our websites, discovery platforms and online services will lead to enhanced discovery, increased resource usage and simplified access from every learning environment and research context.

In line with the One Penn State 2025 initiative to provide a seamless online user journey across the entire University, the Libraries aims to create that same intuitive experience across our own Libraries online presence, unifying our digital ecosystem and multiple resource access points.

The Libraries needs a Digital User Experience Designer to:

• Take a holistic approach to improving the Libraries digital user experience across all access points.
• Provide a deeper and more complex understanding of our user needs and behaviors, discover users’ pain points and investigate and design solutions to eliminate them.
• Provide predictability and consistency for our users by establishing user patterns and removing barriers and bottlenecks.
• Collaborate with Public Relations and Marketing on establishing a Libraries brand, consistent with our status of a top 10 ARL.
• Develop and execute that brand and design system across the Libraries online presence.
• Improve accessibility for all users through UX testing that includes users with disabilities.
• Cut down on development cycles through user-centered planning, testing up front and building right the first time.
• Advocate for the needs, expectations and desires of the people who rely on our products and services; recognizing that these needs and expectations continuously change, and committing to ongoing inquiry, data analysis and usability testing.

The Scope:

• Libraries public website
• Discovery platforms
• Online services (eg: Ask A Librarian, My Library Account, eReserves, LibGuides, etc)
• Canvas integrations
• Penn State Go
• Libraries staff site
• Multiple microsites
   

Responsibilities:

• Position the Libraries systems for One Penn State 2025.
• Ensure the practice of user-centered design to create a consistent experience across the Libraries’ many touch points in all digital spaces.
• Regularly engage and interact with Library user communities through formal and informal channels to determine user needs and the Libraries’ effectiveness in meeting those needs.
• Collaborate with product owners, developers, and content strategist to create an intuitive, accessible, user-friendly and user-first approach to online engagement interfaces for the web, mobile devices, and digital signs.
• Design, coordinate and conduct usability testing.
• Create wireframes, mockups, personas, use cases, and user journeys based on user needs and work with developers on their implementation.
• Produce high-quality visual designs - from concept to execution – for a variety of formats.
• Work closely with web analytics and usage statistics, utilizing event tracking, A/B testing, click tracking, heat maps, etc. to understand the needs and experiences of users.
• Help the Libraries further establish visual and brand identity, pattern libraries and a digital style guide, in conjunction with PRaM and Penn State Strategic Communications.
• Research and analyze trends in user behavior and expectations to anticipate how those needs might evolve in the future.

Requirements:

• Bachelor's Degree and 4 years of demonstrated experience with creating and implementing UX design.
• Experience with coding and able to troubleshoot using HTML, CSS, JS, and comparable languages.
• Knowledge of current UX testing standards; continued education and research into UX trends and standards and technologies.
• Extensive experience with wireframing, wireframing tools/methods, and prototyping.
• Excellent organizational, time management, problem-solving, and communications skills.
• Ability to adapt to new technologies.
• Ability to work collaboratively with diverse teams of people.
• Ability to advocate for the users’ needs.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Familiarity with front-end testing suites.
• Experience with frontend development using languages such as Twig.
• Exemplary organizational and versioning skills.
• Ability to iterate designs and provide clear direction for developers.

Please include a resume and portfolio of work and/or samples for consideration.

The Libraries values diversity of thought, perspective, experience, and people, and is actively committed to a culture of inclusion and respect. We encourage candidates to apply who thrive in a welcoming, multicultural environment. More information on Penn State’s commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Excellence, can be found by visiting http://equity.psu.edu/psu-diversity-statement. For additional information about the Libraries’ diversity efforts, please visit https://libraries.psu.edu/about/diversity.