Freelance Game User Research Jobs in Chicago, IL

How you'll make an impact: 

Strata is driven by our people solving problems together. We embrace learning, collaboration, and continuous career growth. Together, we lift our customers, our products, our company, and our community. As a UX Researcher, you will work directly with our user experience team to help many of the nation's leading hospitals, universities, and financial institutions make better decisions with their financial, operational, and strategic data so they can care for their communities. 

This UX Researcher role is all about working with Product Managers and UX Designers to solve complex problems by uncovering the needs and pain points of our users and turning insights into actionable solutions and product decisions. Some examples of how you'll help: 

• Conduct generative and evaluative research to uncover user needs, behaviors, and motivations, guiding the product team through all stages of product development  

• Be the voice of the user in cross-functional team discussions, advocating for user needs while balancing business objectives and constraints 

• Help foster a user-centric culture by refining unclear questions into clear research opportunities, sharing insights across teams, and ensuring those insights help shape product decisions from discovery through launch 

To thrive in this role, you must: 

• Feel comfortable sharing your expertise, offering research advice in group settings, growing into a trusted research partner to your stakeholders and team members. 

• Fearlessly dig into existing research and new research you generate to understand our users' needs 

• Contribute to problem discovery activities, with your design and product manager peers, while learning how to refine ambiguous questions into clearer goals. 

• Do all the research things: Create research plans, coordinate recruitment, talk to our users, share relevant insights with stakeholders, connect insights across studies and teams, with support from senior researchers. 

• Become an expert in our research repository and help maintain it so our product teams have a source of truth to influence their decisions. 

• Ask tough questions, identify assumptions, discuss new ideas, and remain open to opposing viewpoints 

• Actively contribute to the growth and development of the research function 

• Show initiative in end-to-end ownership of research studies, while seeking feedback and guidance from senior team members as you stretch into strategic work. 

A Day in the Life: 

• Brainstorm research questions with other research team members  

• Work with your product manager and design partners to uncover where there are gaps in knowledge that you can contribute to 

• Review findings and recommendations with your design partner 

• Geek out over the latest trends in research and actively share your learnings with the team to spark discussion 

• Guide your team through the pros and cons of your research plan and questions along with your decision-making process 

• Try and get the fastest time on the latest NYT Pips game and share in Slack with pride   

What we're looking for: 

• Relevant research experience within an agile team; SaaS, finance, or healthcare experience highly preferred, with 2+ years of professional user research experience on product teams 

• Ability to navigate both clear and ambiguous problem spaces, selecting appropriate research methods and adapting approach based on project constraints  

• Ability to synthesize findings into clear, actionable insights and recommendations that inform product decisions  

• Strong organizational skills, with the ability to manage and prioritize work and independently drive research projects forward 

• A body of past work that showcases strong core research skills including generative research, evaluative research, analysis, and generating actionable insights 

• Experience incorporating quantitative data into research (e.g., product analytics, surveys, or behavioral metrics) to complement qualitative insights 

• Familiarity with product analytics tools (e.g., Pendo or similar) and an interest in leveraging usage data to inform research 

• Interest in incorporating AI tools into research workflows (e.g., synthesis, analysis, or operational efficiency), while maintaining research quality and rigor 

Estimated Salary Range: $80,000 - $100,000
Actual salary will be determined based on factors including, but not limited to, skill set and level of experience. This salary range is a good faith estimate of base pay. Strata also provides discretionary variable pay programs based on role. In addition, Strata provides a comprehensive benefits package including retirement benefits, health and welfare benefits, paid time off, parental leave, life and accident insurance, and other voluntary and well-being benefits. Strata is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. Full-time roles are eligible for an annual bonus based on both individual and company performance. Find out more about Strata benefits here.