
Lead UX Researcher - Candy Crush Soda Saga

Craft:
UX & UIJob Description:
Do you want to champion the player voice in the game production process? Are you experienced in several research methods and interested in a role with a lot of variety on a fantastic tight- knit team?
We are looking for a proactive Lead UX Researcher with a background in qualitative and quantitative user research methods in gaming. You will work within the Candy Crush Soda game team, collaborating with various teams to ensure tangible and integrated outputs are delivered to ingrain player centricity and inform decision- making in game production.
Your role within our Kingdom
As part of Candy Crush Soda Saga, you will plan, design, and implement player research initiatives and provide ongoing and integrated insight- based guidance across the team. Reporting to the Director of User Experience, you'll drive our team forward to ensure that the player perspective is heard and acted upon in the King game design process.
You will work with business managers, data scientists, UX designers, game designers and developers, as well as other researchers, to connect them to our players and find answers to product design questions. You will also be responsible for the craft development of other researchers in the team.
Most importantly, your job will be to help King understand who the players are and what would make our players' experiences even better with your toolbox of research methods.
Responsibilities include:
Own the research process: screen participants, define test plans, analyze data, and write reports, delivering research insights to the teams
Oversee and execute user- testing studies and activities, understanding when to use quantitative vs qualitative methodologies
Understand the team complex needs and transform them into research inquiries
Maintain the research schedule for the game, and prioritise the studies with stakeholders
Inclusive design approach, considering diverse type of players in the studies
Lead UR team, providing coaching and mentoring to other User Experience Researchers
Identify process and communication improvements for the discipline
Utilize and suggest new data sources to contextualize analysis and recommendations
Collaborate with data scientists on data triangulation
Skills to create thrills
Extensive experience in user research in the gaming industry is a must have
Good understanding of product development cycle on agile environment
Familiarity with testing tools such as UserTesting, PlaytestCloud, Userlytics, UserZoom, etc
Extensive knowledge in Human- Computer Interaction, Psychology, or related fields, from industry experience or academic background
Proficiency in the research lifecycle, including: briefing, recruitment, questionnaire/discussion guide design, analysis, synthesis of findings, communication of insights
Excellent communication skills and ability to build relationships across all levels of the business
Bonus points
A postgraduate (Masters or PhD) degree in Human Computer Interaction, Human Factors, Interaction Design, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Science, or related field
Experience leading/supervising other user researchers
About King
King is the game developer behind the world- famous Candy Crush franchise, as well as mobile game hits including Farm Heroes, Bubble Witch and Pet Rescue. Candy Crush is the top- grossing franchise in US app stores, a position it has held for the last two years, and King’s games are being played by 245 million monthly active users as of Q3 2021. King, which is part of the Activision Blizzard group since its acquisition in 2016, employs nearly 2,000 people in game studios in Stockholm, Malmö, London, Barcelona and Berlin, and offices in San Francisco, New York, and Malta.
A Great Saga Needs All Sorts of Heroes
Making games is fun. Especially when you do it with people who share the same idea of what makes a good workplace great. We design games for everyone, no matter where they are or who they are, and we employ all sorts of people from all kinds of backgrounds to bring them to life. Truth is, we simply cannot expect diversity in our players and originality in our games without first nurturing it in our people. A great saga needs all sorts of heroes.
Making the World Playful
Making the World Playful is what inspires us to create new experiences and raise the bar. It’s what makes King a place where we can all dream bigger, continue to add innovation to our games, broadening the portfolio and exploring new territories in mid- core and casual. We take the art and science of gaming to the next level through our curiosity for the unexplored, passion for games, respect for each other and love for our players - and we’re not afraid to have fun along the way. In fact, together with our parent company Activision Blizzard and experts around the world, we believe having fun is good for you. There has never been a better time to join us. We're dreaming bigger and see a world of possibilities ahead. If you share our passion, our values, and our hunger to shape the future, join us in Making the World Playful!
Applications need to be in English.
Discover King at careers.king.com