Lead UX Designer
We are looking for a lead user experience designer for our Services group. This individual will own the UX design discipline across multiple services charged with providing data and user interface components to our enterprise clients which are used by their development teams to improve the experience for individual investors, financial advisors, or other financial professionals. We need a designer who loves the challenge of turning complex data into great service design, translating usage patterns into intuitive, rewarding interactions and workflows, and working in an incredibly collaborative environment. This position is based in our Chicago office.
Morningstar's unique culture values design and designers as part of our strategic foundation, alongside our technology and editorial/research peers. We expect a desire to dive deep and connect with data, technology, brand standards, and your teammates. We require a love of elegant interfaces, refined typography, and honestly visualized data where others see only numbers. A bachelor's degree and at least 7 years of relevant professional experience is required.
In this role, you will:
- Lead the UX and design disciplines to include overseeing all design work.
- Communicate and envision service concepts and ideas using methods and tools that illustrate all the components and touch-points of the service.
- Use creative facilitation techniques and taking the lead at internal meetings and client meetings to understand the problem space and foster a shared vision of the future.
- Help define user interaction models and user experience for new and existing products.
- Sketch and present UX concepts and behaviors with paper sketches, wireframes, task/workflows, simple working prototypes, or whatever form best communicates your ideas.
- Participate in user-centered research with customers through interviews, usability testing, usage analysis, and participatory design.
- Communicate UX design solutions to multiple development teams through prototypes, detailed specifications and similar types of communication documents.
- Be an obsessive advocate for user-centered research and for a ‘design thinking’ approach to creative problem solving.
- Use data and experimentation in the design process to deliver on intended outcomes.
- Thrive in an agile work environment, including the ability to embrace iterative product development while maintaining a cohesive and holistic view of the overall design experience.
- Be curious about new technology and pushing experiences to be current and modern.
- Be able to write and present effectively; you’ll need to guide and persuade many opinions.
The Ideal Candidate:
Considers User Experience as more than just aesthetics. Constantly searches for simplicity. Loves constructive criticism. Is obsessed with understanding the way people “work” and think and is familiar with the Jobs to Be Done methodology. Never misses the chance to appreciate the little things that make a product delightful.
Enjoys working with data and data visualizations.
Is experienced with working with design systems, components, and can make decisions on what needs be presented as a branded experience and what can be included in white-labeled solutions.
Is a leader who can bring clarity and structure to product development by constantly advocating for proven user-centered design and development processes on a team where these techniques have not existed previously. Able to provide strategic direction, make decisions when faced with competing priorities, and possesses the communication skills to bring the team along with your vision.
Skills & Qualifications:
Design Thinking: You use design-thinking methods in day-to-day work to drive product development through research and prototyping.
User Research: You have experience in planning and executing common types of user research with minimal guidance and supervision. You may need coaching and support on advanced methods or complex projects, that’s ok, we have a user research team to assist you in high-visibility, strategic, or ambiguous situations. You should be highly proficient at core research skills such as interviewing, analysis, and reporting techniques.
Information Architecture: You are highly proficient in solving navigation problems, information organization, information relationships, and strategy. You should be able to provide guidance and coaching to more junior team members in these areas.
Interaction Design: You are highly proficient in creation of wireframes, prototypes and other artifacts to communicate design direction, and you can provide guidance to more junior team members in these areas.. You have an expert command of designing interactions and microinteractions, identifying and specifying appropriate patterns and conventions for solving product problems.
Experience Design: You are highly proficient at using your understanding of Morningstar's core personas to identify product connections and communication channels that will advance your product's goals and influence. You can also leverage this knowledge to guide teams to build more coordinated solutions and services.
Writing: You are highly proficient at making copy suggestions and coaching product teams on how to best use language to reach product outcomes.
Leadership: You foster a collegial, collaborative, transparent, and high-performing team through mutual respect and an openness to new ideas. You should enable employees to take initiative to solve problems, make decisions, and get things done. You are a leader who wants everyone on your team to reach their full potential and work tirelessly to develop their skills and increase their knowledge of Morningstar, our products, and our industry.
Morningstar is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
