UX Research and Design Specialist

UX Research and Design Specialist

Full Time Perm

Way of Work: Hybrid - 3 days in-office

Location: Merrillville, IN, Columbus, OH, Chester, VA, Canonsburg, PA, or Lexington, KY

Salary: $82,200 - $123,200 plus 8% annual bonus

NiSource is one of the largest fully regulated utility companies in the U.S., serving millions of customers across six states. We're more than an energy provider-we're a team committed to innovation, inclusion, and growth. At NiSource, you'll find a workplace that encourages collaboration, supports professional development, and empowers employees to make an impact.

The UX Designer and Researcher at NiSource plays a key role in shaping intuitive, accessible, and data driven digital experiences for customers and employees. This role is responsible for understanding Customer VOC needs, defining experience requirements, and translating insights into well designed solutions that support NiSource's commitment to safety, reliability, efficiency, and exceptional customer experience.

Working on the Customer Experience team you will work closely with Product Owners from discovery through delivery. This includes conducting user research, mapping customer journeys, developing wireframes and prototypes, validating concepts through usability testing, and ensuring digital products meet usability, accessibility, and regulatory standards.

• Prioritizes improvements and introduce changes based on value, business impact, effort and risks through user experience testing, and business case research.
• Works closely with customers, business partners, field and customer operations teams, and other end-users to understand current state experience needs, user behavior attitudes, and work environments.
• Conducts user studies, job shadows, focus groups and interviews to understand user insights. Analyzes research data to define opportunities and recommendations. Develops Personas to define user's needs.
• Maps user experiences across key journeys, documenting personas, touchpoints, pain points, sentiment, processes, stakeholders and key performance indicators.
• Designs user experiences that increase safety, efficiency, and employee & customer satisfaction.
• Develops storyboards, wireframes and journey maps that inform future state development builds.
• Conducts capability demonstrations at key stages within the Agile and Iterative development cycle.
• Partners with IT, Change Management, agile development teams and other stakeholders across the organization to translate user insights into experience improvements with detailed requirements; work with project and product management teams to manage experience improvement through design, build, implementation, and sustainment.
• Adheres to UI/UX best practices and UI design standards.
• Develops and documents design standards to ensure consistency across organization.
• Researches, identifies, and shares industry leading UX trends and practices from both inside and outside of utility industry.

Experience listed below could be obtained through a combination of school work, classes, research, or any relevant previous job or internship experiences.

You must possess the below minimum qualifications to be initially considered for this position. Preferred qualifications are in addition to the minimum requirements and are considered a plus factor in identifying top candidates.

• Bachelor's Degree
• 2+ years of user research and facilitation experience
• 2+ years of experience in interface design and usability testing
• Strong knowledge of design thinking methodologies

• Working knowledge of Figma, User Testing, Adobe XD, Optimal Workshop, Miro and associated research design and UI prototyping tools

This description is not designed to be a complete list of all duties and responsibilities required of the position

Authorized to work in the United States without requiring sponsorship.

Value inclusion within your day to day responsibilities by respecting others perspectives/convictions, engaging others opinions, creating a safe environment where people, ideas, and opinions are valued within your Team/Customers and external partners.

Respect the unique lived experiences within your Team/Customers and external work partners by valuing different world views, challenges, and cultures that represents all walks of life and all backgrounds.

Treat others with respect and consideration. Actively participate in creating and contributing to a positive work environment.

NiSource is committed to providing equal employment opportunities in each of its companies to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, veteran status, disability, gender, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex (including pregnancy, lactation, childbirth or related medical conditions), genetic information,…