UX Designer Research Associate

Carnegie Mellon University is a private, global research university that challenges the curious and hardworking to deliver work that matters. Our extraordinary institution has distinctive areas of excellence and a culture marked by ambition and a deep, practical engagement with challenges facing society. We continue to produce versatile alumni and draw faculty and staff eager to be a part of the university’s creative, dedicated and close-knit community. We place emphasis on practical problem solving, interdisciplinary learning, a transformative spirit, and collaboration.

The Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) is a living laboratory where we investigate the relationship between computer technology, human activity, and society. Founded in 1993, the HCII is a place where we work to understand and create technology that harmonizes with and improves human capabilities, goals, and social environments through interdisciplinary research and education in design, computer science, and behavioral and social sciences. We research how people work, play and communicate within groups, organizations, and social structures, then we design, create, and evaluate technologies and tools to support human and social activities.

We are looking for a UX Designer Research Associate to help design and test a web-based application to engage diverse people in learning about and combating the harmful biases exhibited in Generative AI. This research project aims to maximize the power of everyday users to audit generative AI systems, with a focus on text-to-image models.

Core responsibilities include:

• Designing a web-based application to support a diverse group of people in auditing potential harmful behaviors exhibited in text-to-image models, and conducting both informal and formal user studies to evaluate the effectiveness of the site.
• Conducting and leading user studies
• Design work with Figma
• Wireframes, mock-ups and prototyping
• Heuristic evaluation

Flexibility, excellence, and passion are vital qualities within the School of Computer Science Research Department. Inclusion, collaboration and cultural sensitivity are valued competencies at CMU. Therefore, we are in search of a team member who is able to effectively interact with a varied population of internal and external partners at a high level of integrity. We are looking for someone who shares our values and who will support the mission of the university through their work.

You should demonstrate:

• Knowledge and experience in UX design.
• Knowledge in conducting user studies.
• Knowledge in crowdsourcing and behavioral science.

Qualifications:

• High School Diploma/GED
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction or Design.
• Experience in paper prototyping, heuristic evaluation and conducting user studies.
• Experience with Figma and PowerPoint.
• A combination of education and relevant experience from which comparable knowledge is demonstrated may be considered.

Requirements

• Successful background investigation

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