UX Researcher Intern

Who we are

SubjectToClimate (StC) is a nonprofit online connector for teachers of all subjects and grade levels to find credible, unbiased, and engaging materials on climate change. Learn more about us here.

Why we need you

We know teachers are leaders for climate change. The Teacher Taskforce works at the heart of what we do: to build a platform by teachers, for teachers.

• Hours / Week: 10-15 hrs per week
• Position Description: 
  • Design and conduct research studies  
  • Recruit participants for usability testing, interviews, surveys, and other research activities. 
  • Create and present User Feedback Reports to the organization
  • Collaborate with UX designers and product managers, to integrate research findings in low fidelity designs and prototypes

• Qualifications: 
  • Pursuing or recently completed a degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Psychology, Cognitive Science, Design, Information Science, or a related field.
  • Familiarity with fundamental concepts of user experience design and usability.
  • Understanding of basic research methodologies, both qualitative and quantitative.
  • Experience conducting  user interviews, surveys, and usability tests.
  • Experience analyzing and interpreting data to draw meaningful insights, and present findings.
  • Strong verbal and written communication skills.
  • Ability to work effectively in a team, collaborating with designers, developers, and other stakeholders
  • A user-centric mindset and the ability to empathize with users to understand their needs and pain points.
  • Good organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple tasks efficiently. 
  • Proactive attitude and a willingness to take on responsibilities and contribute to the team.
  • Be flexible and willing to take on new challenges as the needs of the team evolve

Work sample Submissions (must be submitted with resume):

To apply, please submit the following by Monday, January 1st. Please complete the following tasks and share it with us on a Google Doc/Word document and include the link with your resume submission:

Full instructions with graphics etc. can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vElgJwY3WyRCi-SOoI56l0CfqO-pAOGMakN8jaZ_184/edit?usp=sharing

Task #1: Build a User Feedback Report 

Build a User Feedback Report. How would you summarize the findings in a report to send out to our organization? We send out a user feedback report to our organization once a month with the data that we gathered from users. Here is some data that we collected

• Data 1: How satisfied are you with our website?
  • 58% of users were very satisfied at a 5 rating which was higher than last month
  • 23% answered at a 4 which was lower than last year
  • 10% were not satisfied at all, at a 1 rating which is higher than last month of 8%
• Data 2: Did you find what you need?
  • We received a total of 114 responses to our survey in the last month The feedback we received was generally positive, with 61% of the users responding yes and 39% of the users responding no. 
  • Last month 80% of the users responded yes, so we had a decrease
• Data 3: Positive Feedback from Users
  • “I think it has accurate and good information”
  • “I admire and support the work you are doing of bringing climate, justice and related learning resources into the public sphere for access by educators. I belong to a group in Ontario that promotes inclusion of these topics in public education, both through curriculum reform (with teacher training) and through assisting educators who are seeking resources for their own individual programs. I’m grateful for your awesome work in providing such resources!”
  • “Wide variety of articles suitable for my classroom”
  • “Photos, information, and easy way to look for the facts and latest discoveries”
  • “There are new elementary grade resources”
• Data 4: Negative Feedback from Users 
  • Missing Resources
    • There are no articles about computer science or coding
    • Music resources
    • Earth and space science
    • Live news
    • More visible thinking routines
  • “There are resource where no author is shown”
  • “Cannot find the newsletter”
• Data 5: Heatmap of the most interacted places for the NJ State Hub
  • Check out the site here for help
  •  

Task #2:  Draft a user research proposal to help us understand the hopes and needs of stakeholders who are interested in a state hub. See the research objectives, hypotheses, and target audience listed below. You may lean on the job description or your own ideas to structure the proposal! This proposal should outline:

• Research methods: What research method(s) would you implement to test the objectives and assumptions listed below? Why? 
• Outreach plan: Who will you conduct research with? How would you reach them?
• Synthesis: How would you synthesize the research findings to insights? What will you do with those insights? 
• Additional ideas: Anything else you would include in the research proposal? Tell us more. 

Research Objectives: 

1. To understand what client/stakeholders need from a state hub and 
2. the pain points client/stakeholders experience with implementing climate education statewide 
3. to improve the user experience with state hubs and increase implementation of climate education across classrooms

Hypotheses/Assumptions: 

• Client/stakeholders want a hub to direct teachers to for quality resources 
• Client/stakeholders want a central place to communicate updates about climate education in their state with their teachers 
• Teachers need more help around implementing climate education even with a state hub available 

Target audience: 

• People expressing interest in creating a state hub (client perspective)
• Teachers in that state needing or wanting to implement climate education (user perspective) 

What We Offer

Not only will you be part of an inspiring group of people from all over the U.S. and abroad, but we also offer: 

• Flexible work schedule 
• Training and support to develop skills that will enhance your resume 

If you are a dedicated individual with a passion for making a positive impact on our environment and are eager to contribute to the fight against climate change, and interested in adding a few hours a week (about 15) to the work you already do at STC, we encourage you to apply.