Senior User Experience Researcher (Innovation)

Why PlayStation?

PlayStation isn’t just the Best Place to Play — it’s also the Best Place to Work. Today, we’re recognized as a global leader in entertainment producing The PlayStation family of products and services including PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, PlayStation®VR, PlayStation®Plus, acclaimed PlayStation software titles from PlayStation Studios, and more.

PlayStation also strives to create an inclusive environment that empowers employees and embraces diversity. We welcome and encourage everyone who has a passion and curiosity for innovation, technology, and play to explore our open positions and join our growing global team.

The PlayStation brand falls under Sony Interactive Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation.

Senior User Experience Researcher (Innovation)

San Francisco/Los Angeles/San Diego

This is a fantastic opportunity to join the PlayStation Platform Experience Research Team. We are seeking an exceptional Senior Researcher (innovation). You’ll join a unique team that is tasked to explore new ways to transform and diversify our business into new areas with a focus on new customers needing new solutions, while remaining true to PlayStation’s central mission. In this role, you will be responsible for leading research geared towards innovation, driving the human-centered approaches to exploration, discovery, and invention. You let your passion shine by consistently advocating for user needs & insights. You will be responsible for creating and driving a research roadmap for innovative ideas, products & services as part of the broader innovation portfolio, in collaboration with designers, product managers, engineering, and other team members.

As an ideal candidate you have a strong background in human-centered research, a keen interest in emerging technologies and trends, and a passion for fostering a culture of innovation. You are proficient in strategic research (quantitative & qualitative), design research, concept validation, and user testing.

Responsibilities:

• Lead end-to-end research efforts, from user research, to concept validation, to usability testing of early concepts and top of the funnel ideas.
• Supervise research in the exploration and evaluation of new ideas, technologies, and trends relevant to the company's products and services.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including designers, developers, and product managers, to ensure alignment to and understanding of research insights.
• Analyze and synthesize quantitative and qualitative data to derive practical insights and recommendations toward innovative solutions.
• Assess the potential impact and viability of new technologies, products, or services, and present findings to collaborators in a concise and compelling manner.
• Help develop and apply research methodologies, from market and competitive analysis to trend forecasting, helping inform idea incubation and acceleration.
• Collaborate with peers from UX Research, Consumer Insights, Product Analytics, and Business Intelligence.
• Act as a mentor to junior researchers. Push them toward innovative and creative thinking when approaching research challenges.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in a relevant field, such as Human-Computer Interaction, Human-Centered Design, Anthropology, Cognitive Science, or Psychology. PhD a plus.
• 4+ years of proven experience in UX Research, Product research, Design Research, or related fields.
• Proven track record of driving innovative solutions and delivering impactful results.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills, with the ability to make data-driven decisions.
• A robust understanding of industry-standard UX research methods including ethnographic methods (e.g., in-depth interview, group interviews), evaluative methods (e.g., concept testing, in-lab/remote usability testing, tree testing, etc.), and quantitative methods (surveys, behavioral analytics, etc.).
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate complex ideas and insights to diverse audiences.
• An entrepreneurial approach and a passion for driving innovation in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
• Experience working within a technical (preferably agile) environment and prototyping.
• Prior experience working at a startup, innovation lab, creative agency, or related, a plus
• Understanding of market research, and product analytics methods and tools.

If you are a highly motivated, curious, creative, and result oriented researcher with a passion for experimentation, and human-centered innovation, we would love to hear from you. Apply now to join our team