UX Designer – FairVentures Innovation Lab

If you’re interested, share your resume and portfolio with Adam Euerby, Sr Product Designer, at the Lab: aeuerby@fairventures.ca

User Experience Designer

Are you a UX designer early in your career looking for experience in a number of industries and projects? Interested the early inception stages of the product lifecycle? At FairVentures Lab, we’re looking for a UX Designer to help us work with Fairfax companies spanning insurance, restaurants, and retail industries to explore new markets and create innovative digital products and services. In the position, you’ll help with doing UX research to explore market and customer opportunities, rapid prototyping for mobile and other digital channels, and visual design for clear and realistic presentation of design concepts to customers and stakeholders. You would also contribute to the FairVentures Innovation Lab research agenda, exploring new digital experience channels and techniques including VR, AR, voice, chatbot, using applications of data analytics, behavioural economics, game design, and persuasive design.

FairVentures Innovation Lab is the innovation initiative of Prem Watsa’s Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. We’re a diverse and experienced team of passionate technologists in the areas of product, design, data, startup investment, and software development. We research, develop, partner and invest in innovative solutions to support the Fairfax family of companies. We’re centrally located in Downtown Kitchener in one of the largest corporate innovation spaces of the Communitech Hub. The beautifully retrofitted heritage tannery building has full kitchens with espresso machines, a fitness center, an indoor basketball court, games room, private showers, and a patio with BBQs; all in proximity to the buzz of over 100 start-ups within the local incubation programs.

Come join us in this exciting opportunity to help shape the future of world-class Canadian company operating on the global stage. For more information on Fairfax Financial Holdings please visit www.fairfax.ca

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

• Quick learners with a creative and analytical mindset.
• Systems thinkers who are always looking for new ways to frame problems and design solutions.
• Motivated team players who are capable of owning and driving assignments.
• Desire to explore new technologies, methodologies, and tools.
• Entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to explore the unknown.

RESPONSIBILITIES WILL INCLUDE:

Interaction Design

• Design prototypes for web, mobile, chatbot, data visualization, and other digital applications based on input from user research, design sprints, and other requirements sources.
• Create mockups, workflows, conceptual models, and other design documentation to communicate design concepts to the Lab team and Fairfax stakeholders.
• Elicit feedback on design concepts to drive iteration and refinement of design concepts.

User Research and User Testing

• Recruit participants from sources such as Fairfax companies, local sources, and agencies.
• Plan research activities including objectives, research questions, hypotheses, methods, interview scripts, and surveys questions.
• Coordinate interviews such as participant scheduling; remote calling; prototype set-up and instructions; notetaking; and other tasks required of those attending the interview.
• Analyze data (notes, photos, videos, etc.) for patterns to develop user personas, context scenarios, and other user and context models.
• Communicate findings and implications from user research with Lab team and Fairfax stakeholders.

Visual Design

• Clear and realistic presentation of design concepts to customers and stakeholders.
• Design with a consistent look and feel that conveys a believable brand concept.

Research and Lab Support

• Create visuals such as diagrams, infographics, logos, presentation slides to support the Lab’s outreach and communications to Fairfax companies.
• Research in UX issues of emerging technology (ex. AI, voice UI, chatbots, AR, VR, Game-based design, advanced web technologies).
• General UX support (FV website, presentation visuals, newsletter contributions, etc.).

QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS, & OTHER REQUIREMENTS:

• Portfolio of work that demonstrates your approach to solving user experience design problems.
• Product design experience preferably within a software, hardware, and/or start-up environment.
• Proficiency with design and prototyping tools such as Sketch, Figma, Photoshop, Illustrator, Balsamiq, Axure, Framer, Principle, etc.
• Experience with responsive web and mobile design.
• Experience conducting primary research including user research interviews and user testing.
• Comfortable facilitating or supporting the facilitation of design-related workshops.
• Excellent visual communication skills including whiteboard sketching, presentations slides, diagrams, etc.
• Excellent communication skills (spoken and written).
• Working knowledge of the Microsoft Office and Google Products.
• Familiarity with software development processes, Agile and Lean methodologies is an asset.
• Experience working a UX designer on an agile development team.
• Front-end development experience not required, but an asset.