Adjunct Faculty: Contextual Research

  • Job Title: Graduate Professional Studies, Adjunct Faculty
  • Course: Contextual Research
  • Division: Rabb School, Graduate Professional Studies (GPS)
  • Location: Online

Brandeis University’s Graduate Professional Studies (GPS) is looking for an industry leader to teach in our Master of Science in User-Centered Design. Brandeis University is consistently ranked among the nation’s top universities, and our online courses are developed using best practices in online learning. Information about Brandeis University and Graduate Professional Studies Graduate Professional Studies can be found online.

About the Position and Course

RUCD 290: Contextual Research

Contextual research involves observing customer behavior in a real-world context, and often provides richer insights into user goals, needs, and challenges than more structured UX research approaches. It owes its origins to ethnography, but has been adapted to inform product and service design. It is a demanding method, requiring advanced mastery of facilitation and qualitative analysis skills. This course will introduce key contextual research methods including field research, diary studies, and contextual interviews. Additionally, students will practice observation, analysis, and journey mapping by planning and conducting their own field research project.

Qualifications

Qualified candidates will have Subject Matter Qualifications in the following areas.

  • Required:
    • Current active employment in the Human Factors, HCI, User Experience field or related industry.
    • Masters in Human Factors, HCI, User Experience, or related discipline.
    • 5+ years of experience in user research roles.
    • Applied knowledge of moderated user research methodologies, including contextual research and usability testing.
    • Experience leading user research projects.
    • Extensive experience designing visual dashboards, graphs, and other data-driven information visualizations.
    • Grounding in statistics and data analysis.
  • Preferred:
    • Experience with both formal and lean or rapid user research processes.
    • Experience conducting in-person, remote, and unmoderated research.
    • Experience with quantitative UX methods (i.e. surveys and analytics)
    • Experience with design of social interfaces, gamification, and/or behavior change.
    • Experience in analytics or “big data.”
    • Experience with responsive and/or multi-device design.

About the Master of User-Centered Design

The 100% online curriculum is carefully designed to strike a balance of theory and practice in applying psychological principles and user research to create useful, delightful, and innovative user experiences. Explore the latest design and development processes as you build the management and collaboration skills essential for effective UX leadership.

All GPS Masters courses are 10-weeks long and taught asynchronously in the online learning environment with no set days or times for interaction.

About GPS Faculty

GPS Faculty instructors are active practitioners in the industries that align with our programs and have the professional expertise to bring to course discussions and threads. Instructors are part time and work fully online, with no requirement to appear on campus. Our faculty have earned at least a master's degree with many holding terminal academic degrees and industry-specific credentials. Previous experience teaching online is not required; GPS offers a comprehensive training program for qualified applicants.

How to Apply

GPS welcomes applications for its adjunct faculty pool on an ongoing basis. The application process consists of the online application and, if subject matter qualifications are met, a series of interviews at the discretion of the Program Chair and Director of Program Development. Please email us to start the process at gpsfaculty@brandeis.edu.