Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Usability Research Assistant

🎯 Role Definition

The Usability Research Assistant supports product and design teams by planning, executing, and synthesizing usability studies and user research activities. Working under a senior researcher or UX lead, the assistant manages participant recruitment, moderates or coordinates testing sessions, collects and catalogs qualitative and quantitative data, and produces actionable insights that inform user-centered product decisions. This role is ideal for early-career researchers or practitioners with hands-on testing experience, strong communication skills, and a passion for improving user experiences across web and mobile products.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

UX Research Intern or Research Coordinator
User Experience Designer (junior) transitioning into research
Psychology/Human-Computer Interaction research assistant roles

Advancement To:

UX / Usability Researcher
Senior Usability Researcher
Research Operations Manager
Product Designer with research specialization

Lateral Moves:

UX Designer (with emphasis on research-informed design)
Customer Insights Analyst
Accessibility Specialist

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Plan, prepare, and execute moderated and unmoderated usability tests across web and mobile platforms, including creating test plans, scenarios, scripts, and consent materials that align with study goals.
Recruit, screen, schedule, and manage research participants through panels and third-party recruiting platforms, ensuring diversity, inclusion, and representativeness aligned with study criteria and legal/privacy requirements.
Facilitate remote and in-person user interviews and usability sessions with professionalism, neutral probing, and effective time management to surface authentic user behaviors and pain points.
Observe and document user behavior in real time during sessions; capture rich qualitative data using note-taking, tagging, video clips, and timestamped observations to support rapid analysis.
Conduct heuristic evaluations and expert reviews of product flows, prototypes, and live experiences to identify usability gaps, cognitive friction, and accessibility issues.
Assist with designing and deploying unmoderated tests (e.g., first-click testing, tree testing, card sorting, preference tests) using tools like Optimal Workshop, UserTesting, or similar platforms.
Administer quantitative usability metrics (task success, time-on-task, error rates, SUS scores) and help calculate, visualize, and interpret these measures for stakeholder consumption.
Transcribe and code interview recordings and usability session artifacts; develop initial thematic frameworks and affinity maps to surface patterns and user needs.
Synthesize qualitative and quantitative findings into clear, concise reports and slide decks with evidence-backed recommendations, prioritized usability fixes, and design implications.
Create and maintain research artifacts such as personas, journey maps, usability issue logs, and annotated recordings that inform product and design roadmaps.
Assist in prototype testing by setting up interactive prototypes, coordinating prototype updates with designers, and validating interaction changes with users.
Support accessibility and inclusive design testing by recruiting participants with diverse abilities, documenting accessibility barriers, and suggesting remediation approaches with designers and engineers.
Manage research operations tasks including scheduling, incentive distribution, consent forms, moderation scripts, and data storage in accordance with company policies and GDPR/COPA where applicable.
Maintain and update the research repository and tagging conventions (Dovetail, Notion, Confluence, Google Drive) to ensure findings are discoverable and reusable across teams.
Collaborate closely with product managers, UX designers, content strategists, and engineers to translate research insights into prioritized, measurable product improvements.
Run lightweight exploratory studies and rapid validation sessions ( guerilla testing ) to quickly iterate on concepts and reduce time-to-feedback for high-priority features.
Support mixed-methods research by combining qualitative interviews with basic survey design and analysis (Likert scales, open responses) to validate hypotheses at scale.
Create reproducible study artifacts and documentation (recruitment screener templates, moderation guides, analysis templates) to streamline repeated or parallel research efforts.
Monitor and report key usability trends and competitive user experience benchmarks to inform strategic product decisions and identify long-term UX debt.
Contribute to stakeholder workshops and synthesis sessions; facilitate affinity mapping, dot-voting, and co-creation activities to build alignment and prioritize solutions.
Ensure research ethics and participant confidentiality during data collection, storage, and reporting; prepare redacted artifacts when required for cross-functional consumption.
Support onboarding and mentoring of interns or new research assistants by sharing workflows, best practices, and tooling knowledge for consistent study quality.

Secondary Functions

Maintain participant databases, incentive tracking, and scheduling logistics to ensure high response rates and positive participant experiences.
Build and refine research recruitment screener templates and consent language that meet legal and organizational privacy requirements.
Assist product and design teams with quick usability checks during design critiques and weekly standups to prevent late-stage usability regressions.
Support A/B/n test hypotheses by providing qualitative context around quantitative experiment results and suggesting follow-up studies.
Help maintain and improve research tooling, integrations, and templates (moderation scripts, analysis workbooks, recording configurations).
Monitor user feedback channels (in-app feedback, support tickets, app store reviews) and triage usability-relevant issues for research follow-up.
Cultivate relationships with external participant panels, universities, and community organizations to diversify recruitment pipelines.
Contribute to continuous improvement of research processes by proposing scalable playbooks for common study types and stakeholder request flows.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Proficient in planning and conducting moderated and unmoderated usability tests, including writing test scripts and tasks that minimize bias.
Experience with participant recruitment and scheduling workflows; familiar with screener creation and incentive management.
Strong qualitative research skills: conducting user interviews, affinity mapping, thematic coding, and narrative synthesis.
Familiarity with quantitative usability measures and basic statistics: task success rates, time-on-task, SUS, simple hypothesis testing and interpretation.
Practical knowledge of common UX research and usability tools: Optimal Workshop, UserTesting, Lookback, UserZoom, Hotjar, FullStory, or similar platforms.
Experience with analysis and reporting tools: Dovetail, Airtable, Notion, Google Sheets/Excel, and slide authoring (Google Slides or PowerPoint).
Ability to set up and test interactive prototypes in Figma, InVision, Proto.io, or similar prototyping tools for usability sessions.
Basic accessibility testing knowledge and familiarity with WCAG principles and assistive technologies (screen readers, keyboard navigation).
Experience recording, editing, and clipping session videos for stakeholder highlights; basic audio/video tooling competence.
Familiarity with survey design and analytics tools (Typeform, SurveyMonkey, Qualtrics) to collect quantifiable user feedback.
Comfortable working with research repositories and knowledge management systems to tag, index, and retrieve insights.
Basic scripting or automation skills (Google Apps Script, Zapier) a plus for streamlining scheduling and data collection workflows.

Soft Skills

Exceptional verbal and written communication skills with the ability to distill complex findings into clear, actionable recommendations.
Strong empathy for users, curiosity, and bias-awareness when interacting with participants and interpreting results.
Highly organized with strong attention to detail, capable of managing multiple concurrent studies and timelines.
Collaborative mindset to work closely with designers, product managers, engineers, and stakeholders across disciplines.
Comfortable facilitating workshops, synthesis sessions, and remote collaboration activities.
Problem-solving orientation with the ability to prioritize high-impact research questions and propose pragmatic next steps.
Adaptability to shifting priorities and the ability to run rapid, lean studies when timelines are compressed.
Professionalism and ethical sensitivity when handling participant data, consent, and confidentiality.
Time management skills to balance recruitment, moderation, analysis, and reporting responsibilities efficiently.
Ability to present research findings persuasively to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Psychology, Cognitive Science, Anthropology, Information Science, Industrial Design, or related field.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree in HCI, Human Factors, UX Research, Cognitive Psychology, or a closely related discipline.
Coursework or certification in usability testing, UX research methods, or research ethics.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
Cognitive Psychology
Human Factors / Ergonomics
Anthropology or Sociology (qualitative methods)
Information Science / Library Science
Interaction Design or Product Design

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 0–3 years of professional or internship experience in UX/usability research, user testing, or related roles. Entry-level candidates with strong academic projects, internships, or research assistant experience are encouraged to apply.

Preferred:

1–2 years supporting user research activities, including moderating sessions, recruiting participants, and producing research artifacts.
Demonstrable portfolio or case studies showcasing usability tests, interview guides, analysis samples, and actionable outcomes.
Experience working in cross-functional product teams and contributing directly to product or design decisions.
Prior exposure to accessibility testing, mixed-methods research, and basic quantitative analysis is a strong advantage.