UX Researcher

About the role

We are hiring our first UX Researcher to join our product design team focused on Vehicle OS and in‑vehicle experiences. This is an early‑career role for someone with a strong academic foundation in Human‑Computer Interaction who wants to own the full UX research lifecycle in a fast‑paced, highly technical environment. You will partner closely with interaction designers, product managers, and engineers to define problems, run user studies, and make our complex automotive workflows intuitive and safe.

In this role, you will spend time in the field with our customers, run evaluative user tests on our UI, and synthesize insights that directly shape our roadmap. You will be a key voice of the customer inside the Vehicle OS organization and help us navigate standards, safety, and usability constraints for production automotive software.

At Applied Intuition, you will:

• Work with product and design partners to clarify problem statements, define research questions, and scope research plans for Vehicle OS and in‑vehicle features.
• Design and execute user studies end‑to‑end, including participant selection, protocol design, moderation, note‑taking, and synthesis.
• Run usability tests on interaction designs and UI flows (both in‑lab and in‑field) to validate concepts quickly and inform iteration.
• Conduct contextual and field research with automotive customers and end users, including observing workflows and capturing qualitative insights.
• Translate research findings into clear narratives, artifacts, and recommendations that influence product decisions and design direction.
• Collaborate with designers who are focused on interaction design to ensure research questions are tightly connected to design hypotheses.
• Incorporate constraints such as automotive ISO and safety standards into research questions and recommendations in partnership with engineering and compliance stakeholders.
• Build lightweight, repeatable research practices for the product design team (templates, checklists, repositories of findings).
• Advocate for the customer in discussions about scope, prioritization, and trade‑offs, balancing insight quality with speed.
• Continuously refine your toolkit of qualitative and quantitative methods to match the pace and needs of our teams.

We're looking for someone who has:

• A master’s degree in Human‑Computer Interaction, Human Factors, Cognitive Psychology, or a related field.
• 4+ years of industry experience in UX research, interaction design, or a closely related discipline (internships and co‑ops count).
• Experience planning and running user research studies (e.g., usability testing, interviews, concept tests) end‑to‑end.
• Strong interaction design literacy and a genuine interest in complex user workflows, even if you are not the primary UI owner.
• Excellent listening and note‑taking skills, with the ability to capture and organize qualitative insights clearly.
• Comfort working in a fast‑paced, ambiguous environment where speed and iteration are critical.
• Strong communication skills, including the ability to present findings and advocate for user needs to cross‑functional partners.

Nice to have:

• Experience working on automotive, mobility, or other highly regulated or safety‑critical products.
• Familiarity with automotive UI patterns, in‑vehicle HMI, or infotainment systems.
• Exposure to ISO or other relevant safety/usability standards in transportation or hardware‑centric products.
• Experience collaborating with academic or external research partners.
• Prior work conducting field research or ethnographic studies with professional users.

Compensation at Applied Intuition for eligible roles includes base salary, equity, and benefits. Base salary is a single component of the total compensation package, which may also include equity in the form of options and/or restricted stock units, comprehensive health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance coverage, 401(k) retirement benefits with employer match, learning and wellness stipends, and paid time off. Note that benefits are subject to change and may vary based on jurisdiction of employment. Applied Intuition pay ranges reflect the minimum and maximum intended target base salary for new hire salaries for the position, and the actual base salary offered will depend on factors including experience, credentials, education, skill requirements, interview performance, and scope of the position.

For pay transparency purposes, the base salary range for this full-time position in the location listed is: $91,000 - $141,000 USD annually.

Don’t meet every single requirement? If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Applied Intuition is an equal opportunity employer and federal contractor or subcontractor. Consequently, the parties agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-1.4(a), 41 CFR 60-300.5(a) and 41 CFR 60-741.5(a) and that these laws are incorporated herein by reference. These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities, and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin. These regulations require that covered prime contractors and subcontractors take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status or disability. The parties also agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of Executive Order 13496 (29 CFR Part 471, Appendix A to Subpart A), relating to the notice of employee rights under federal labor laws.