Job Opportunity for Design Researcher – North East Region at CivicDataLab in Guwahati

About CivicDataLab

CivicDataLab (CDL) is a private research lab working at the intersection of data, tech, design and social science to strengthen access to public information and improve citizen participation in governance in India. CDL works to harness the potential of open knowledge movements and better enable citizens to engage in matters of public reform. 

We work closely with governments, non-profits, think tanks, media houses, universities, and other actors; to grow their data and tech capacity to enable data-driven decision-making at scale.

Job Description

We are looking for a full time Design Researcher stationed in and around Guwahati to work for our Northeast regions. We would like someone to join the multi-faceted project team at CivicDataLab to engage with the project’s specific to these geographies.

As part of the design team, you’ll tackle complex, civic challenges alongside other researchers, creators and thinkers from different backgrounds. We work on various Civic Tech issues and develop, deploy and implement these digital tools, which will be open source and available for any to use.

A successful candidate will be an organized go-getter with experience in developing key insights about diverse audiences and able to do segmentation by needs. As part of the project, you will undertake qualitative and quantitative research to better understand the context, and the user relationship with the various factors that influence the usage/consumption of data. You are a quick learner, enthusiastic, detail-oriented and collaborative—ready to dive in and join a team that’s helping to bring data, tech and design to address one of the world’s largest democracy, India’s, unique challenges.

We are looking for people who are strongly aligned with our values and have an innate sense of problem-solving, architecting solutions, and adapt well to dynamic environments. They will work alongside data strategists, technologists, public policy researchers, and other stakeholders to develop platforms that help citizens participate and engage in discussions and assist policy-makers and researchers in working with open datasets.​

What You’ll be Doing

• Conduct a content review of reports and experiments undertaken by various experts in the sector—to come to a point of view around what we know and where we still have questions.
• Structure research and lead the internal and partner teams through fieldwork, analysis of findings and insight development.
• Connect insights to design and collaborate with teammates to help create open source digital tools.
• Create deliverables, reports, presentations, and/or videos to document and bring to life insights in an engaging and inspiring way

​Requirements

Skill Sets required

• Qualitative and quantitative analysis
• User research methods and practices
• Field Research
• Contextual understanding
• Information Architecture
• Usability testing
• Documentation
• UIUX auditing
• If the candidate can speak Assamese or any other local language it will be a plus.

** We require you to submit your portfolio and resume along with your application.

​Skills you should have

• A minimum of 1 to 2 years of qualitative research experience with a proven ability to scope research, conduct interviews, perform desk research, lead synthesis and communicate findings to stakeholders
• Ability to synthesize research findings and to uncover and articulate insights that will inform and inspire design
• Experience with product design principles , UI/UX design, previous experience in building digital platforms
• Good and clear communication and storytelling skills; fluency and confidence in inspiring teammates and partners with user-driven stories.
• Highly process oriented skill which will benefit other team members to envisage the solution and take it further.
• Ability to work flexibly, efficiently and remotely exercising a balance between research and speed; we are looking for people who can maintain a high degree of rigor throughout, but who also experiment in their approach and methodology.
• Ability to actively engage with multiple stakeholders (like governments, civil society organizations, researchers, media and more) using technology and digital methods to uncover needs (e.g.: experience conducting online interviews, implementing remote user studies, collaborating with developers to build web or digital prototypes to gather feedback, etc.).
• Ability to work in the field and ready to travel to engage with various stakeholders and gather insightful information
• Ability to understand and visualize the transition of information from field to final solutions.
• Blogging/ podcasting or any other medium to document and communicate your design thinking and process is a big plus.
• You love working on teams and share a passion for design and our mission to spread design throughout the social sector.

Benefits

Why work with us?

We help you not just define your ‘impact’ but also work with you towards finding a path to learn, realize and quantify its effect on our ecosystem.

Our past work and experience of working with communities and civic tech, in general, has connected us as a branch to a network of civil society actors and organizations. You’ll have the opportunity to leverage this network, to work on pressing, yet thought-provoking issues, in sectors like Judiciary, Public Finance, Economics, Public Education and Urban Development.

We also feel that this is our biggest strength, what we can offer you is not a feature to work on but a passage to an infinitely long road of people, problems, ideas and opportunities that may help you find your place amidst the chaos.

How we work

At CivicDataLab, people work from their individual locations, being proactive in communication is the key. We use open-source tools and agile methodologies in organizing our work. We meet once every quarter in some part of the country to reconvene, learn from each other and help the organization grow.