UX designer
Long term contract
Baltimore MD
The Senior Human-Centered Design (HCD) / UX and Service Design Specialist will provide strategic and hands-on expertise in applying human-centered design principles and industry best practices to improve the end-to-end experience of individuals and organizations interacting with state government services.
The individual will serve as an advocate for user needs and lead collaborative design and research activities across multiple state agencies and programs. This role will work closely with agency leadership, program managers, business analysts, product managers, designers, researchers, content strategists, and technical development teams to understand customer needs, identify service delivery challenges, and develop effective, accessible, and user-centered solutions.
The specialist will facilitate stakeholder engagement, lead user research and discovery activities, map complex service ecosystems, and translate research findings into actionable design recommendations. The role will also guide cross-functional teams in developing user-centered solutions, establishing measurable experience and performance metrics, evaluating outcomes, and continuously improving the usability, accessibility, and effectiveness of state services and technology platforms.
- Duties and Responsibilities
The selected candidate will be responsible for, but not limited to, the following:
- User Research and Discovery: Plan, design, and conduct qualitative and quantitative user research activities, including stakeholder interviews, contextual inquiries, surveys, usability testing, and other research methodologies involving state employees, healthcare providers, and members of the public.
- Service Design and Journey Mapping: Analyze complex service delivery environments and develop current-state and future-state customer journey maps, service blueprints, and process flows to identify operational inefficiencies, service gaps, user pain points, and opportunities for cross-agency process improvement.
- Workshop Facilitation and Stakeholder Engagement: Plan, facilitate, and lead interactive discovery workshops, design-thinking sessions, stakeholder meetings, and co-design activities with agency leadership, program stakeholders, business teams, and technical personnel to identify business needs, gather user feedback, and align program objectives with customer expectations.
- UX Design and Prototyping: Develop and maintain user experience deliverables, including personas, user flows, information architecture, site maps, wireframes, interactive prototypes, and high-fidelity interface designs for enterprise applications, case management systems, healthcare platforms, provider-facing applications, and public-facing digital services.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate with product managers, business analysts, solution architects, developers, and Agile delivery teams to translate user research and business requirements into functional design solutions and ensure that implemented solutions align with human-centered design principles and user expectations.
- Accessibility and Usability: Ensure that proposed designs and digital solutions incorporate accessibility, usability, and inclusive design best practices, including applicable Section 508 requirements and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
- Performance Measurement and Continuous Improvement: Partner with project and program leadership to define user experience performance indicators, establish measurable success criteria, conduct post-implementation evaluations, and recommend iterative improvements to enhance customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, and program performance.
- Research Synthesis and Communication: Analyze and synthesize research findings into actionable insights and communicate recommendations through appropriate artifacts, including research reports, personas, journey maps, service blueprints, wireframes, prototypes, and stakeholder presentations.
- HCD Advocacy and Organizational Enablement: Promote the adoption of human-centered design methodologies across state agencies and project teams by providing design guidance, facilitating knowledge sharing, and supporting the integration of user-centered practices throughout the project lifecycle.
- Minimum Education Requirements
A Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), User Experience Design, Interaction Design, Information Systems, Design, Psychology, Human Factors, or a related field is preferred.
Five (5) years of equivalent professional experience in a related field may be substituted for the Bachelor's degree.
- Minimum General Experience Requirements
The proposed candidate must possess a minimum of five (5) years of professional experience in User Experience (UX) Design, Human-Centered Design (HCD), Service Design, Interaction Design, or a closely related discipline.
The candidate must demonstrate experience applying user-centered design methodologies to complex business processes, enterprise applications, digital services, or technology modernization initiatives.
- Specialized Experience Requirements
The proposed candidate must demonstrate specialized experience in the following areas:
- Planning, organizing, and facilitating stakeholder workshops, discovery sessions, interviews, and other interactive engagements to gather feedback, identify customer needs, and understand operational requirements.
- Applying human-centered design and design-thinking methodologies to identify business challenges, assess existing processes, and develop user-centered solutions.
- Conducting user research and translating research findings into actionable design recommendations and functional requirements.
- Developing customer journey maps, process flows, service blueprints, wireframes, and prototypes to communicate current-state challenges and proposed future-state solutions.
- Working collaboratively with business and technical teams to ensure that user needs and design requirements are incorporated into solution development and implementation.
- Preferred Qualifications and Experience
The Following Qualifications And Experience Are Highly Preferred
- State Government Experience: Direct experience designing and implementing user-centered solutions within a state government environment, particularly in support of Major IT Development Projects (MITDPs), enterprise modernization initiatives, or multi-agency technology programs.
- Healthcare Technology Experience: Demonstrated experience designing user interfaces, workflows, and service blueprints for enterprise healthcare systems, including Health Data Systems, Immunization Information Systems (IIS), Electronic Health Record (EHR) integration solutions, and complex healthcare provider-facing applications.
- Enterprise Case Management and CRM Experience: Experience leading user research, journey mapping, workflow analysis, and interface design for enterprise Case Management or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms supporting healthcare, public health, social services, grant administration, or other government assistance programs.
- Cross-Agency Service Design: Proven ability to map and optimize end-to-end user journeys that span multiple organizations, departments, and business functions. Experience engaging diverse stakeholder groups and driving measurable improvements in customer experience and service delivery for high-volume public-facing or provider-facing applications.
- Figma and UX Design Tools: Advanced proficiency in Figma, including the development of design systems, reusable UI components, wireframes, high-fidelity prototypes, and collaborative design specifications and handoffs to engineering teams.
- Agile and Product Development: Experience working within Agile/Scrum environments and collaborating with product owners, product managers, business analysts, developers, and other technical stakeholders throughout the software development lifecycle.
- Accessibility and Inclusive Design: Practical experience applying Section 508 accessibility requirements, WCAG standards, usability principles, and inclusive design practices to enterprise and public-facing digital solutions.
- Key Deliverables
The individual may be expected to develop and deliver the following artifacts throughout the engagement:
- User research plans, interview guides, and research findings.
- Stakeholder engagement and workshop materials.
- Current-state and future-state customer journey maps.
- Service blueprints and cross-agency process maps.
- User personas and user profiles.
- User flows, information architecture, and site maps.
- Low-fidelity and high-fidelity wireframes.
- Interactive prototypes and UI/UX design specifications.
- Figma design systems and reusable UI components.
- Usability testing plans, findings, and recommendations.
- UX performance metrics and post-implementation assessment reports.
- Expected Outcomes
The Successful Candidate Will Contribute To The Following Outcomes
- Improved end-to-end customer experiences across state government programs and services.
- Increased alignment between user needs, business requirements, and technical solutions.
- Improved usability, accessibility, and adoption of enterprise applications and digital services.
- Identification and reduction of operational inefficiencies and service delivery gaps across agencies.
- Stronger collaboration and alignment among business, program, and technology stakeholders.
- Measurable improvements in customer satisfaction, service efficiency, and overall program performance.
