📍 Job Overview
Job Title: Design Researcher
Company: Fractal Analytics
Location: Mumbai / Bengaluru, India
Job Type: FULL_TIME
Category: Design Research / User Experience (UX) Research
Date Posted: 2025-06-13T00:00:00
Experience Level: 2-5 years
Remote Status: On-site
🎨 Role Summary
- Play a key role in building deep empathy with users and uncovering unmet needs through comprehensive design research methodologies.
- Translate complex research insights into actionable opportunities and design recommendations that drive user-centered solutions.
- Conduct the full design research process, from strategic planning and discovery to synthesis, insight generation, and documentation.
- Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including interaction designers, data scientists, and engineers, ensuring seamless integration of user insights across all project workstreams.
🖼️ Primary Responsibilities
- Develop and articulate comprehensive design research plans, methodologies, and tools tailored to specific project needs and business objectives.
- Conduct primary design research, including in-depth user interviews, qualitative studies, ethnographic research, and field research to gather rich user data.
- Perform secondary research and competitive analysis to understand the existing landscape and identify relevant design insights.
- Synthesize complex research findings into clear, concise insights, actionable frameworks, and compelling narratives that resonate with stakeholders.
- Translate design research insights into practical design recommendations in close collaboration with UX/UI designers, product managers, and other stakeholders.
- Transform insights from research into user journeys, personas, empathy maps, and low-fidelity wireframes that clearly articulate user needs and inform seamless user experiences.
- Manage design research logistics, including coordination with external agencies, participant recruitment, scheduling, and ethical considerations.
- Advocate for the user’s voice and needs throughout the entire project lifecycle, ensuring that user insights remain central to design decisions and development priorities.
- Leverage technical fluency to understand data and AI ecosystems and align design research outcomes within this context, especially given Fractal's focus on AI.
- Present research findings and insights to cross-functional teams and leadership through compelling storytelling and clear visualizations.
🎓 Skills & Qualifications
Education: A Bachelor's or Master's degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Psychology, Anthropology, Sociology, or a related field is typically preferred, although equivalent practical experience in design research is often accepted.
Experience: 2-5 years of demonstrated experience in design research, user experience research, ethnographic research, or a closely related field, with a portfolio showcasing research methodologies and impact on design outcomes.
Required Skills:
- Strong expertise and practical experience in applying a wide range of qualitative design research methodologies (e.g., in-depth interviews, contextual inquiry, ethnographic studies, usability testing).
- Demonstrated experience and understanding of quantitative research methodologies (e.g., surveys, data analysis, A/B testing interpretation) to complement qualitative insights.
- Proven ability to conduct user interviews, field studies, and interactive workshops effectively to gather valuable user data.
- Exceptional ability to synthesize complex research findings from various sources into clear, actionable insights, frameworks, and compelling narratives.
- Strong storytelling and communication skills to effectively articulate research outcomes and their implications to diverse audiences, including designers, engineers, and business stakeholders.
- Experience collaborating effectively with cross-functional teams, including design, data science, product management, and engineering.
- Proficiency in developing comprehensive design research plans, discussion guides, and recruitment screeners.
- Understanding of how to translate user insights into tangible design recommendations and collaborate with designers on ideation.
Preferred Skills:
- Experience working in an environment focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI), data analytics, or complex technical products.
- Familiarity with behavioral science principles and their application in design research.
- Experience with remote research methodologies and tools.
- Proficiency in using design and research tools for synthesis and analysis (e.g., Miro, FigJam, Dovetail, Mural).
- Ability to create basic user journeys, personas, and low-fidelity wireframes based on research findings.
🎨 Portfolio & Creative Requirements
Portfolio Essentials:
- Showcase 2-3 detailed case studies that highlight your end-to-end design research process, from initial problem framing and methodology selection to data collection, synthesis, and insight generation.
- Clearly articulate the research questions, objectives, and the chosen methodologies for each project, justifying your approach based on the research goals.
- Demonstrate your ability to synthesize complex qualitative and quantitative data into clear, actionable insights and frameworks.
- Illustrate how your research insights directly influenced design decisions, product strategy, or business outcomes, showing the impact of your work.
Process Documentation:
- Detail your approach to the research and discovery phases, including how you identified research gaps, planned studies, and recruited participants.
- Explain your methods for ideation and iteration based on research findings, potentially showing how insights led to specific design concepts or prototypes.
- Describe your approach to validation and testing, including how you conducted usability tests or other evaluative research methods to refine designs based on user feedback.
- Include examples of research artifacts such as interview guides, affinity maps, personas, user journey maps, or research reports.
💵 Compensation & Benefits
Salary Range: ₹8,00,000 - ₹15,00,000 LPA (Estimated). This estimate is based on typical salary ranges for Design Researcher roles with 2-5 years of experience in major Indian tech hubs like Mumbai and Bengaluru, considering the company's size, industry (AI/Analytics), and general market data for the region as of mid-2024. Actual compensation may vary based on experience, skills, and specific qualifications.
Benefits:
- Comprehensive health insurance coverage (medical, dental, vision) for you and your dependents.
- Provident Fund (PF) and other retirement savings plans as per Indian regulations.
- Paid time off, including sick leave, vacation days, and public holidays.
- Opportunities for professional development and continuous learning in design research and related fields.
- Potential for performance-based bonuses or incentives.
- Access to employee assistance programs and wellness initiatives.
Working Hours: Standard full-time working hours, typically 40 hours per week. While the core hours are standard, some flexibility may be possible depending on project needs and team arrangements, common in design roles that require collaboration across time zones or with external participants.
🎯Team & Company Context
🏢 Company & Design Culture
Industry: Business Consulting and Services, specifically focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Analytics for Fortune 500 companies. Fractal Experience is the design and behavior science unit, integrating human-centered design with data and AI.
Company Size: Over 5000 employees globally, with a significant presence in India. This indicates a large, established organization with structured processes but also potential for specialized teams like Fractal Experience to maintain a more focused or agile culture within the broader company.
Founded: 2000. With over two decades in operation, Fractal has a history of growth and adaptation in the data and AI space. The establishment of Fractal Experience highlights a strategic investment in design and human-centered approaches.
Team Structure:
- The Design Researcher role is part of Fractal Experience, a multi-disciplinary team including design researchers, strategists, behavior scientists, and UX/UI designers.
- Collaboration is emphasized across these disciplines and with data science and engineering teams, suggesting a highly integrated and cross-functional environment.
- The reporting structure likely involves reporting to a Design Research Lead or Manager within the Fractal Experience unit.
Methodology:
- Utilizes human-centered design principles, combining design thinking with behavior science and data.
- Employs a full-stack approach to deliver outcomes across the client value chain (Growth, Acceleration, Scale).
- Likely incorporates agile or lean methodologies for project execution, given the collaboration with engineering teams.
Company Website: https://fractal.ai
📈 Career & Growth Analysis
Design Career Level: This role appears to be at a mid-level Design Researcher position, suitable for someone with 2-5 years of experience looking to deepen their expertise in research methodologies and strategic insight generation within a complex domain like AI and analytics.
Reporting Structure: The role likely reports to a more senior Design Researcher, a Design Research Lead, or potentially a broader Design or UX Manager within the Fractal Experience team. This structure provides mentorship opportunities and a clear path for advancement within the research discipline.
Design Impact: Design Research at Fractal Experience seems to have a significant influence on product and business decisions by providing foundational user insights. The role's responsibility to translate insights into actionable opportunities and advocate for the user's voice indicates a strategic impact on the direction of projects.
Growth Opportunities:
- Advancement within the Design Research track to Senior Design Researcher, Lead Design Researcher, or Managerial roles, focusing on leading larger projects or teams.
- Opportunities to specialize in specific research methodologies, industries, or complex domains like AI and behavioral science.
- Potential to move into related roles within Fractal Experience, such as Design Strategist or contributing more heavily to the UX/UI design process based on research expertise.
🌐 Work Environment
Studio Type: Primarily office-based (On-site) in Mumbai or Bengaluru. This suggests a collaborative work environment where team members are expected to be physically present for daily interactions and project work. The offices are likely modern corporate spaces, designed to facilitate collaboration within the design and cross-functional teams.
Office Location(s): Mumbai and Bengaluru, India. Both are major metropolitan areas with established tech industries and diverse talent pools. The specific office addresses are likely within commercial business parks or corporate buildings, offering standard amenities and accessibility.
Design Workspace Context:
- Workspaces likely include dedicated areas for the Fractal Experience team, facilitating close collaboration between researchers, designers, and strategists.
- Access to meeting rooms, whiteboarding areas, and collaborative tools to support research planning, synthesis, and workshops.
- The environment is expected to foster creativity and cross-functional interaction, supporting the integrated approach of the Fractal Experience team.
Work Schedule: Standard full-time, on-site work schedule. While some flexibility may exist, the expectation is likely to be present in the office during core business hours to support team collaboration and client interactions.
📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process
Design Interview Process:
- Initial screening call with an HR representative to discuss basic qualifications and interest.
- First-round interview with a Design Research Lead or Manager, focusing on your experience, methodologies, and approach to design research challenges. Be prepared to discuss your portfolio case studies in detail.
- A design research challenge or case study presentation, where you may be asked to analyze a problem, propose a research plan, or present a detailed case study from your portfolio, focusing on process, insights, and impact.
- Interviews with cross-functional team members (e.g., UX/UI Designers, Data Scientists, Product Managers) to assess collaboration skills and cultural fit.
- Final interview(s) with senior leadership within Fractal Experience or the broader organization.
Portfolio Review Tips:
- Tailor your portfolio presentation to highlight projects relevant to complex domains, data/AI, or enterprise solutions if you have them.
- For each case study, clearly articulate the business problem, research objectives, your role, the methodologies used (both qualitative and quantitative), key findings, and the resulting impact on design or product strategy.
- Focus on demonstrating your strategic thinking, rigor in methodology, and ability to translate insights into actionable recommendations. Show your process, not just the final output.
- Be prepared to discuss the challenges you faced, how you overcame them, and what you learned from each project.
Challenge Preparation:
- If given a design research challenge, clearly articulate your planned research approach, including methodologies, target participants, and expected outcomes.
- Focus on demonstrating your problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and ability to structure a research plan under constraints.
- Be prepared to explain your rationale for choosing specific methods and how they would address the core problem.
ATS Keywords: Design Research, User Experience Research, UX Research, Ethnographic Research, Qualitative Research, Quantitative Research, User Interviews, Field Studies, Contextual Inquiry, Usability Testing, Synthesis, Insight Generation, Research Planning, Research Methodologies, Data Analysis, Storytelling, Collaboration, Cross-functional Teams, User-Centered Design, Design Thinking, Behavioral Science, AI, Analytics, Data Ecosystem, User Journeys, Personas, Wireframing, Research Reports, Participant Recruitment, Stakeholder Management, Miro, Dovetail, Figma (familiarity for collaboration).
🛠 Tools & Technology Stack
Primary Design Tools:
- While direct design creation tools may not be primary for a researcher, familiarity with tools like Figma, Sketch, or Adobe XD is beneficial for understanding the design workflow and collaborating effectively with UX/UI designers.
- Tools for synthesis and analysis such as Miro, Mural, FigJam, or specialized research repositories like Dovetail are likely used for organizing and analyzing research data.
Collaboration & Handoff:
- Collaboration platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or similar are essential for daily communication and team coordination.
- Project management tools such as Jira, Asana, or Trello may be used to track research activities and integrate with design and engineering sprints.
- Tools for documentation and knowledge sharing like Confluence or Notion could be used to store research findings, reports, and insights for the broader team.
Research & Testing:
- Tools for conducting remote interviews and usability testing (e.g., Zoom, Google Meet, UserTesting.com, Lookback).
- Survey platforms like Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey, or Google Forms for quantitative data collection.
- Analytics platforms (even basic familiarity) like Google Analytics or product-specific analytics tools for understanding user behavior data that can complement qualitative insights.
👥 Team Culture & Values
Design Values:
- Emphasis on human-centered design, placing the user at the core of the design and development process.
- Value placed on evidence-based decision-making, relying on research insights and data to inform design strategy.
- A culture of collaboration and integration across disciplines (design, data science, engineering, behavioral science).
- Focus on delivering impactful outcomes for clients by leveraging the intersection of AI, data, and design.
Collaboration Style:
- Highly collaborative and cross-functional, requiring strong communication skills to work effectively with diverse teams.
- Likely involves regular design critiques, research synthesis workshops, and brainstorming sessions.
- Emphasis on sharing knowledge and insights across the Fractal Experience team and with broader stakeholders.
⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities
Design Challenges:
- Translating complex AI and data science concepts into researchable questions and understandable insights for users.
- Conducting design research in potentially specialized or technical domains relevant to Fractal's Fortune 500 clients.
- Balancing the rigor of research methodologies with project timelines and business constraints.
- Advocating for the user's voice within a data-driven organization and ensuring insights are effectively integrated into product development.
Learning & Development Opportunities:
- Opportunities to deepen expertise in design research methodologies, particularly those applicable to complex systems and AI-driven products.
- Learning and collaboration opportunities with behavioral scientists and data scientists, expanding your understanding of related disciplines.
- Potential to work across diverse industries and client projects, gaining exposure to various business challenges and user segments.
💡 Interview Preparation
Design Process Questions:
- Be prepared to walk through your end-to-end design research process using examples from your portfolio. Explain how you moved from identifying a research need to delivering actionable insights.
- Discuss how you choose appropriate research methodologies for different types of problems and constraints.
- Explain your methods for synthesizing qualitative and quantitative data and translating findings into design recommendations.
Company Culture Questions:
- Research Fractal Analytics and Fractal Experience thoroughly. Understand their focus on AI, data, and human-centered design.
- Be prepared to discuss how your approach to design research aligns with their integrated methodology (design, behavioral science, data).
- Ask thoughtful questions about the design team structure, collaboration patterns, and how design research impacts product strategy at Fractal.
Portfolio Presentation Strategy:
- Select case studies that demonstrate your ability to conduct rigorous research, generate deep insights, and influence design or product decisions.
- Focus on the "why" and "how" of your research process, not just the "what" you found.
- Practice presenting your case studies concisely and compellingly, highlighting the impact of your work.
📌 Application Steps
To apply for this design position:
- Submit your application through this link
- Customize your resume and cover letter to highlight your experience in design research, specific methodologies you've used, and any relevant experience in AI, data, or complex domains.
- Prepare your online portfolio or a PDF document showcasing detailed case studies of your design research projects, focusing on process, insights, and impact.
- Practice presenting your portfolio case studies and be ready to discuss your approach to various research scenarios during the interview process.
- Research Fractal Analytics and their work in AI and analytics to demonstrate your understanding of the company and its context.