Design Researcher Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Design Researcher resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
As a design researcher, you’re passionate about uncovering insights that will help shape the future of a company. You’re also skilled at finding ways to bridge the gap between what’s possible and what people want. You might work in a lab setting or an office space—either way, you’re constantly collaborating with designers, developers, marketers, and other stakeholders to create products that people love.
If you’re looking for a new job in design research or just want to build out your resume, here are some tips and an example to follow when writing your design researcher resume.
How to Write a Design Researcher Resume
Here’s how to write a resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
When you’re writing bullet points, it can be tempting to focus on the tasks you performed. But that’s not always the most effective approach.
For example, rather than saying you “conducted user research,” you could say you “conducted user research to identify pain points in existing user experience and develop recommendations for how to improve the experience.”
The second bullet point is more specific and provides more detail about what exactly you did. And it also provides an example of the type of outcome of your work—which is always a good thing!
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
When you submit your resume online, it’s likely that it will be scanned by an applicant tracking system (ATS) for certain keywords. This software looks for certain terms related to the job opening in order to determine whether or not you’re a good fit. If your resume doesn’t have enough of the right keywords, the ATS might discard your application.
The best way to identify the right keywords for your design researcher resume is to read through several of the job postings and take note of the terms that keep popping up. Then, use those same terms throughout your resume when you’re applying for similar positions. Here are some of the most commonly used design researcher keywords:
- User Experience Design (UED)
- Qualitative Research
- Usability Testing
- User-centered Design
- User Experience (UX)
- Ethnography
- Wireframing
- Interaction Design
- Information Architecture
- User Interface Design
- User Experience Research
- Card Sorting
- Design Thinking
- Qualitative & Quantitative Research Methodologies
- Concept Development
- Design Research
- Research
- Experience Design
- Agile Methodologies
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Axure RP
- Adobe Creative Suite
- Visual Design
- Adobe InDesign
- Adobe Illustrator
- Design
- Adobe Photoshop
- Front-end Development
- Strategic Design
- User Journeys
Showcase Your Technical Skills
As a design researcher, you need to be proficient in a variety of software programs and systems in order to effectively do your job. This might include programs like Adobe Creative Suite, Sketch, InVision, and UserZoom. You should also be familiar with various research methods, such as ethnographic research, user interviews, and surveys.
Additionally, it’s important to be able to effectively communicate your findings to others. This might include being able to create detailed reports, presentations, and infographics. So if you have experience with any of these programs or methods, be sure to list them on your resume.