Description

? Website: https://www.makemusic.com/

? Location: Remote until 2021

• Peaksware/MakeMusic employees are working remotely from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We will work with anyone hired during this period to accommodate remote on-boarding to the best of our ability. An in-person meeting at the office may be required to provide equipment and/or VPN access to enable remote work, or a delayed start may occur depending upon government orders and regulations at the time.

Our mission is to develop innovative solutions that transform how music is composed, taught, learned and performed. More than a software company, MakeMusic is full of people and personalities who share a passion for music. Music is what we do. You will recognize us as Finale, SmartMusic, Garritan, and MusicXML.

For more than 25 years, Finale has been the industry standard in music notation software.

SmartMusic is a SaaS platform that transforms the way students practice and teachers educate. Garritan is a world-leading provider of quality virtual software instruments for music creators. MusicXML is the open format for distributing and sharing digital sheet music.

SmartMusic is an award-winning interactive music software that provides a deliberate practice environment for students in band, orchestra, and choir. With a subscription to SmartMusic, students have unlimited access to the world’s largest accompaniment library for all ages and skill levels, which includes thousands of pieces of music.

As a Senior UX Designer you will conduct qualitative and quantitative research to help us better understand our audience and their needs. Using that data, you will apply creative and innovative user centered solutions that will provide the backbone for an intuitive and compelling user experience. You will know when to follow best practice and when to veer off and pave your own way. You’re an independent thinker who first asks “why” and loves getting into the weeds of a problem.

You will work in close collaboration with other UX and UI Designers, Product Managers, and report to the Creative Director.

Core Functions

• Work directly with the Product Manager and the Engineering team to help define and solve user problems.

• Work directly with other members of the UX team to formulate our data collection approach and strategy.
• Work directly with UI designers to bring to life intuitive and innovative designs into the product and the overarching design system.
• Conduct UX research, interviews and usability tests to inform design decisions and define user problems.
• Develop a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the product and suggest ways to improve it.

• Explore several diverse approaches and validate the right solution with prototypes, validation testing and quantitative/qualitative customer research.
• Create low fidelity wireframes and prototypes that communicate clear interactions and experiences.

• Establish a framework for synthesizing and distributing your research findings.

• Effectively communicate conceptual ideas, prototypes and the specifics of user-centered design process to product, engineering, and key stakeholders

• Perform other duties as assigned.

Requirements

Required Qualifications:

• Fluency in user research fundamentals such as creating user groups, usability testing, interviews, online surveys, user personas, and journey mapping.
• Knowledge of best practices for data collection.
• Solid understanding of user-centered design principles and data-driven design strategies for mobile and web applications.
• Experience in designing web apps for SaaS products.
• Proficiency in leveraging the Adobe Creative Suite (XD), Miro (RealtimeBoard), Sketch, Figma, and Invision for wireframing, design comps, and prototypes.
• Knowledge of best practices and platform specific design/UI patterns for mobile and web app platforms.
• Fluency in user experience design fundamentals such as wireframes, prototypes, mockups and design best practices.
• Effective collaboration across the team disciplines, including Product Manager, UX and UI Designers, Creative Director, Front End Developers and Engineers.
• A solid understanding of usability and heuristics.
• Ability to prioritize your project work with your team, while being able to work collaboratively and independently.
• Experience working in an agile development environment.
• Minimum of 5 years experience conducting UX research.
• Examples that reflect your ability to conduct, organize and synthesize your research.

Desired Qualifications:

• Solid understanding of user-centered design principles and data-driven design strategies for mobile and web applications.
• Training in visual design with an appreciation of design principles (layout, typography, color theory, composition).
• The ability and desire to contribute to the growth of the UX Team by providing guidance and mentorship.
• Music background is a plus but not mandatory.

Benefits

• 100% company-paid medical plan for employees with buy-up options as well as dental and vision insurance for employees (dependent coverage available)
• Additional coverage options: including accident, critical illness or hospital reimbursements
• Company-paid short- and long-term disability coverage
• 4 week paid New Parent Leave
• 401(k) 5% employer match
• Regular, complimentary financial planning with a professional advisor
• Unlimited Flexible Time Off (FTO)

Office Perks:

**Please note - due to COVID-19 there are some perks not readily available at this time

• Free TrainingPeaks, TrainHeroic, MakeMusic accounts, and Alfred Music product
• Flexible scheduling
• Access to the “Pain Cave” - our on-site workout room
• On-site locker rooms and showers
• Indoor bike storage
• Office towel service
• Access to “The Woodshed” - our on-site Music Studio
• Bring your dog to work
• Nutritious Snacks – an assortment of “grab’n go” fruit, drinks and snacks in our kitchens
• Devour Hour - company subsidized lunch brought in each week
• Growth - significant investment in resources for employee development
• Corporate discounts on gym memberships and top-brand gear
• Flexible work schedule in a culture of trust

MakeMusic is part of the Peaksware portfolio of brands. Peaksware has been featured in BuiltInColorado’s Top 100 Companies list since 2017 and our brands have been recognized in Outside Magazine’s “Best Places to Work” multiple years in a row. Peaksware has also been honored as a part of Mogul’s “Top 1,000 Companies for Millennial Women Worldwide”. We are proud of our company culture and of consistently being recognized, both locally and nationally, as a top workplace.