Senior Product Designer

Job Description

At Walt Disney Animation Studios we have a deep commitment to the philosophy that creativity inspires technology, and technology inspires creativity. Our Product Designers partner with domain experts in Production and Technology to deliver workflow informed product designs that meaningfully advance both creativity and productivity of animated film production at Walt Disney
Animation Studios.

The ideal candidate will enjoy working with a broad range of stakeholders and technologies. Critical to success will be the ability to build trust and relationships with technical and non-technical users to understand their needs, and deliver relevant solutions leveraging a variety of user-research methodologies, design tools, and prototyping techniques.

To be successful you will need strong problem solving and analytical abilities through independent analysis and judgment, in addition to effectively articulating your design rationale visually, orally, and in writing. You will also be comfortable championing product design in the studio, identifying and prioritizing key opportunities that will have the greatest studio impact.

Responsibilities:
• Partnering with domain experts to develop a deep understanding of workflows in the context of overall production
• Gathering requirements through user interviews, observation and surveys
• Partnering with project leads, engineers and artists from initial concept to implementation and refinement
• Design and prototyping of new workflows that enhance the craft and/or productivity, based on current and emerging technologies
• Mock-up of product designs, including validation of proposed workflows and implementation viability based on developer feedback. Uses various techniques including personas and journey maps to convey complex ideas in easily understand forms, with an emphasis on visual techniques
• Facilitation of presentations and discussions with product users (e.g. artists), engineers, and key stakeholders to validate conceptual designs, and drive resolution on proposed features and functionality
• User testing of prototypes and implemented designs
• Championing product design, leveraging partnerships with others passionate about good design to build awareness throughout the organization
• Establish design guidelines/recommended practices where relevant to the studio
• Build and leverage relations with design counterparts throughout Disney
• Industry design trends - remain current on emerging technologies and practices including AI, VR and identify when relevant to the studio

Basic Qualifications:
• Effective listener and inquisitive: able to actively engage engineers and artists to understand their requirements and infer practical solutions that balance ease-of-use with implementation costs.
• Exemplary communication, team working and problem-solving skills, balancing the timeliness of solutions with the needs of the studio. Able to prioritize competing demands based on business value.
• Sufficient technical ability to understand complex workflows, prototype design proposals and effectively communicate complex technical ideas into easily understood and implementable solutions
• Versatile in the use of tools to prototype and visualize designs
• At least two years experience in the analysis and design of products and associated workflows in a highly technical and specialized environment, including desktop/workstation environments (vs mobile/web)

Preferred Qualifications:
• Masters in Design, HCI, Computer Science or related field
• Interest/experience in the animated movie business, media or games production

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-r12k90-3-143-168-172-42 in your application.