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Senior Experience Designer, Social - Maxis

Senior Experience Designer, Social - Maxis

Studio: Maxis
Location: Redwood Shores, CA, Austin, TX preferred - Open to remote work in most US states

Welcome to Maxis, home to tinkerers, craftspeople, & storytellers. Our drive is to inspire everyone to make a better world through creative play. As the developer of The Sims , we create games and experiences for millions of people around the world and are always looking for new ways to inspire our players. Maxis is a place where you can do what you love and help others grow while doing it; a place where your unique voice can be heard and seen. We put creativity and inclusivity at the core of our work and don’t settle for seeing the world only as it is, but strive to build a world as it could be.

Teams are building the next generation game and creative platform, Project Rene and reimagining The Sims that players know and love with even more new ways to play. We’re excited you’re interested to learn more about how you can join our team and dream big.

Job Summary

As a Senior Experience Designer on Social for The Sims, you'll help envision and implement how players socialize, connect, and be inspired on our platform. Reporting to the Development Director for Design, you'll work with a multidisciplinary team of enthusiastic craftspeople from all walks of life. Use your passion and critical thinking skills to define the social platform and related systems throughout product development, from initial prototypes to refined solutions. Partner with your Design, Production, UXR and Engineering partners to foster a data-informed and iterative approach to delivering value in a growing game product spanning platforms and playstyles. Ultimately, you will create experiences that surprise, delight, and invite millions of people around the world to Play with Life.

Responsibilities:

• You will drive user-centered design processes to deliver world-class design solutions.
• You will apply appropriate UX methods for the challenges at hand (Experience mapping, journey maps, task flows, sketching, wireframing, storyboarding, prototyping) to explore problem spaces and deliver solutions that are informed by player data & insights.
• You will partner with stakeholders to set priorities and find balanced design solutions to player needs and business goals within technical constraints.
• You will champion the holistic vision for core social experiences through development of principles, scenarios and personas, partnering with XD Director and Creative Director to inform overall product vision.
• You will partner with UXR to set strategic research goals, plan tactical studies, and create opportunities for foundational and directional research.
• You will contribute to the creation and maintenance of a multi-platform design system
• You will work to build bridges between disciplines and foster a creative collaborative environment.
• You will put inclusive design principles into practice. Help define a creator ecosystem that is responsible, sustainable, and actively protects our players from toxicity.

Qualifications:

• 6+ years experience as a UX designer, interaction designer, product designer or similar role. Your experience includes some combination of: game and/or mobile products, live service and social networks.
• Work samples demonstrating user-centered designs across a range of digital products.
• Experience creating, contributing to and working with design systems.
• Comfort in presenting, have an optimistic outlook, and the desire to inspire excellence.
• Proficiency in a variety of design tools: Figma, Adobe XD, Miro, Sketch, Principle, Adobe CC, etc.

• Passion for playing and making games, with a deep understanding of what makes them fun and engaging.
• Experience working on a cross-platform game, creative tool, or other relevant product.
• Experience working on social game mechanics, social platforms, multiplayer games, or other relevant products.
• Experience with business models or products centered around user generated content (UGC).
• Interest in cultural trends, online communities, creator ecosystems, fandoms, remix culture.
• Background in HCI, Psychology, cognitive science or equivalent fields.
• Familiarity with The Sims 4, The Sims franchise or the life simulation game genre.
• Familiarity with game engines like Unreal.

*Please include portfolio link and password if applicable. Also, please be prepared to show most recent accomplishments/processes/case studies/projects. Super excited!!!