Experience Designer - Maxis

Job Description

At Maxis, we thrive on outrageous thinking. It’s the fuel that inspires the best games in the world. We’re creators and great storytellers. Our mission is not just about amazing our peers – it’s about amazing our fans. Taking risks. Collaborating with each other. Daring to dream big. Together, we can improve the way millions play every day.

As an Experience Designer 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

• Drive user-centered design processes to deliver world-class design solutions.
• 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.
• Partner with stakeholders to set priorities and find balanced design solutions to player needs and business goals within technical constraints.
• Champion the holistic vision for core gameplay experiences through development of principles, scenarios and personas, partnering with XD Director and Creative Director to inform overall product vision.
• Partner with UXR to set strategic research goals, plan tactical studies, and create opportunities for foundational and directional research.
• Contribute to the creation and maintenance of a multi-platform design system
• Work to build bridges between disciplines and foster a creative collaborative environment.
• Put inclusive design principles into practice. Help define a creator ecosystem that is responsible, sustainable, and actively protects our players from toxicity.

Required 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.
• Outstanding communication and presentation skills, 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.

Desired Qualifications

• 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.