Human-Centered Design (HCD) Analyst

The Human-Centered Design (HCD) Analyst leads user research, experience design, and usability strategy for the program, ensuring that the Appian contract writing and acquisition management platform delivers an intuitive, accessible, and effective experience for VA acquisition workforce users. This role is responsible for grounding platform design decisions in the actual needs, behaviors, and constraints of VA 1102 contracting officers and acquisition support staff -- a critical factor in driving adoption of a system that will serve 6,000+ users managing $40B+ in annual obligations.

The HCD Analyst works across the full design lifecycle from early discovery through post-deployment usability evaluation, partnering with Business Architects, Appian developers, and the Change Management Lead to ensure user experience considerations are embedded in every design decision.

Requirements:

• 5+ years of experience in human-centered design, UX research, or service design on federal government IT programs.

• Demonstrated ability to plan and execute user research activities including contextual inquiry, interviews, usability testing, and surveys in federal government environments.

• Proficiency in UX design and prototyping tools (Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, or equivalent).

• Experience translating user research findings into actionable design requirements, personas, journey maps, and wireframes.

• Familiarity with Section 508 accessibility standards and their application to government web applications.

• Bachelor's degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Design, Psychology, Information Science, or related field required.

• Ability to obtain and maintain government security clearance.

Qualifications:

• Prior experience designing UX for federal acquisition, contract management, or financial management systems.

• Familiarity with Appian's UI design capabilities and design constraints within low-code BPM environments.

• Experience applying the U.S. Digital Services Playbook, 18F Methods, or VA Digital Design System standards.

• Training or certification in design thinking, service design, or human-centered design methodologies.

• Experience supporting change management initiatives through journey mapping, stakeholder experience analysis, and persona development.

Responsibilities:

• Plan and conduct user research activities including contextual inquiry, stakeholder interviews, workflow observation, and usability testing with VA acquisition staff.

• Synthesize research findings into user personas, journey maps, pain point analyses, and design recommendations.

• Develop wireframes, interaction flows, and high-fidelity prototypes for key acquisition workflows in the Appian platform.

• Facilitate co-design sessions with VA stakeholders and Appian developers to collaboratively define user experience solutions.

• Partner with the Business Architect / Acquisition SME to ensure UX designs accurately reflect acquisition process requirements.

• Review Appian application configurations and UI implementations for usability, accessibility, and consistency with design specifications.

• Conduct iterative usability testing throughout the development process, documenting findings and recommending design improvements.

• Ensure all user interface designs comply with Section 508 accessibility requirements.

• Contribute to training material development, ensuring instructional content reflects user workflows and addresses known usability challenges.

• Partner with the Change Management Lead on communication and adoption strategies informed by user experience research findings.

• Establish and maintain a UX design system and pattern library for the VAASM platform to ensure visual and interaction consistency.