Senior UX Designer (Mobile)

Senior UX Designer (Mobile) - Hipster Whale

About Us

At Hipster Whale, we're passionate about creating bright and funny arcade action games that appeal to broad audiences - games that players will continue to enjoy for years to come!

We're looking for an experienced Senior UX Designer to help us shape and champion excellent player experiences across our titles.

About the Role and Studio

Do you dream in elegant game loops? Do you want a hand-on role where you can play a big part in a relatively small team, working on positively impacting millions of players? Do you want to know why the chicken crossed the road? We’d like to hear from you!

You’ll bring a track record of shipped games (including mobile titles) and a deep understanding of what keeps players engaged. You'll own the UX vision across multiple titles, shaping experiences from quick prototype  concepts through to full feature and product rollouts.. This is a hands-on role, and selection will be practical portfolio and communication skill based. 

This is a full-time, ongoing position. We’re ideally looking for someone based in Melbourne and available to start as soon as possible. Remote arrangements may be considered for the right candidate, with preference given to applicants based locally. Remote candidates should have significant overlap with standard Australian business hours, or be willing to adjust their schedule accordingly. Applicants based in Australia must hold appropriate Australian working rights.

Hipster Whale supports a hybrid working arrangement, with a minimum of two days per week in our Melbourne studio - currently Mondays and Thursdays. We also support flexibility to accommodate individual needs wherever possible.

We’re proud to foster an inclusive and welcoming work environment. We encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, identities and perspectives.

What You’ll Do

• Create, revise, refine and advise on the UX journey and information presentation  across the studio’s games
• Produce wireframes, user flows, prototypes, and high-fidelity mock-ups that communicate design decisions clearly to the team and stakeholders
• Be able to iterate quickly with MVP visuals, and advise when it’s necessary to add polish or added communication feedback for the evaluation of the UX to be validated  
• Collaborate with the product & development teams to regularly review implemented designs on device and in-engine, test the player experience, and iterate based on design direction, playtesting and analytics
• Partner with product and creative leadership to identify the right problems to solve, and draw on your knowledge  to map and improve the player experience holistically
• Champion player-centric design principles across the studio and help raise the bar by mentoring the team and sharing your knowledge
• Participate actively in design reviews, offering considered feedback to others and actively seeking feedback on your own work
• Help create a psychologically safe, collaborative environment where people feel comfortable sharing ideas, raising concerns and taking creative risks. 
• Be a strong advocate for the quality of our games and our team values.

What We’re Looking For

• Hands-On Experience - 5+ years of commercial UX design experience, with a portfolio demonstrating meaningful improvements to the player experience that you can talk to. You are comfortable in Figma and other prototyping tools 
• Strong foundational knowledge of design principles - sometimes you break the rules, but it’s not because you don’t know them
• A love of behavioural Psychology - you love to lock in on player motivations, can watch out for cognitive overload, and you understand the ways to trigger joyful feedback and play loops that drive engagement
• Understanding of Information Architecture & Interactive Design - you possess a demonstrated ability to clearly present complicated information, a solid understanding of information hierarchy, and able to find the right placement and sequence of delivery - not just on screen layout, but also in flow
• Knowledge of Accessibility & Usability - you’re thoughtful about physical strain when designing input placements, you tailor design to hardware, and make sure text and cues are readable. You understand not everyone experiences the world the same way, and that our goal is to share our game experiences as widely as possible
• Game Engine Awareness - basic familiarity with how games are technically held together (if you can get hands-on, all the better)
• Be a UX Evangelist - Stay current with mobile & games UX patterns, platform developments, and industry best practices, and bring relevant insights back to the team
• Product Minded - you understand and maintain the various business objectives at play, while working to make amazing experiences for our players. You have a maturity about commercial creativity
• Collaborative Team Communicator -  Experience working cross-functionally, and able to respectfully advocate for design decisions and engage constructively when challenged 
• Player of Games - you play widely and enjoy unpicking emerging trends  
• Good Sense of Playfulness - Alongside the elegant design, you enjoy bringing surprise & delight, and maybe a little silliness to work

Bonus Points

• UI and graphic design skills (UX is the core function, but being able to illustrate and direct graphic design effectively towards the final execution is highly valued)
• Experience in User Research sessions and reports

Critical Info

• Competitive salary, based on skills and experience
• This is a full-time, on-going position
• Applications are open until [DATE]
• We aim to move through the recruitment process as quickly as possible and will respond to all applicants regardless of the outcome. 
• Due to the large volume of applications we receive, we’re unfortunately not able to provide specific feedback to each applicant.

About Hipster Whale

Hipster Whale is a multi-award winning Australian studio, located in the heart of Melbourne.

Their first release, Crossy Road, quickly became a viral success and Hipster Whale titles have amassed more than 500 million downloads to date.

Hipster Whale has joined forces with world-renowned companies along the way, including Bandai Namco and Disney to create more top-charting games like PAC-MAN 256 and Disney Crossy Road.

They continue to make and publish bright and funny games with broad appeal, including Piffle, and the Apple Arcade exclusives Crossy Road Castle and Crossy Road+. Hipster Whale is and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Atari.