Service Designer

Tasks and responsibilities

Conduct User Research & Needs Analysis

•    Assess the current state of the information and knowledge services provided through Farmers’ Portal for farmers.
•    Assist the Senior Technical Advisor in organizing and facilitating focus groups, deep dive interviews, and utilize advanced user-centric research methods with farmers, especially smallholder farmers and those from the underserved regions of Albania, including women, youth, elderlies and farmers with disabilities.
•    Assist the Senior Technical Advisor in gathering insights on user needs, pain points, and expectations for the Farmers’ Portal from a diverse group of farmers, extension workers, and stakeholders from public and private sector, ensuring gender-responsive and inclusive participation.

Perform the Gap Analysis

•    Identify gaps in the usability, accessibility, and inclusivity of the Farmers’ Portal.
•    Analyze potential technical and content improvements aligned with best UX practices.
•    Identify barriers for women, youth, and vulnerable populations in accessing digital services and explore how feasible would it be the usage of different delivery methods for services (e.g., SMS, communication Apps, radio announcements) to each type of end-user (farmers, private-sector agro-industries, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Albania).
•    Research international and best practices in knowledge portals and digital public services provision in agriculture to further provide perspectives and inform the analyses;

Support the Co-Design of the Product Development Roadmap

•    Develop user journey maps and service blueprints to improve user interactions with the Farmers’ Portal.
•    Facilitate the development of a product vision canvas for the enhanced Farmers’ Portal.
•    Work alongside technical teams to define feature enhancements and ensure farmer-centric design principles.

Lead iterative prototyping development

•    Develop mock-ups, prototypes and low/high fidelity versions of the portal and its features to gather insights from real users; implement changes and create new version of the prototype for development.
•    Establish measurable metrics to assess the success of the enhanced portal
•    Establish tools for gathering users’ engagement for continues improvement and feedback mechanism
•    Develop UX recommendations for future upgrades and integrations with other digital services.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements    

•    Advanced university degree in UX Design, Service Design, Human-Computer Interaction, or related fields emphasizing qualitative and quantitative user research methods (Sociology, Psychology, Anthropology, Market Research, Graphic Design, Agriculture Engineer)
•    5 years of relevant experience in User Research, UX Design, or Service Design or Product Management for digital services.
•    Working knowledge of English and Albanian
•    National of Albania or resident of the country with a valid work permit.

FAO Core Competencies

•    Results Focus
•    Teamwork
•    Communication
•    Building Effective Relationships
•    Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills 

•    Experience working on e-government services, platforms or digital agriculture is a strong asset.
•    Direct experience in agriculture and rural areas of Albania is a strong asset.
•    Strong expertise in qualitative and quantitative user research methods.
•    Experience with participatory design methodologies and inclusive digital solutions.
•    Strong communication skills and ability to work with government and rural communities.

Selection Criteria 

•    Proven experience with UX research and/or service design projects
•    Strong expertise in qualitative and quantitative user research methods.
•    Knowledge on low-code no-code platforms
•    Knowledge on product management
•    Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
•    Strong attention to detail.
•    Strong problem-solving and time-management skills.
•    Ability to collaborate effectively with team members.
•    Ability to work independently.