Project Background
Continuous validation of UX designs is crucial, but scaling traditional usability studies for minor UI iterations creates bottlenecks, often forcing designers to rely on intuition. We are exploring the "automation of verification" by building an internal tool that simulates human sight and cognitive attention to instantly catch obvious usability issues. Built specifically for UX designers, this tool must translate visual simulations into clear, actionable insights, enabling research-driven continuous validation without waiting for formal studies.
The Objective
Develop a Proof of Concept (PoC) for an AI-powered evaluation tool tailored strictly for IntelliJ-platform-based IDEs. By ingesting static UI inputs (screenshots or Figma frames), the tool will simulate user cognitive processing and visual attention to directly generate descriptive usability insights and actionable AI-driven design recommendations. This PoC will validate current AI technologies against human vision theories, serving as a foundational prototype for future internal scaling.
Key Responsibilities & Scope
Model Application: Apply your academic background in cognitive psychology and human vision to identify suitable AI models for simulating visual focus and cognitive load.
Prototype Development: Build a standalone PoC that accepts design inputs and outputs descriptive usability flaws alongside concrete fix recommendations.
Technology Validation: Evaluate the feasibility, accuracy, and limitations of using AI to identify usability issues in domain-specific IDE interfaces.
Mentorship & Team Dynamics
You will be directly mentored by our UX Research team.
Support Provided: Mentors will share deep expertise in UXR methodology, developer tools domain and market knowledge, and specifics of internal product design process to ensure the AI's recommendations are practically useful.
Your Autonomy: Because UXR focuses on research methodology rather than cognitive science or software engineering, you will work mostly autonomously on coding the prototype and applying the underlying cognitive theories.
Expected Deliverables
Functional PoC: A working tool demonstrating the end-to-end flow from UI input to actionable usability insights and design fix recommendations.
Feasibility Report: Documentation of the applied cognitive models, AI accuracy in generating relevant advice, and recommendations for future development scaling.
Graduate degree (Master's/PhD) in Psychology, Neuroscience, or Computer Science
Background in brain-inspired AI models of human vision
Experience with eye-tracking data
Programming ability