Co-op, Design Researcher

The company

Fidelity Center for Applied Technology (FCAT https://fcatalyst.com/overview) drives innovation to advance Fidelity’s market leadership. FCAT teams assess, test, and scale concepts and ideas involving blockchain, artificial intelligence, fintech, quantum computing, and emerging technologies to enhance customer experiences and keep Fidelity at the forefront of the financial services industry. Celebrating 25 years of innovation, FCAT focuses on these cutting-edge technologies and sociocultural trends to shape the future of financial services.

What you’ll be working on

As a co-op student, you will collaborate with FCAT’s design team, leveraging speculative design philosophies, user research methodologies, and design thinking to envision and create future experiences. Our speculative design practice combines creativity, strategy, and rigorous research to craft products, spaces, and vivid storytelling, taking a holistic approach to design innovation.

We challenge conventional problem-solving by adopting fresh perspectives to envision bold alternatives—think sci-fi meets financial investing.

Your Role

You will work alongside and support our experienced design team from research and ideation to sketching and rapid prototyping. You will assist in creating multimodal outputs while developing a full story arc. Most projects are iterative and driven by multiple feedback cycles.

What We’re Looking For

We seek someone eager to engage in groundbreaking collaboration, with a bias towards action, the ability to embrace failure, and a strong intellectual curiosity. We value individuals who can play, learn, and have fun. We believe the world would be a better place if we rolled up our sleeves and made prototypes to get quick feedback from real users.

Qualifications

Core Qualifications

• Interest in the future of digital experiences

• Interested in emerging technologies (e.g. VR, Generative and Agentic AI)

• Comfortable with ambiguity, inquisitive and eager to learn

• Problem-solving skills, ability to think critically about design challenges, conceptualize and communicate ideas effectively

• Passionate about human-centric approach in all actions and decisions

• Able to work collaboratively within a team environment

• Strong inter-personal and communication skills

• Excellent presentation and facilitation skills

• You can build and specify market requirements for current and future products by conducting market research with customers and non-customers

• You have a strong interest in analyzing consumer trends and customer feedback to add new product ideas and themes into the pipeline

• You understand the importance of conducting competitive analysis to ensure the team is on top of the dynamic landscape

• You can work with others across the firm to collaboratively learn more about Fidelity

• Skills in quantitative research manipulated to create qualitative results, i.e., writing screeners and surveys using remote testing for researching early-stage prototypes

• Developing skill in identifying hidden customer segments and latent customer needs

• Communicate clearly and effectively. Use research insights to create an emotional connection with customers.

Preferred:

• Comfortable with software including but not limited to Adobe Creative Suite and Figma

• Participation in extracurricular clubs such as Scout, Sandbox, etc.

• One previous co-op experience