Employ.ease
Thinkful’s 1st Place Winner: The Employ.ease job board design from my UX/UI Hackathon challenge aimed to elevate the job search experience with a user-friendly interface, addressing key pain points and enhancing overall usability for job seekers.
How might we create a dynamic, engaging user interface that motivates job seekers and enhances their journey from search to application?
Within this case study, I'll highlight a detailed walkthrough of my approach to designing Employ.ease
Challenge
“Build a product, tool, or website that assists job seekers with their search for an ideal work opportunity. Be as creative as you'd like - consider the functionality that would be useful for your persona, keeping in mind their pain points and preferences.”
Judge #1
Competitive Analysis
I delegated the task of conducting a SWOT analysis for LinkedIn, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and Glassdoor to our UX designers, while my responsibility focused on conducting a threat analysis.
By carrying out a competitive analysis, we've identified several features that are truly beneficial for job seekers such as we we discovered how they streamline the application process, significantly reducing the time it takes to apply.
I also pinpointed a few essential features and sources of inspiration to enhance the website, like streamlined login, quick sign-up, and simplified application processes.
Interviews & research
After finishing our SWOT analysis, we gathered the team to brainstorm and develop survey questions.
Then, I gathered the team's questions, picked the most relevant ones for our challenge, and then crafted a survey. I shared it with the designers to find participants, and within two days, we had all our survey results.
Here are some key insights into what 15 participants expressed on the survey.
The most popular platform is LinkedIn .
57.1 %
The Most relevant feature is the Easy Apply feature.
78.6%
The biggest struggle for participants while applying/searching for a job is to create multiple accounts and provide information to access to apply for jobs.
35.7%
an interview question
How long does it take for you to complete one job search, from finding to finishing the application?
After synthesizing our findings, we found a few 🔑 takeaways from our interviews.
• Strong dislike for creating multiple accounts for each platform.
• Desired for transparent information. (salary & job description)
• Desired personalized recommendations and quick apply features.
Synthesize & Analyze
After the interview and survey insights, What can I use to systematically structure and prioritize insights as a primary focus throughout the project?
So, I put together 2 personas to help designers and developers get on the same page and head in the right direction.
After researching and analyzing the data, We were ready to address the challenges.
Based on the problems users shared, I crafted three user stories and developed a user flow, pulling together insights from our discovery phase research.
User Story#1
As a job seeker, I would like to receive personalized job suggestions based on my skills and preferences to quickly find relevant job opportunities and save time in my job search.
User Story#2
As a job seeker, I would like to be able to apply for jobs without having to create multiple accounts on different job websites.
User Story#3
As a job seeker, I would like to apply quickly and easily, with minimal time spent filling out lengthy application forms.
Sketching &
Wireframes
Next, we began sketching the website by adding the inspiring features that we collected.
I crafted wireframes introducing a one-click sign-on, like using Google, for easy access to various job portals. Plus, I included a feature for users to effortlessly upload their resume and contact info, streamlining the application process for multiple jobs.
Branding &
Prototyping
We spent time picking out the perfect colors and style for our design. When one of our designers suggested the name ‘Employ.ease’ for the website, we all instantly knew it was the perfect fit.
I chose a minimalist style for its universal appeal and selected blue as the accent color to evoke feelings of calm and stability for users searching and applying for jobs.
We chose a blue that's calming and stable, yet bright and motivating. I added bright, minimalist illustrations to attract users to the website.
We ensure the website has a clear, high-contrast design that is easy to read and navigate. We have checked the main blue color contrast for the font colors, and the contrast ratio is 5.07:1, which scored WCAG AAA. The website also uses clear and concise language to avoid jargon or overly complex wording that can be difficult for some users to understand.
Hi-fi wireframes & Prototyping
Some feedback from Judges
“Looks like it could be launched tomorrow!
AWESOME work.”
“LOVE the color psychology explanation and how it ties readability/mitigating stress. Typography being responsive, scannable, name being SEO-friendly for increased findability, etc.”
“Provided in-depth SWOT analysis. Thoughtful observations out of quantitative research.”
“Considered accessibility, UX principles, and users’ mental models when deciding on visual elements. Great use of spacing and alignment.”
Learnings
Even with limited time for research, we discovered some important things about what users struggle with and what they want from our platform. This helped us create a design that works better for them. We learned what our users really need, and that helped us make better choices about how to design our product.
Through this experience, I honed my sense of ownership, committing myself to complete tasks to the best of my ability. I also developed strong leadership skills, providing direction and making critical decisions to ensure the success of our team. Finally, I learned to manage my time effectively, working efficiently and prioritizing tasks to meet tight deadlines and achieve our goals.