OVERVIEW
App Design Concept
2020
My role: UX Designer
THE CHALLENGE
Design a recruitment app with the applicant in focus, keeping it contemporary and making sure it has a clear user journey. Maintain all the information and progress in one place, instead of the user having to keep track of email folders for job applications and their progress.
OUTCOME
– Easy to use app with clear navigation, information and updates
– Push notifications to keep the user informed on the progress
– Progress page of each application, giving an indication of the progress
– Profile page which is easy to update and gives you an indication of how you can improve your profile to stand out to employers
– Contemporary and clean look with bright colours for a positive feel
RESEARCH
During the research phase, I wanted to understand the current state of the job application landscape in Sweden. My intention for the research phase was to uncover the needs and frustrations of the target user to better understand how to appeal to them.
Research Goals
– Define people’s behaviours when looking for work
– Determine what people like and dislike about their experience in job hunting
Competitive Research
I analysed several competitors; Indeed, Academic Work, Manpower, Jobbsafari and Arbetsförmedlingen and uncovered strengths and weaknesses. My analysis produced the following insights:
– Users want the ability to have all the job applications in one place
– Users expect features that will help them search and apply for jobs
– Most users apply for several jobs at once, which means it can be tricky to keep track of all the applications, and remember each one of the job descriptions
User Research
In order to design an app with a great user experience, I had to identify the needs of the target audience. To better understand the perspective of the user I interviewed four people between the ages of 25 and 40 to ask them about their experience in applying for jobs. I wrote down all the answers and identified several needs:
– Job search: life would be a lot easier if all job applications you made could be saved in one place rather than keeping a separate email folder or spreadsheet
– Profile: having all information saved in one place (CV, statements, skills) would be beneficial
– Applications: filling out forms for each job you apply for is time consuming and unnecessary as the employer will receive your CV anyway. Finding a solution for this would make life easier and more stress-free when job hunting
Persona Creation
I used all the data I gathered during the research process to create Annie, my user persona. She is an ambitious 20-something with a few years of experience in her field and is on the hunt for a new job.
DEFINE & IDEATE
Once I had identified the needs of the target users, I established goals and could therefore decide what product features were necessary for the prototype.
– Interface that looks clean and organised
– Profile area that collect all relevant information about the applicant
– Area for the applications, showing the progress of each one
INFORMATION
ARCHITECTURE
I created a high-level list of features to further help define and guide the vision for the product. Prioritising the features with supporting research created a clear hierarchy.
Based on my research, I completed a user flow to get a clear idea of how the user would navigate through the app. These tools allowed me to ensure that the information was organised in a way that is intuitive to the user.
TESTING
Wireframes: Low-Fidelity
I started the process of wireframing with sketches of several of the main screens of the app. I thought about the layout and how the content would be best structured.
Wireframes: Mid-Fidelity
Based on my low-fidelity sketches, I created digital wireframes for the main screens in Adobe XD.
Testing: I asked the group of people I originally interviewed to test the prototype in 3 different scenarios:
– Apply for a job
– Find your application and look at the progress
– Find and edit your profile
Findings: All participants were able to complete the tasks, however a few observations were made, which made me add a few features:
– Create a place in the app where the push notification can be seen, so that these don’t just ‘disappear’/get forgotten about
– Add a function to remove your applications for a role if you have secured another job
– Create alerts for a specific role/location
High-Fidelity prototypes
After updating my wireframes with the above changes I moved on to adding the visual elements. As I hadn’t decided on a colour scheme at this point, I looked for inspiration on Pinterest. The key for the colour scheme was to keep it positive, so I wanted to use bright colours. I applied the colour scheme to my wireframes, resulting in a set of high-fidelity prototypes.
Frida Hellberg 