JobUp

THE PROBLEM

77% of job seekers say they have been ghosted by a prospective employer (source).

The main problems people applying to jobs face are getting ghosted or being stuck in limbo by being met with complete silence after applying to a job due to the unstructured process of the job application system, which leads to applicants not knowing whether they are still being considered or already rejected. If only the application process was more transparent and if there was an easier process for employers to sort potential applicants, and send update/rejection/acceptance emails which would allow thousands of applicants to gain clarity on their position.

UNDERSTANDING THE USERS

In order to define the roots of the problem, I needed to get into the shoes of the people that I am designing for. I conducted 5 one-on-one interviews with college students searching for internships and 1 one-on-one interview with a hirer. Here are some direct quotes of what the people had to say.

Based on the feedback and answers from the interviews, I created a few personas to explore the various goals and pain points different people in different situations have.

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

I took a look at some of the current job search and hiring apps to get an idea of what they do well and areas I could improve.

FUTURE STATE JOURNEY MAP: HIRER

I also envisioned the future state journey for hirers looking to hire potential applicants, assuming that they look through each application.

LOW-FIDELITY TESTING

I did some testing with 5 users to help make various decisions with my design, for example whether the status should be displayed as a breadcrumb status bar or just written out. Another example was if all past applications should stay in an “applied” tab or if there should be an additional “history” tab for past applications that have results.

For example A, wireframe #2 was the better choice because in #1, if the company has a really long recruitment process, then it would be quite overwhelming to see the steps and it may not be clear where you are in the process. Whereas #2 says clearly what your status is. The status will be changed from the employers end.

For example B, wireframe #2 was the better choice as well, because mixing many applications with current applications can create confusion and it is also a lot for the user to scroll through. Seperating pending applications and finalized applications allows users to focus on one section at a time, whether it be to look through pending applications, or to look through past applications to see what to improve.

TAKEAWAYS

Test Ideas

It was crucial for me to test my ideas because the users helped inform me that some of some design decisions I was debating between were not very helpful or overwhelming. By A/B testing some low-fidelity wireframes, I was able to improve my design before diving into creating high-fidelity wireframes.

Journey Maps: Doing vs. Thinking

There are many thoughts and feelings that are attached to users when they are completing tasks. Although the journey may seem straight forward, it is important to stop and note what the user is actually thinking and feeling during the process to pinpoint opportunities of improvement.