Caroline Ino

"WHAT WAS IT?"

ABOUT

Duration: 2.5 weeks

Projects: Group project

Tools:  Permanent Sharpie, Stickie Notes, Sketch, Illustrator, Photoshop, Invision

"WHERE WE BEGAN?"

THE PROMPT

For the last project at General Assembly I was paired up with two other peers from the class. The three of us were given the client of SAP and a brief of our focus for the next 2 1/2 weeks. SAP provided us the opportunity to focus on the overall on-boarding experience of fresh graduates embarking on an online job search. We would ideate and design around developing a system in which job candidates and potential employers can find one another based on desired skills, culture fit, shared goals, etc.

"WHO'S CURRENTLY SEARCHING FOR JOBS?"

SCREENER AND INTERVIEWS

To better understand recent graduates and to verify that they were the correct target we developed a screener survey. This would identify who was currently searching for jobs and give us more context about their professional lives (previous and current) and what they were looking for while searching. 

"SO, WHAT DID WE FIND?"

SYNTHESIZING INFORMATION

From our finding’s we saw similarities between our interviewees. There was a consistent theme from one interview to the next, identifying the problem of a lack of transparency in the current application process. User’s talked about their frustration of not being able to properly represent themselves in a restricting cover letter, how long it would take for a business to get back, and this overall doomed feeling of not knowing what they could improve on or how to get one step further.

"PAINTING A PICTURE"

USER PERSONA

From the feedback we were given we consolidated our information to create our user Nate. New Beginner Nate has graduated, majoring in Comparative Literature. Although his focus is on writing he has a wide range of interests. He wants to find a job that aligns with his goals but that has flexibility with his range of talents outside of his major.

"WHERE IS NATE HAVING PROBLEMS?"

JOURNEY MAP

We wanted to understand the different phases a current job seeker goes through when applying in order to understand their biggest pain points. When transferring this written research into a visual time-line we found that users progressively developed a disillusionment of themselves overtime. Due to how long the application process has been around, users viewed it as a right of passage they had to endure. 

"WHY IS NATE HAVING PROBLEMS?"

HR / RECRUITERS HIRING / MANAGERS RESEARCH

Now that we knew where Nate was having problems, we looked to the business side to fully understand why these problems kept arising. What we discovered was a loss of information from where the job posting was developed to where the job lived within a business or company. Due to this distance, job postings can be less accurate and less specific to certain candidates. Jobs begin to sound alike, from one to the next casting a wider net. 

"NATE'S PROBLEMS"

PROBLEM STATEMENT

" How can we help Nate to be more empowered, so that

he can leverage his resources and apply smarter in order

to secure his ideal job "

EMPOWER

1. Identify his key career values & goals 
2. Be able to represent his full self / How he adds value to an employer with his personality
3. Use this information to connect / match with the companies and jobs that align with his values and needs (i.e. the ideal fit)

"HOW WE CAN HELP"

SOLUTION STATEMENT

" Create a way for Nate to get in touch with his resources

to properly represent himself, so that he can quickly get

the best results and start applying smarter "

"CHECKING OUT THE COMPETITION"

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

After understanding our user’s problems and the solution to those problems, we looked to current job finding platforms, dating apps, and machine learning applications. Job finding platforms allowed us to understand what job postings were out there, the leverage of a connection, and the quick application process. In order to even the playing field between businesses and the applicant we used dating apps like OkCupid and Bumble. Lastly we used machine learning online services like CrystalKnows to allows users to understand and empower users based on a writing sample. 

"SKETCHING OUT SOLUTIONS"

STORYBOARDING AND PAPER PROTOTYPING

From the transition of arriving on a solution to exploring competitors we produced a lot of ideas that were put into a parking lot. When it came to our design studio it was fun to take out those ideas. We were able to sort and sift through them and hash out some new features and designs too. 

"HOW CAN WE IMPROVE"

USER TESTING

We took our designs and began to text them with various users. From this we learned that our biggest opportunity lay in the landing page, where the user buy-in happens. Additionally we learned that communication, both visually and via text was critical here. In our first few iterations and testing rounds, the users were not understanding what the website was offering. We had to up the content fidelity and layout fidelity to better communicate the benefits from the beginning, to get the users buy-in, and subsequently, their trust in the next stages.

"HOW DO WE KNOW IT MATTERS?"

MID-FIDELITY WIREFRAMING 

How can we help Nate to be more empowered? We did this by:

• identify his key career values & goals, and allowing him to represent his personality through machine learning. All the jobs that were curated for Nate were already matched with him - this created mutual interest and a transfer of power from the business to the applicant

So that he can leverage his resources to apply smarter? We did this by:

• Matching him with the companies & jobs that align with his values, goals, and personality. This allowed him to spend less time applying to the wrong jobs and more jobs applying to the right jobs. Additionally the promised feedback from his submitted challenges allows Nate to understand what things he did well, and can improve on. 

In order to secure his ideal job? We did this by:

• Providing Nate an authentic idea of the real working environment by completing a challenge that mimicked the desired company's problems and expectations. This allows him to make a more well-informed, and confident decision when accepting the job offer