Background
Crash is a web platform that helps job seekers build their personal pitch when applying for a job. For this project, I have joined the Crash team as a product designer to conduct a UX audit and provide valuable insights on how we can enhance the usability of the product for new users.
My Role
I have joined the Crash team as a product designer focusing on user & market research, conducting a usability audit to find areas of improvement, conducting user interviews, creating interaction & visual design, and conducting usability testing.
Timeline
4 Weeks
Research & Discovery
Problem & Motivation
Applying for jobs can be a gruesome task for job seekers and having to apply for over 300+ jobs doesn’t always cut it and can be a challenge to stand out as one of the candidates. Resumes are outdated and never capture the unique value a candidate can offer on a single piece of paper.
Solution (Introducing Crash)
Crash recognizes this problem and sees there is a need in the market to help each job candidate stand out by being able to create their own customized pitch deck for employers.
Project Scope & Constraints
- Focusing on enhancing the experience for first-time users from onboarding to product adoption.
- Due to the lack of quantitative data, in order to better understand pain points of the users, I have to put a heavy emphasis on gathering qualitative data.
User Flow
First I have taken the initiative to understand the current website and have constructed a user flow that highlights the critical paths a user would have to take in order to achieve a specific task.
Current Performance
Next I wanted to understand the current performance of the pitch builder, with the help of a funnel analysis. I was able to utilize these values and rates as a starting comparison for my success metrics.
Stakeholders
With a stronger understanding of the product, the problem space, and speaking with the founders, I have identified the key stakeholders of this product. For this project I am working on focusing on the perspective of the job seekers.
Job Seeker
A great tool that allows job seekers to create a customized, highly-targeted pitch for each role they apply. Giving them a huge edge in the applicant pool.
Hiring Manager
A streamlined way to see all the relevant information that indicates whether a candidate has the hard and soft skills required to succeed in a role.
Target Market
After I have identified the key stakeholder for the product, I have narrowed down my target market even further in the perspective of the job seeker’s.
New onboarding user
Users who have just joined Crash or been with the platform for under 1 week.
Existing user
Users who have already been with Crash for over 1 week.
Persona
Based on all the sources of information I have collected, I was able to establish a user persona to have a clear representation of who I will be designing the solution for and to guide me on my design decision.
User Journey Map
Afterward, I have created a user journey map for Eric, who can best represent our new user onboarding to Crash. While going through Eric’s journey as a new user, I have worked with the internal Crash product & marketing team to construct a plan to improve each of Eric’s experience.
Having both the persona and the user journey map. They give us insights into who we’re serving and at what specific points in their journey.
Research Goals
Now that I have a stronger understanding of the Crash’s website, performance, and target market. I was ready to start conducting my research. The goal of this research was to identify any usability issues with the current pitch builder for new users and determine the critical features to prioritize for the next iteration of the product.
Research Process
I have conducted usability test for 5 participants from my personal network that best fits the criteria below with the existing Crash website.
- Age range: 21 – 27
- Recent college graduate looking for a job
- Frequently use job platforms such as Indeed or LinkedIn
- Never have used the Crash website or have been a member for less than 1 week
Usability Test
I have performed the usability test on Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I was able to successfully record the new-user onboarding.
Key Takeaway #1
There was friction on this specific step of the workflow when the users only had a choice to select pre-made templates and did not have the option to create their own.
Key Takeaway #2
Most of the participants had a difficult time locating the feature where they can archive the pitch that they have created.
Key Takeaway #3
All the participants have commented that they would like a rejected or hired column to better organized their jobs.
Design Changes
Reflecting on the results of the usability test of the existing platform and persona, I have made design changes in order to combat the friction the participants have gone through when doing their tasks.
Design Changes #1
Change “Archive Pitch” position
By being able to change the position of the “Archive Pitch” link text, it can help it to stand out to provide users more clarity on how they can archive their pitch or delete it.
Design Changes #2
Custom pitch builder
Allowing the customers to be able to create their own styles of pitches, instead of having to rely only on the template ones. This can help each candidate stand out even more by having their own designs.
Design Changes #3
Adding Rejected & Hired Column
By being able to add a column dedicated for rejected & hired, users can better organize their pitches throughout their job application process.
Prioritization
Once I have finished the design change proposal, the next step was to discuss with the Crash product team about the priorities of these features. The framework I have used to prioritize the features was the impact-effort matrix.
Success Metrics
Now that priorities have been set, it was time to determine what is considered as a success? Looking at current performance of the product, I was able to determine what can be our success metrics for the product based on the next sprint.
Retrospective
Data-driven designs
- When working on this project, I had the opportunity to utilize Mixpanel and Intercom to help me understand where the current performance is with the product and helped me combat my assumptions to see the impact my design had with real users.
UX helps achieve business goals
- By being able to conduct a UX audit and providing valuable feedback for change, it has created a more enjoyable and frictionless process for the user. Resulting in encouraging them to stay with the platform’s subscription plan longer.
Conduct a more personal usability test
- In the past, I have always conduct usability tests based on a fixed scenario and tasks. However, after working on this project in order to make a usability test more compelling and empathetic towards the users. It is best to recruit the right participants and being able to use their stories in the scenario.