Overview
Meet SkillSeekers
SkillSeekers helps fresh graduates find jobs easily. It offers a simple application process, personalized job alerts, and ways to connect with industry professionals, which helps graduates discover career opportunities in their city that match their skills and interests.
My role
I worked as the sole UX designer, handling everything from understanding user needs to creating wireframes, prototypes, and testing the final design.
Timeline
The project took place from 8 July to 5 August 2023.
The Problem
Finding jobs is often difficult and frustrating, especially for fresh graduates. They struggle to find job opportunities that match their skills and interests, and they don’t have enough ways to connect with professionals or discover hidden job openings.
The Goal
To design a platform that makes job searching easier and helps graduates connect with professionals, so they can find meaningful jobs that match their skills and interests in their preferred location.
Design Process
Research
Ideation
Prototyping
Testing
Research
Meet the Job Seekers
To better understand the challenges faced by fresh graduates during their job search, I created personas based on informal conversations, and secondary research. These personas helped me capture common goals and frustrations which guided my design decisions throughout the project.
The Graduate’s Journey
I mapped the users’ journey to understand how new graduates navigate the job search process from creating a profile to tracking their applications.
You can view the full user journey maps for both Rehant and Aditi here↗
Ideation
Brainstorming the Future
I started the ideation process by quickly brainstorming ideas using crazy eights. My goal here was to explore ideas that simplified the overall job search process. These helped me shape the wireframes I designed next.
Drawing the Blueprint
I sketched paper wireframes to explore layout ideas. First I sketched out different versions of the home screen to see which one felt the most simple and intuitive. Then I sketched out the other screens like jobs, alerts, profile, etc.
From Sketch to Screen
After finalizing the paper sketches, I moved on to create digital wireframes. Here I refined overall the layout and also finalized the user flow of the app.
The Resume Draft
After designing the digital wireframes, I built a lo-fi prototype to test the basic user flow and also prepare for the usability testing
You can view the prototype here↗
The First Interview
Before jumping to the high fidelity phase of the design, I ran a usability study to get feedback on my designs and use the insights to improve the wireframes further.
The Setup
Parameters
Methodology: Unmoderated usability study
Location: Remote (India)
Participants: 5 total – 4 males and 1 female
Length: 30 minutes per session
KPIs
Time on task
Conversion rates
System Usability Scale
Organizing the Insights
After the usability study, I organized the feedback into an affinity diagram to identify patterns and group similar observations. This helped me identify themes and focus on areas for improvement.
Areas for Improvement
Back Button
Previously, the logo acted as the back button which confused the users. So I made the back button more obvious by replacing the logo with a back icon.
Application Method Screen
Participants struggled to exit the Application Method screen. So I added an “X” icon to let users easily close it without completing the flow.
Cancel Application Option
Users felt stuck after applying because there was no way to cancel their application. So I added a “Cancel Application” option so users have more control over their job applications.
Prototyping
Visual Foundations
I started the high fidelity phase by creating a style guide to set the visual foundations of the app.
The Final Look
Based on the style guide, I created mockups that completed the look and feel of the app.
The Final Resume Draft
After designing all the screens, I created the hi-fi prototype to test the overall experience and prepare for the second usability testing.
You can view the prototype here↗
Responsive Design
To make SkillSeekers accessible to everyone, I decided to design it as a responsive website as well. A website gives users the flexibility to search for jobs not just through an app, but also on their desktop or laptop, which makes it easier to view multiple job listings at once as well.
I also made sure the website works well on desktop, tablet, and mobile, so users can have a smooth experience on any device.
A New Round of Ideas
I started off by doing another round of crazy eights specifically for the website to see if any new ideas or layouts could work better for the web version. This helped me explore new possibilities before moving forward.
Mapping the Job Hunt
I then created a sitemap to organize all the pages for the website. This made sure users could easily navigate, whether they’re searching for jobs, or building connections.
From Sketch to Screen
I created digital wireframes for desktop, tablet, and mobile. I adjusted the layout to fit each screen size. This made sure the experience stays consistent and easy to use on any device.
The (2nd) Resume Draft
After designing the digital wireframes, I built a lo-fi prototype to test the basic user flow for all devices.
You can view the prototype here↗
(Tip: Use the sidebar on the left in Figma to switch between desktop, tablet, and mobile prototypes)
Final Look
Based on the style guide, I created mockups that completed the look and feel of the website.
The Final Resume
After designing all the screens, I created the hi-fi prototype to test the overall experience for all devices.
You can view the prototype here↗
(Tip: Use the sidebar on the left in Figma to switch between desktop, tablet, and mobile prototypes)
Outcomes and lessons
The Result
The final design was well received by users. They appreciated how simple and stress free the job search felt thanks to features like personalized job alerts, an easy application process, and clear networking options.
Users also appreciated the website version, saying it made the platform even more accessible and gave them the flexibility to search for jobs comfortably on any device.
What I learned
I learned how to design responsive websites and adapt layouts across desktop, tablet, and mobile. This process taught me how important it is to design based on how users interact on each device like simplifying navigation on mobile or using space better on desktop.
I also learned how to keep the design consistent while adjusting things like spacing, layout, and interactions for different screen sizes.
Improvement Opportunities
Since I had time constraints, I couldn’t do a competitive audit or usability testing for the website, and I realized how important those are to improve the design further.
I also realized the importance of being proficient in Figma. Designing for an app and website across three devices without learning about auto layout or the variety of helpful plugins took much more time than it needed to. So I’ll focus on learning Figma further and being proficient with it.
Thank you!
And that’s a wrap for SkillSeekers, a platform that proves that job searching doesn’t need to be as stressful, just like this project proved for me. :)
Thank you so much for taking the time to review my case study! You can check out more case studies below.
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