Internship On Demand
Internship On Demand is a platform that connects students with employers for reimagined early talent experiences.
Overview
We conducted market, client stakeholder, and user research to identify opportunity areas and propose recommended prioritized features in order to expand an existing feature set for a target group of primary users.
KEY DELIVERABLES
PROCESS WORK
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MY ROLE
UX Researcher | UX/UI Designer
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METHODS
Competitive Audit | Stakeholder Interviews | User Journey Mapping | Feature Concepts | Low-Fidelity Wireframes | Tech Scoping | Kano Analysis | High-Fidelity Wireframes | Annotated Wireframes
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TOOLS
Figma | FigJam | Axure | GoogleSheets | Keynote | Zoom | Pen & Paper
SUMMARY
Key Points
Problem: Build out a platform and expand a feature set for facilitating the hiring manager experience in the early talent space
Process: Working as a part of a 4-person team, we developed an understanding of the existing experience (competitive audit, user journey mapping) in order to guide the development of feature concepts for scoping and prioritization (Kano analysis)
Findings: Opportunities for efficiency, collaboration, organization, customization, and communication
Solution: Moving into independent work, I developed cost-effective yet meaningful features, including tools intended to streamline the process of discovering well-aligned candidates (Candidate Discovery Modes), facilitate in-context collaboration with internal teammates (Team Comments Sidebar), and assist with candidate status tracking and organization ("My Candidates" Board)
Challenges: Working with ambiguity and assumptions to develop a current-state user journey map using an assumption-first approach in order to identify and document the existing process and painpoints
Reflection: This case study provided the opportunity to interface directly with client stakeholders in order to understand the problem space, business goals, and development constraints; working within those constraints motivated developing a deeper understanding of user values and needs in order to balance trade-offs to prioritize cost-effective yet meaningful and solutions
PROBLEM
Problem Statement
Internship On Demand exists to recreate the early talent experience for college students and employers, by focusing on finding the right fit and facilitating hands-on experiences through resource-efficient "pre-internship" engagements. The client has developed candidate and student platforms for the application and pre-internship experience, but no interface for the hiring manager experience yet exists. Given this, the client currently manually facilitates many hiring manager interactions; however, this is not scalable, sustainable, or in line with industry standards across competitors. Internship On Demand approached us with the goal of building out and facilitating the hiring manager experience, specifically in the early talent space.
Internship On Demand has several primary user groups, including students and career services staff at partner universities, hiring managers and mentors at partner companies, and internal Internship On Demand staff (student success managers),
Internship On Demand currently has candidate and student platforms, but no existing hiring manager platform. In the student platform, candidates are able to create customized profile pages, which integrate portfolio content such as notable work and project experience.
Mapping the Existing Experience
In order to improve the hiring manager experience, we first needed to understand what currently exists. We performed a competitive audit and stakeholder interview in order to gain insights into the current user journey and product offering in the context of market competitors. To visualize these research findings, I created a current-state user journey map of the early talent hiring manager experience.
We analyzed several of Internship On Demand’s market competitors, including LinkedIn and Handshake, among others, gathering information on and evaluating criteria such as company missions and value propositions, key features and workflows, and overall strengths and weaknesses. This helped us to understand some of the industry-standard features in the early talent hiring space (such as candidate search and filter) as well as gain insights into the hiring manager user journey across current platforms.
I mapped the current-state hiring manager user journey, considering user goals, actions, experiences, feelings, and thoughts. For each step in the journey, we also identified painpoints and opportunity areas on which to focus when developing features as meaningful solutions to fill these gaps.
Opportunities
Our research revealed several key painpoints and associated opportunity areas in the current-state journey.
Finding and evaluating quality candidates
Opportunity: Create an efficient search process
Coordinating and communicating with both key internal and external players involved throughout the hiring process
Opportunity: Facilitate communication between collaborators
Managing candidates along with logistical and administrative processes
Opportunity: Integrate tools to assist with organization and clarity of next steps
Accurately and holistically representing and communicating company culture and values to attract compatible candidates
Opportunity: Create opportunities for customization, personalization, and self-expression
Creating meaningful and personal connections with candidates
Opportunity: Facilitate communication with and support for candidates and new hires
SOLUTION
Feature Concept Scoping
To fill the identified current opportunity areas, we developed feature concepts for tech scoping and estimation. Each teammate generated five feature concepts, and with a target allotted development time of 40 hours, we used dot voting to select a total of 10 feature concepts to cary forward into user testing. These choices were based on the hypothesized value and effectiveness of each conceptualized solution.
Individually, I developed five feature concepts, each intended to address one of the five of the key opportunity areas identified during our initial research:
Discover Modes
Hiring managers can toggle between two modes for discovering candidates:
(1) based on top fit matches;
(2) using standard search/filter criteria.
Candidates can be pinned/saved. Rationale for “good fits” is displayed. Filter set includes fit-related options beyond standard (e.g., values, interest, career goals).
Customized Comments
Hiring managers are able to add comments to candidate profiles, with customized visibility, linking to stages within the hiring pipeline, and tagging relevant teammates to facilitate internal company communication & ensure key parties are up-to-date on important candidate information.
Track Candidate Status
On candidate profile page, hiring managers are able to updated and track candidate status as they move through the hiring pipeline (e.g., applied, screening, etc.).
Related functionalities may be a calendar view to look at timestamps for candidate progress, alerts & reminders for interviews, etc.
Intake Matching
Parallel information is collected from both companies & candidates upon account creation/setup. Information includes values, interests, goals, etc. to help match good fits (similar criteria) between companies & candidates. Information can be used & parsed for discovery, search & filter, company/candidate profile pages, chat, etc. features throughout platform.
Prompted Chat
Hiring managers can connect directly with potential candidates via chat. Upon first contact (& perhaps other touchpoints as well), the chat feature suggests conversation points for making personalized connections - such as key attributes that make the company & candidate a good fit.
Feature Prioritization
Through user testing using the Kano Analysis methodology, we gained insights on user values, perceived importance of features, and prioritization. Considering trade-offs in the context of a constrained level of development effort, we identified three features as meaningful, valuable, & cost-effective solutions to filling gaps in the current hiring manager user journey while also providing opportunities for additional enhancements and customization
A survey soliciting user perceptions on each of the 10 selected, scoped feature concepts was distributed to four user participants. The results of these questionnaires were in the form of a GoogleSheets spreadsheet.
Kano evaluation tables were created for each of the evaluated features, to gain insights on which features were both valuable and important to users.
Recommended Features
I developed high-fidelity wireframes for the following three recommended features:
Candidate Discovery Modes (10 hours estimated development effort)
Team Comments Sidebar (4 hours estimated development effort)
“My Candidates” Board (13 hours estimated development effort)
Considering required trade-offs between user values, complexity, number of features, and cost-effectiveness, the recommended features were scoped to a baseline total of 27 hours (out of a 40-hour constraint), allowing for the addition of enhancements and customization
The “Recommended” candidate discovery mode returns Internship On Demand’s candidate suggestions for a hiring manager’s specific early talent opportunity, focusing on ensuring an alignment between company values and candidate interested & goals.
The “Search All” candidate discovery mode introduces flexibility and customization by giving hiring managers the ability to define search, filter, & sort parameters as in a standard search experience.
An internal team-facing comments sidebar facilitates collaboration during the candidate search and evaluation process, allowing for in-context communication and reducing the need for managing communications across external platforms. Candidate profile pages are also integrated into the hiring manager experience from Internship On Demand’s current student platform.
“My Candidates” board integrates a Kanban-style board with swim lanes to assist with candidate status tracking and organization. Hiring managers can save candidates and review candidate progress through the hiring pipeline at-a-glance. Candidates are displayed in a card format, allowing hiring managers to click into individual profile pages as desired.
IMPACT & DOCUMENTATION
User Journey Impact
To add context to these recommended features, I created a future-state user journey map to visualize the impact of these features on the hiring manager experience.
Feature: Candidate Discovery Modes
Impact: Hiring managers can work more efficiently while feeling assured that they will be able to connect with quality candidates.
(Journey Steps: Attract Talent - Discover Talent)
Feature: Team Comments Sidebar
Impact: Hiring managers have the tools to communicate with and gather insights from company teammates in an informed and collaborative manner, helping to keep all players up-to-date on important decisions and findings.
(Journey Steps: Discover Talent - Acquire Steps)
Feature: “My Candidates” Board
Impact: Hiring managers can compare candidate statuses at a glance, and feel prepared as they coordinate various touchpoints and interactions with candidates and required internal personnel when milestones are reached.
(Journey Steps: Discover Talent - Next Steps)
Client Delivery
I delivered our research findings and my recommended features (including annotated wireframes) to the client in the form of a recommended features / findings and recommendations report.
Sample of annotations for the “Recommended” candidate discovery mode feature.
Sample of annotations for the “Search All” candidate discovery mode feature.
Sample of annotations for the team comments sidebar feature.
Sample of annotations for the “My Candidates” board feature.
CONCLUSION
Deliverables
Next Steps
Given the development constraints associated with this effort, there are a number of future efforts and feature concepts that Internship On Demand may wish to explore by building out additional pages and/or functionalities (e.g., a company log in/landing dashboard, expanded filter sets, custom and saved filters, etc.), to supplement the prioritized features recommended at this time.
With the annotated wireframes, research findings, and recommendations report in the hands of our client, it will be up to Internship On Demand to decide what to do with our proposed features — and future concepts — as they continue to develop the hiring manager experience.
Key Learnings & Takeaways
We had the opportunity to learn from and interface directly with client stakeholders, to better understand project goals and scope, the current user experience, and development constraints.
We worked to balance trade-offs and working within constraints to prioritize features that would be both meaningful and valuable to users, while also being cost-effective solutions to current user paintpoints.
We developed the visual language for a new platform from the ground up, drawing related elements from an existing design and adapting them to a specific target user context and extended feature set.