Hirely
The Problem
Hirely needs a simple, seamless on boarding process for hiring managers and a better understanding on their needs
The Solution
A simple, straightforward way to allow hiring managers to input their business information and create job card
My Role
As a team of three UX Designers we worked together throughout the entire process. I took the lead on some of the interviewing process and during the wireframing stages of the onboarding using Sketch.
The Outcome
The client used our research to improve the capabilities of the application and implemented our recommendations regarding the onboarding process.
Comprehending the Hourly Job Hiring Process
Hiring is an intricate process. Through our research we found that hiring managers have to make a lot of decisions in a short amount of time which affect the effectiveness of a business. To interview or not to interview, to pre-screen or not todo so. In many cases, choices are
made because of time restrictions and not because they are the best choices. This is even more common with hourly job decision makers.
The time spent screening applicants, reviewing resumes, interviewing and deciding who to hire takes away from the many other obligations store managers (who in many cases act as hiring managers) already have on their plate.
It was very telling to hear comments like “Some use us as an ATM” or “They leave soon after training”. Hiring managers need a better way, and Hirely is here to help them.
The Job Seeker Dilemma
Job seekers have their own set of difficulties.
How to look? Where to look? When to look?
We interviewed several job seekers who shed light into the process and its pain points.
How to look? Where to look? When to look?
We interviewed several job seekers who shed light into the process and its pain points.
Job seekers suffer because they can’t get their information in front of a hiring manager, and even if they do, their resume might not do a good job portraying who they truly are. It’s difficult to stand out in a pile of applications.
Even if hired, the job may not be a good fit.
Creating the Connection
Currently, to get in front of hiring managers, seekers have to search for job posts on Craigslist or walk into stores to ask for a job. Neither of those approaches alleviate the pains and frustrations described above.
Platforms like Monster, Indeed or Career Builder don’t cater to this sort of positions.
Hirely takes a new approach at hiring by matching applicants to the job based on specific criteria selected by hiring managers. Experience, personality and availability are the parameters used in their matching algorithm. This provides the hiring managers a more robust way to filter applicants and select better options to interview.
Our Part in the Process
Hirely approached our team looking to get a better understanding of what hiring managers need and how they could best serve them. We were asked to curate the on boarding experience of hiring managers into the system. The main objective was to create a seamless, easy and quick way for hiring managers to enter their business’s information, add job postings and sort through applicants.
We created user flows based on the information received from Hirely and our own research, which gave us a better understanding of the on boarding process.
To better understand what information was required from the hiring managers, we created an entity relationship diagram, which allowed us to clearly define the data points we needed to gather and how they related to the rest of the information.
Gathering the Data
Data could be cumbersome and time consuming. The more data is requested from the user, the more likely they are to leave the application. At the same time, if the backend has more data, it will be able to sort through applicants more accurately. Through our research we found that hiring managers would be willing to spend an few extra minutes entering data because of the benefits it can provide when filtering applicants.
Design is About Iteration
Once we had a clear understanding of what information had to be collected from hiring managers, we started the sketching process. Since we had access to a variety of hiring managers, we realized it was important to create a prototype and get feedback on it.
This proved to be a very useful step, because it allowed us to uncover a great deal of information which was key in to our success. It also allowed us to improve the prototype and make it more efficient.
The Scrum Advantage
An Agile environment fosters cooperation, accountability, responsibility and allows for fast iteration. Daily scrums throughout the process allowed the team to make sure we were on track and our deadlines were being met. They also enabled us to clearly define the goals for each day and direct our attention to the most pressing needs.
By knowing what was accomplished yesterday, what needs to be addressed today and what roadblocks could stop us, we were able to move quickly through the process and iterate rapidly to improve the results.
The Availability Quandary
As mentioned above, the three main parameters Hirely will use to match applicants are: Experience, Availability and Personality. They have partnered with a few companies and agencies to provide better capabilities in the Personality and Experience arena.
Availability is a complicated matter mainly because each business has different needs and scheduling differences. It’s very hard to create one mold and expect all job posts to fit in. For example, a coffee shop hires constantly for only one position, barista, and promote from within. They only look for applicants who are willing to work full shifts, one weekend day and be available for some opening shifts and some closing shifts (not always the same shift). On the other hand, another business has four different shift lengths, multiple positions with multiple schedules and require open weekend availability.
We suggested to the client, based on our research, that creating a solution for this parameter could lead to a true competitive advantage in the market.
Instead of having check boxes we suggested sliders, which require user testing but could be a good alternative to the current prototype.
Takeaways
This project allowed me to improve my user interview and usability testing skills. I was also able to learn more about on boarding processes and improve my Sketch skills.
We were lucky to work with a client who welcomed our suggestions and made us feel part of the team.