Client: Financial Institution, Enterprise
2018 – 2020
How can we help recruitment managers track and manage the recruitment process for prospects and new hires through a digital tool?
How can we use the advantages of digitisation to overcome the pain points of the conventional hard copy processes?
To better understand the world of recruitment managers and the steps they had to complete throughout the recruitment journey, we conducted interviews with potential users: ten managers of varying experience and seniority levels. We had each interviewee map out their journey according to their own experience and share about touchpoints they used and challenges they faced.
The interviews were extremely enlightening. They not only gave us a primary and coherent account of the recruitment journey, but also allowed us to identify many severe pain points throughout the process that "can vomit blood one", as described by one interviewee. Many of these pain points revolved around the inefficiency and tediousness of current manual hardcopy processes, and the lack of transparency and visibility regarding the status of applications.
From the interviews, we gathered a mountain of data, in the form of handwritten post-it notes. Through affinity mapping, we synthesised the information into a journey map which captured the actions, people involved, tools and devices used, thoughts, feelings, pain points and recommendations at each step.
There were a few key areas a digital solution could target, and we made lo-fi mockups of what the key features of this solution could look like, to test with potential users. We tested with the same participants from the user research sessions.
With the feedback from the concept testing, we could suggest to the client which features to prioritise and how to refine the concepts.
(We invited our clients to observe the sessions too so they could get a better feel of the feedback)
Putting together what we had learnt from the user research and concept testing, we made new lo-fi mockups to demonstrate the intended features and to use as a discussion point for stakeholder alignment sessions.
(Although we had prepared a digital version of the journey map, the physical version was much better suited for the stakeholders to interact and engage with.)
Any digital solution invariably disrupts existing processes and workflows in an organisation. The implementation of one in an organisation as large as our client's required alignment from multiple departments and stakeholders.
With more than 10 participants from 7 departments, we presented the findings of the research in an alignment workshop.
The lo-fi mockups were also used as a visual anchor in a discussion regarding which features to go ahead with, which features to prioritise, and the technical approaches to the eventual implementation.
After alignment from all stakeholders, we proceeded with the hi-fi designs for an iPad app. This process took more than a year due to the size of the project and the multiple rounds of clarifications necessary with relevant stakeholders.
When majority of the screens for key flows were completed, we conducted usability testing with 8 users with varying years of experience and seniority levels.
The app prototype was well-received by all participants.
The digitisation of their manual processes through an iPad app would greatly remove the tediousness of filling in a lot of their pen and paper forms. Tasks could also be done much faster, and on-the-go, speeding up the recruitment journey. Digital forms also allowed a database of information to be stored that could be visualised in different charts and graphs, automatically updated when the data changed.
The usability testing sessions also highlighted a need for strong change management on the ground as recruitment managers transitioned to the new processes created by a digital solution.
Lastly, the session also identified a gap, the lack of a summary table where recruitment managers could view the status of all their prospects and new hires at a glance. This was lined up as a possible feature for the product roadmap.
Usability issues with the design and flow were picked up.
After a review session with the client surfacing findings from the usability session and the proposed changes, the design was iterated on in preparation for development.
The extensive research done for this project was very useful for the client. From the client's feedback, independent research done by an entity outside of their organisation helped to align stakeholders along an objective account of the current state. Visual collateral produced like the illustrated journey map are constantly used as reference points within the organisation.
The client also continued to engage us for future projects related to their digital transformation roadmap.
The iPad app is currently being developed by the client's tech department and is being piloted with a small group of users.