GrowBeyond

Overview

Ever felt like local job search platforms were a bit plain and generic? I sure did. They only give you a basic search, making the whole thing feel too simple.

But guess what? I've come up with something pretty cool to fix that. An AI-powered growth platform to make the journey smoother. So when the user signs up, there is a fun personality test powered by AI. The test figures out unique strengths and suggests growth paths tailored for the user.

But wait, there's more! Not only the user can find jobs but also connect with other people too.

The goal was to make the job search and application process easy.

Problem

Many young professionals are on the hunt for job opportunities. They often struggle due to the lack of proper guidance and resources. This not only affects these individuals but also has an impact on the effectiveness of the job market. There isn't a local job search platform that caters to the needs of these job seekers.

Solution

Designing a friendly platform, helping young professionals by simplifying job search and application.

Mobile app design

• AI Powered Personality Test
• Job Searching & Applying
• Learning Content
• Personal Profile

Let's Grow

Here's how it looks, from creating an account, onboarding, and applying for a job.

How I approached the design

While I followed the design thinking process, I didn't stick to a strict plan. Instead, I took notes on existing solutions, both good and bad examples. This enabled me to get my creative ideas flowing. I then brainstorm different ways to overcome challenges. I also explored solutions that worked well for similar problems in the past.

Even though I felt confident in my design choices. I made sure to do more research and gather feedback from users to confirm my decisions. This helped me improve and refine my work based on real insights. I also had an agile mindset, which means I was open to continue making things better.

1. Understanding the users
2. Starting the design
3. Refining the design

1. Understanding the users

As the starting point, I researched existing apps solving the same problem. I completed a competitive audit to understand key differences, similarities, and potential opportunities.

Learning about the competition

The audit was a great first step into understanding some common issues. While there are many aspects to a competitive audit, I focused on the SWOT analysis. This allowed me to identify gaps in the current experience and feature set. I was then able to see room for potential new offerings.

Here are the summarized learnings:

• Need for improvement in the interface, experience, and job search mechanism.
• More personalized guide to career paths.
• Improvement in app performance and mobile optimization.

Conducting research through interviews

After understanding a few common issues identified in the competitive audit, I moved forward with conducting user interviews.

The method I used for interviews was an unmoderated one. The interviewees had to record themselves while answering some questions. I created a how-to document to help them through the process. I chose this mode of interview because it allows the users to answer in their own time. Based on the scope of the project, I did not have many resources to conduct moderated interviews. Though I would have loved to do them.

I choose 5 participants, across different age groups (20-30) and backgrounds. I made the decision based on time constraints and the number of people I had to ask to help me with the project. I reached out to my friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. I had two main goals for these interview sessions.

1. Understand the limitations of the current experience
2. Confirm our idea and need for creating a new experience

Most people need informed career decisions through guidance and industry knowledge

The insight highlighted the importance of having a professional community on the platform.

Users wanted mentorship, and skill-enhancing opportunities to better stand in the job market.

The insight helped in focusing on the importance of learning content on the platform and network building.

Proto Personas

I created proto-personas based on my assumptions and insights from the user interviews. The reason for creating them was to have them as a reference for guiding the design process.

Prioritizing flows for the MVP design of app

Based on the competitive audit and the proto personas, I prioritized the MVP designs of the app.

1. Personality assessment: Users can take the assessment on onboarding or from their profile.
2. Job searching and applying: UI for job listings and a process where users can apply for the job.

2. Starting the design

So after prioritizing my MVP design flows. I started brainstorming ideas and got my pencil and paper ready. Getting my ideas down on a piece of paper is one of the most interesting parts of the design for me.

I first drew the designs for the core flows and then the UI for associated flows. I like paper wireframing because it allows for rapid iterations and alterations. Once I got to a desirable layout and a good content hierarchy for my core flows. I moved on to creating digital wireframes.

Paper Wireframes

Digital Wireframes

Prototyping for testing

After translating my designs from paper to Figma, I started prototyping user flows. With some basic prototyping, I had a working digital prototype. For testing it out with the users I used Maze. It's a user research platform that helps with streamlining testing and insights gathering. Maze offered data-driven analytics and a positive learning experience.

My purpose of the testing was to see the ease of applying for a job. The test had 3 prompts focused on finding how easy it was for the user to complete the flow of searching and applying for a job.

Opportunity to streamline the onboarding process and enrich job search filters.

Using the test results from Maze, I had good feedback to work on. For many people, the onboarding process should be skippable. Among the feedback on UI and user flow improvements, two notable insights were as follows.

1. People were a bit confused about the onboarding process
2. Many users wanted to have more filters for job searching

3. Refining the design

Let's Grow

Here's how it looks, from creating an account, onboarding, and applying for a job.

Learnings

I designed the MVP core flow for the growth platform, focusing on job search and application. I created an appealing and intuitive experience. Through testing, I validated my design choices and the user experience.

Learnings

This project facilitated extensive learning in ideation, UX design process, design systems, and Figma, providing a comprehensive skill enhancement opportunity.

• Detailed understanding of the UX design process.
• Recognition of the importance of paper prototyping in the design process.
• Creation of a design system encompassing light and dark themes.
• Exploration and utilization of advanced component design with multiple properties and variants.
• Understanding the basics of auto layout and its role in creating responsive designs.
• The realization that each concept or idea is interconnected within a user journey.

THE END

Thankyou 🙏🏻

If you want to talk about product, AI, or something you're building, I'd love to hear from you.

I appreciate your time and attention, I hope you have liked the work. Want to share your thoughts?

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