Ease the Search, JobStreet.com
The Project Task
As a team of three, we were assigned to work together to revamp an existing mobile application. We went ahead with Jobstreet, using the UX methodology to identify its possible problems and/opportunities.
About JobStreet
Jobstreet.com is one of Asia’s top online recruitment organisations. They help facilitate the matching and communication of job opportunities between jobseekers and employers. First founded in Malaysia in 1995, it then further expanded to Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam.
The Approach
Given a timeframe of just two weeks, we broke the UX sprint down into research, synthesis, prototyping and testing with several reiterations.
Observation
First, we started with research by looking at what JobStreet currently offered. However, we noticed that across the desktop, mobile and mobile browser, all three were slightly different.
Both Browser and Desktop allowed immediate ‘Search Jobs’ while the app asks users to sign up first. Why the inconsistency? I myself felt ‘bamboozled’ (confused and at a loss).
Heuristic Analysis
To dig deeper into the issue, I conducted a heuristic evaluation to draw out more potential problems users may face using the app.
The main takeaways:
- Launch Page — Has a static map that was hard to figure out. I was not able to zoom or manoeuvre the app like how I would for Google maps. The job numbers were inconsistent and kept jumping. Which made me question if the numbers were legitimate or a ploy.
2. Sign up page — Password requirement not upfront. Prompt only appears after you click ‘Sign up’ (hidden requirement). It can irritate and possibly cause users to give up when registering for an account.
3. LiNa — Who is she? What does she do for me? The function of LiNa left unclear and unexplained. When in fact, was made to give job recommendations to users.
4. Job Page — Map hard to find & difficult to toggle. Positioning of button is not ideal and most miss it. Map opens into Africa but JobStreet is based in Asia.
User Interviews
The heuristics was just a scratch on the surface. Let’s dive deep. What do job seekers have to say? We interviewed fresh graduates and those in their mid career. Questions with these thoughts in mind ‘What do they look for, what’s important to them? What will make their experience a solid one?’ This kickstarted my drive and curiosity to find out more.
Interview Findings
We found out that
- Salary details, years of experience, company background was important
- They trust job postings by companies > postings by recruiters
- Those in the 30s liked to browse to gain overview of the market
One specifically mentioned:
“I selected ‘Entry Level’ but still postings with ‘Minimum 5 years of experience’ popped up.”
To filter by level of experience/expertise was a pretty huge pain for users in entry level and in fact, across all levels.
Additional Feedback
“Why must I register to search? I just want to have a look at what they are offering first.”
The most prominent frustration was the sign up process. All app users must, I repeat, must sign up before they were able to perform a job search.
In fact, the average user took 7 mins to sign up.
7 .whole. minutes.
It didn’t come as a surprise when we found that 50% of our testers skipped the sign up process mid way, and the other 50% tried to but couldn’t.
Personas
Based off our user research, we crafted out three user personas.
Shawn |Fresh Graduate looking to kickstart a career
Jackie |Experienced jobseeker looking for change in landscape
Ted |Retiree professional looking for a slow pace job
We narrowed our focus to towards Shawn & Jackie as they are most relevant to Jobstreet.com and bring in the most traffic and revenue.
Competitive Analysis
Furthering our research, we put JobStreet side by side with fellow job search companies. Such as Indeed, Glassdoor and Monster against similar variables. JobStreet app’s features paled in comparison to what its competitors offered.
Problem Statement
Based on what majority of our users say we synthesised
Job Seekers need a quicker way to search for jobs as the current sign up process is too tedious
Feature Prioritisation
With the identified problem and also findings from user interviews, we shortlisted key features that would attends to the pain points of users, based off our personas.
Wire-frame sketches
User Testing
With 5 users, we crafted a few tasks for them to carry out. This will help us gain insight and verify if they find our app to be useful.
The makeover
With feedback from the wireframe test we developed the prototype to a High-fi, conducted more usability tests, keeping the tasks consistent.
Click here to view the Prototype!
Post usability testing for the new application, we conducted a SUS survey to gage the usability and assess the results. We gave tasks comprising of:
-Search for an entry-level analyst role and apply.
-Search for jobs with a given salary range, find the company details and apply.
Our average of 5 users scored a whooping 85. A number higher than the 80.3 is an A. This means that users love the application and are more likely to recommend the product to a friend.
Another major improvement can be seen below. The sign up process (which was a major pain point) now simplified.
Moving Forward
Some further suggestions to consider for future improvements.
The adding of premium features such as skill matching jobseekers to job listings, improving the notifications/alerts users receive to inform what stage their job application is at and also to improve companies/recruiters’ end, making their Jobstreet.com experience a better one.