Developing SAI: From Storyboard to Smartphone

The idea for SAI started from a conversation I was having with a friend about applying for online jobs.

It’s 2017 and technology is constantly improving, yet we still have to access multiple websites, emails accounts, profiles, lists of documents, and fill out the same questions before we can submit a single job application on the internet. There should be an easier way to do all this.

If I can start a watching a show on TV and continue watching it on my phone or another smart device without wasting any time, why can’t I do the same with job applications?

And thus the idea for Smart Artificial Intelligence (SAI) was born.

“Too much time is being wasted on filling out the same information over and over.”

A smartphone app that adjusts to each user and gets to know them as they spend time using it. “SAI” is an online job assistant application with an AI similar to Apple’s “Siri” or Microsoft’s “Cortana”.

The user can customize the interface so that SAI automatically tracks and displays all job sources that the applicant is currently using on other devices. If allowed SAI can also access email notifications from hiring managers, job boards, web searches and sync with website profiles (like linkedin) to fully flesh out a detailed profile of the user.

Because SAI is an intelligent AI it looks through job offers before listing them on the app. It scans the company website, the people who work there, all the required qualifications, and finally splits the most important information into summarized sections for the user to read.

Paper Prototype #1 | Digital Prototype #1

The first two SAI prototypes featured simple designs that are common on most job seeking websites. The user interface includes a user profile, e-mail access, uploaded documents, voice to text translation, etc. However, what I wanted to do most was to provide users with editing tools. What I realized from my observations and personal experience was that most job application websites have terrible editing tools. To remedy the problem I created the Co-Op (cooperative) Menu.

The initial iteration for the Co-Op menu was meant to allow users to quickly access and edit documents on any of the app screens.

Co-Op lets users copy, paste, and save text so they never have to fill out the same information on every job seeking website. It allows users to upload and download files and lists them all in a single folder. It also accentuates an “Edit” tab that allows applicants to quickly edit documents with a simple tool box (A simplified toolbox of Adobe Photoshop’s design tools and Microsoft Word’s text editing tools).

The first digital prototype was very similar to the paper version but featured a few new features like calendar and search buttons.

Ultimately the goal for the SAI app was to save users time and make the job application process easier than before.

After conducting prototype tests for the 1st digital version I spent a lot of time redesigning it for the final version of SAI. I rearranged a lot of windows and menus to make them easier to access. I also included a first time guidance tutorial to help the user understand how the app functions and included realistic job application scenarios to show how the process works.

Click HERE for trial version

In conclusion, I think the SAI app would be a good step in improving the online job application process. It combines a lot of ideas from existing job websites with tools and editing software that will help the user find and apply for jobs without a hassle, and because SAI is designed to learn about it’s user, the app will slowly begin to make suggestions and improvements on every job application. After all, it’s supposed to be an intelligent app.