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Africanjober

Africanjober

digitization of hiring with online recruitment

an attempt to tackling hiring in the outsourcing marketspace

commercial poject

client	Recruitment App at www.africanjober.com
sector	Recruitment , Outsourcing ,
project time	4 months
my role	Entire product design from research to conception, visualisation and testing
my contribution	Visual Design Full-stack Development
services	Cloudinary Content Management Systems (CMS) Google Analytics Hosting SSL Tools: Adobe XD Languages: Ruby & Rails Javascript JQuery HTML & CSS
team	Richill ARTLoe(UX/UI Designer, Front-End & Back-End Developer)

Africanjober is both a recruitment consultancy platform and an outsourcing company. In the recruitment sector, the company addresses the talent gap in the Impact Investment space by connecting skilled individuals with leading employers in an instant, using a direct and transparent online hiring approach. In the outsourcing sector, the company plays the middle-man role in providing outsourcing service to local and international companies/client.

The brief was to simplify the search process for talented individuals and jobs via the app's unique matching technology process. A UX/UI design was needed to display a smooth registration user journey flow for both the job-seekers and employers. Relevant stats were designed in a simplistic manner to help employers locate and easily identify talented candidates. Another aim was to create a good user experience flow when it came to the subscription process and the job application process. This project was accompanied by a 1-month user experience design testing, it was then followed by a planned digital implementation. The project helped to deepen my knowledge in the user experience design & gave insights in exploring several approaches to digitising the recruitment consultancy services & outsourcing services.

methodology

Design Process: The diagram displays the Design Thinking Process to be utilised in order to design the solution (when focused on the needs of the users).

problem statement & solution

How might we improve the UX/UI experience and process for the business & users.

problem statement #1

User's Experience - Problem Statement

Uchenna is a bright young man with a Phd degree in a very specialised field. Uchenna likes to explore the telecommunication industry but strongly believes his educational background could be a huge relevance within the finance sector. Through searching for jobs manually, Uchenna has discovered the difficulty in sieving out opportunities in the finance sector tailored to telecommunication engineering. There are hardly any AI (artificial intelligent) job platform that allows him to automatically search & view opportunities tailored to his skills, qualifications and preferences.
Hypothesis
For the outsourcing recruitment consultancy app, we believe that, by creating a clear and frictionless journey, with a visually appealing user interface that is mainly focused on the search feature, application process and match process feature, we will achieve a way that will allow Uchenna to easily search and sieve out opportunities that match or compliments his exact skills, qualification and preference.

problem #1

Unable to get talented skilled individuals to register

Most online outsourcing/recruitment platforms often deal with a vast talent pool of candidates where the majority may not have the right set of skills. To avoid this problem, Africanjober wanted to focus mainly on creating a site that enabled finding and persuading specialised skilled candidates to join their company, as well as providing an excellent services for their clients. Finding the most qualified candidates and making sure that they stay with the company required a lot of hard work. At the time, many outsourcing & recruitment consultancy apps lacked a good user experience in the job search process, registration process, subscription process and the application process as well as lacking statistical information on potential matches.
solution #1

Creating a user journey flow that encourages & increases registration

The solution was to create a good UX/UI design that enabled an increased in subscription, an increased the user registration level and a smooth simplistic application and payment process for both employers and jobseekers. We also had to design the user flow to make it easy for jobseekers to easily search jobs and for employers to easily locate and identify talented candidates. The user journey was to be a clear and frictionless journey, in doing so we could expect to help improve the brand perception whiles maintaining and supporting an increase in conversion.

competitive analysis

An assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and potential competitors.

Based on research, the company had no direct competitors within the outsourcing impact recruitment space in Ghana, that focused on the creation of digital jobs (mainly Data Specialists) for young graduates. The company's competitive advantage was to focus on 'hands on' training & career development for young graduates, helping them to be employable (by building a continued education and a foundation for their careers), and also eventually placing them in employment positions of international companies. What sets the platform apart from it's competitions was its' inbuilt calculative algorithm that matched potential individuals with opportunities based on skills and qualifications. This screening process had a great unique advantage.

swot analysis

s

strength
- The platform has a unique algorithm in matching jobseekers to advertised jobs based on skills and qualifications.
- The product was launched into an existing market, therefore, there was no need to create a new market nor educate members of its usage
- The platform's revenue stream was not solely dependent on outsourcing, but on recruitment and a subscription pricing model
- The team currently consist of an in house developer, therefore there was no high cost spent on technical development
w

weakness
- Initially at the start of the business the platform did not have the large jobseeker database to enable delivery of trained talented skills to clients
- like all websites, the concept was easy to copy, the business therefore needed to continue to strengthen, evolve and innovate
- A small team working within the startup. Limited resources.
- Limited funding. The funds were not sufficient to invest in its marketing capacity
o

opportunities
- Economic uptick & increase in customer spending, after years of slow growth rate in the outsourcing industry, is an opportunity for the company to capture new clients
- Adoption of government free trade agreement will give opportunities to enter new emerging markets
- Ability to create a niche in the outsourcing market - not only focusing on software skills but data management & marketing skills
- Ability to improve matching algorithm using new tech, provides an opportunity to explore various pricing strategies
t

threats
- Liability laws in different countries differ. Therefore the company may be exposed to various liability claims given change in policies in those markets
- Increasing competitive outsourcing prices in China & in India can lead to serious pressure on the profitability of the company
- Financially strong competitors replicating algorithm process
- Strong competitors with more funding that offers similar products

challenges UX/UI

Challenges in the user experience & flow

challenge #0

creating a simplistic registration process to increase registered users

Developing a good user experience in completing registration forms. Allowing a quick registration that is less cumbersome, that saves time and improves efficiency. Creating a clean, simple registration design process, with clear visible text to look visually appealing.
challenge #0

Improving the subscription experience to increase sales

Creating a simplistic easy subscription user journey with a secure online payment processing within an efficient time. Identifying the possible user struggles in-order to highlight insights that will improve user experience to subscribe. Using hotjar on the invisionApp demo provided a general understanding on areas of the vistors struggle.
challenge #0

Improving the search process for job ads & talented jobseekers

Displaying the search box in a visible location of the webapp without cluttering the page with too much content but yet allowing the users a quick access to information, with less extensive click navigation. Creating a simplistic appealing 'size appropriately' search bar, with auto-complete to encourage utilisation of the search-box use.

challenges - sector

Challenges in the Recruitment , Outsourcing , Sector

challenge #0

lack of identifying talented jobseekers that match job ads by employers

Most online recruitment/outsourcing platforms often deal with a vast talent pool of candidates where the majority may not have the right set of skills that matches the employers job ads. Potential candidates, in outsourcing companies, are not provided with the relevant training and career development to make them more employable, this creating a talent gap.
challenge #0

Lack Of Analysed Matches between Candidates & Job ads

The lack of an analysed matching system. Most recruitment match apps do not analyse matches based on candidates interest, skills and preferences with that of the advertised job - this, therefore displaying random candidates to employers, causing employers to extensively search & navigate for hours for potential talents and thus giving an unpleasant & tiring user experience.
challenge #0

Outsourcing companies mainly focus on tech/software skills

Research shows that, while there are a number of outsourcing companies in Ghana that tailor to international clients, most are specialised mainly in Technical Development Skills & HR Management skills. Most graduates in Ghana do not graduate with a Tech skill but mainly with either a management, finance or marketing skill. This once again creating a huge talent gap and a lack of outsourcing opportunities targeted at these skills.

findings from interviews & survey

With the knowledge of Design Thinking, interviews & suverys were conducted to gain feedback in order to iterate throught designs. Collected data from user interviews was analysed and synthesised into key findings. User statistics were also explored through graphical representation.

interview questions #1

Interview Questions

Employers:
1. what company do you work for?
2. What systems do you use to seek out talented candidates?
3. Do the systems have an AI tech to accurately sieve out candidates that highly match job specs?
4. Generally, how do you find the experience of using these systems of your choice?
5. How could your experience in searching for a right candidate be improved?
Candidates:
1. What is your age?
2. What job board or apps do you find most effective when looking for a job?
3. Generally, how do you find the experience of using these apps of your choice?
4. Do you find the search functionality successfully finds jobs of your exact preference?
5. How could your experience in searching for a job be improved?
survey questions #1

Survey Questions

Survey questions asked were very similar to that of the interview questions asked.
Surveys were sent to the targeted groups; Employers, Recruiters and Candidates.
Targeted groups were asked, if current search systems enabled them to effectively find the right talented candidates & right jobs of their preference.

key findings #0

A Wide Pool of Applicants without the Right Qualifications

Based on the interviews held, employers and recruiters felt that, when it came to looking for potential new hires, there was an overwhelming amount of people available, but didn’t have the credentials to covet. Though specific details on the requirements, certifications, and training were provided by the employer, finding a great candidate was still very much a manual tiresome process.
key findings #0

Terrible candidate experience in job application process

About 60% of job seekers that were interviewed claimed to have endured a terrible candidate experience. They felt the online job application process were long and stressful and that this process needed to be humanised. Applications were lengthly and in most times when sent, no response or any form of communication were heard from the employer.
key findings #0

Lack Of Compatible Match systems

Employers & Jobseekers feel majority of the time, they had to search for results of their preference manually. Many job apps do not have a great search-matching system to successfully match candidates with the right opportunities (based on skills & qualifications) and also do not effectively support employers to sieve out talented skilled candidates automatically. Process of finding a good job & candidate is very manual and tiresome.

user persona

Building empathy

Using the quantitative and qualitative data from interviews and survey results, A main target group was defined. Synthesis of user research lead to the creation of 3 primary user personas. These personas were considered when making any further design decisions.

"I want to find a role well suited to my exact preference & skills"

Uchenna

age: 35

job: un-employed

education: PHd Telecommunications Engineering

status: Single

Uchenna is a bright young man with a Phd degree in a very specialised field. Uchenna likes to explore the telecommunication industry but strongly believes his educational background could be a huge relevance within the finance sector. Through searching for jobs manually, Uchenna has discovered the difficulty in sieving out opportunities in the finance sector that tailor to telecommunication engineering. There is no AI job platform that allows him to automatically search & view opportunities tailored to his skills, qualification and preference.

goals

To work in a job of a company well matched to his skills

To be matched successfully to a job of his preference

To have a stats snapshot of job matched to his skills

tasks

Searching for opportunities of his exact preference

Finding lucrative high paying jobs

Finding jobs within his exact radius

Frustrations

Lack of compatible job matches

Lengthly job application process

Unable to sieve jobs in finance sector with his skills

how Africanjober helps

Algorithm that highly matches job ads & candidates through a screening process

Stats info on how well a candidate matches with job

Easy, simple and fast application process
"Finding the right outsourcing team with highly qualified candidates"

George

age: 42

job: Marketing Manager

education: MA in Law

status: Married, 2 children

George is a high-end working professional. George works with a prominent Advertising company. At present, George's company is looking to outsource their data management workload overseas, to a team of qualified employees. Geroge is struggling to put together a great outsourcing team. A company that puts together a team of highly qualified and well trained candidates as well as providing George with some statistical evidence of the candidates performance on the platform will prove to be most beneficial to George and save Geroge a lot of time.

goals

Working with a highly qualified outsourcing team

Saving the company a lot of money

Getting quality work efficiently done on time

tasks

Find an outsourcing company to produce quality work

Finding a qualified outsourcing team at a good cost

Efficient outsourcing team that promptly meets deadlines

Frustrations

Time consuming in finding qualified outsourcing team

Outsourcing teams without the right qualification

Lengthly process in finding right outsourcing team

how Africanjober helps

Provision of stats info on outsourcing team

Dashboard to be able to analyse outsourcing team

Algorithm screening through qualified, trained candidates to be placed as a team
"I want to be able to screen out easily talented skilled candidates with the right qualification"

Manny Okyne

age: 31

job: Recruitment Consultant

education: MA in Management

status: Single

Manny is a dedicated consultant. He takes pride in his job in being able to successfully match qualified candidates to the right companies. Manny would like more recognition as a consultant and therefore would like to invest a good amount of time in finding highly qualified talented candidates efficiently and effortlessly. At present the search systems Manny uses to locate potential candidates are not soo effective as most time they display a pool of candidates without the right qualification.

goals

Referring right qualified candidate to companies

Providing companies with quality candidates

Having a consistent database of qualified candidate

tasks

Finding talented, skilled, qualified candidates

Help qualified candidates be hired successfully

Creating good relationship with candidates

Frustrations

Manual process in finding talented candidates

Losing applicants to competitors

Wide pool of candidates without the right qualification

how Africanjober helps

Stats info on candidates employable quality

Dashboard to be able to compare candidates

Algorithm that highly sieves out qualified candidates through a screening stats process

User Experience Map (user flow)

Structure of the App - User Journeys

A product-based journey map helped to better understand the matching process as well as the user and their experience in the registration and application process. The user journey was created to help with the ideation. By mapping these journey, a deeper understanding of the users emotional state when searching for the right results and be being matched was observed. Using this information helped to identify key features of the application.

usability testing

User research: Qualitative & Quantiative research

insight #0

participants: 10

age range: 23 -35

performed with: Invision app, desktop

Research from both the quantitative and qualitative side took place. The main goal was to:
1. understand the user experience and journey when seeking the right job opportunity
2. understand the user experience and journey when searching for the right qualified trained candidates & outsource team and
3. to also understand the user's journey experience in registration, subscription and the application process.
This would help us to better identify important feature requirements of potential users.
Analysis - Findings From Interviews & Survey:
Data was collected from our targeted user groups from both the interviews and surveys and these were analysed and synthesised into key finding. User survey stats were also explored through graphical representation.
insight #0

goal:

The goal was to test and identify the user's pleasure and pain experience:
1. while searching for a job
2. while searching for qualified candidates
3. while registering, subscribing and completing an application
The prototype test will aim to highlight any usability issues and define the usefulness of the application, whiles observing the user completing basic tasks and functions.

task:

1. create an account
2. complete profile & preference
3. search for a job (if a jobseeker)
4. search for qualified candidates (if employer)
5. apply for a job (application process)
6. subscribe as a member
insight #0

results:

1. 60% of user testers had a smooth user journey experience
2. 64% of jobseekers had a smooth candidate experience
3. 57% of employers had a smooth hiring experience

observations:

1. Candidates wanted some form of notification when their applications were received and opened by employers. The takeaway was, it's important to create some form of active communication between the employers and candidates/applicants regardless of whether they got the job.
2. Candidates were pleased with the simplified, less time consuming application process
3. Employers were pleased with stats info on potential candidates
4. Matching process needed to be more intuitive

product designs

Final design ready for development

Display of the UX design. The aim was to create a clear and frictionless journey, and in doing so one can expect to improve the brand perception while maintaining and supporting an increase in the conversion via the search, registration, subscription and application process.

visual design

Visual designs, Typography, Colours & Icons

The visual design was developed by iterating from mood boards and styletiles to the UI kit and finally to creating a first version of the style guide.

conclusion

Project summary

The primary goal of the startup business was to develop an app that had a great user journey/experience flow to initiate an increase in its registered users, thus also increasing sales in the business growth. We played an essential part in creating the UX/UI Design to enable the startup to achieve it's business goals. There is still more research work to be conducted in order to increase the user satisfaction and experience in using the app, but due to limited budget a simplistic non-repetitive research was conducted.

In order to achieve our client's business goals, we aimed to improve the user experience and customer satisfaction features, that were to ultimately help increase more users and engagement for the app:
1. create smooth search process
2. create a simplistic engaging process regarding the registration process, subscription and application process

learnings

Knowledge aquired through the design & development of project

challenge #0

Limited Time & Budget

Further research could have been conducted in order to iterate through the designs and perfect the user journey and satisfaction a lot more, but due to limited budget and time this was restricted
challenge #0

More Substantive Visual Design

Due to urgency of the site to be developed fairly quickly, there was less time given to focus on the business brand presence. Should there have been a provision of a solid defined visual language of the brand attributes, the design development of the site could have been more advanced in visual appearance.
challenge #0

Candidate Experience

It is as simple as it gets. The web development of a great candidate experience for the search and job application process helped increased the chances of retaining specialised skilled talent in addition to establishing and improving the brand.

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