I support a complicated application that can definitely not be considered your typical job board or applicant tracking system. However, its initial interfaces were still overly complex and I wanted to improve the user experience. Oh and the site is also still not mobile-friendly/responsive, so I wanted to address how it would appear and function across platforms also.
First big issue I found with this page is that it doesn’t help the user do anything. It is all about pushing documents at the user not helping them get what they need to get done done. So my first step was to try and improve that.
So, this version replaces all those resources with an upfront set of modules that provide either current information about applicants or application or a place to update their hiring status. The hiring status field has been problematic in the current system with users forgetting to update it and applicants not knowing if a position is available or not, so that needed to be in an easy-to-access area for quick updating. I am also assuming a backend upgrade to the current system that would allow these modules to be personalized, perhaps only locking the Hiring Status module in place since it is of high importance.
I am not including the tablet version because it just really isn’t much different from the desktop version. But for the mobile version, I prioritized the module stack based on user feedback and known pain points. The Hiring Status box is first, followed by a quick overview of any and all applications the user has and their various statuses. Like everyone, you want to quickly glance at the page and get the critical information you need.
Another odd difference with our application is that it features what I call three tiers of use. The above mockup displayed the full use tier, but I also wanted to rethink the other tiers where a user posts a position online but doesn’t take applications online (don’t ask), and a user that basically tells interested applicants that they don’t do anything online (beyond telling them they don’t do anything online). Yeah, its weird, I know.
So not only did I need to restrict a number of features for our non-online application users, I also wanted to show them what they were missing. And make it very easy for them to switch to online and take advantage of the features that I “tease” them with in grey. Tablet and mobile versions are pretty much the same.
Finally I needed to deal with that last tier, the do-nothing users. With the problems we have had with users not updating their hiring status, if you are a not-hiring user, this is prepopulated for you. Interested applicants would see a red banner on your profile that clearly states “Not Hiring”.
The next step is to start sharing these interfaces with various user groups, tweak, and repeat until its time for a functional prototype stage.
