Case study 2

Recruitment partner portal

Our large government organisation had a very lengthy recruitment process for their applicants. As a business they needed a way to manage a large body of applicants through the rigourous eligibility process, whilst ensuring their applicants recieved an excellent customer service.

Summary of the project

The client asked us to deliver an incredibly ambitious project over the course of 2 years.

Their intentions were to:

1Make the application process for their intended audience informative
2Make it easy for them to to use and to apply
3Easily track their progress and be notified of the status of their application
4Keep applicants engaged over long periods of "downtime" through gamification

My role

Senior user experience designer

Project timescale

2 years

3d isometric user interface

The problem statement

The users experience:

1The existing user experience was poor, lacking context and an understanding of what the users expected as outcomes
2There were very long periods of time where the user had no contact with the business and were left uninformed
3The existing application process was expected to be completed in a single session, and progress couldn't be saved
4Users were being asked for the same information, numerous times and on multiple occasions during their application
5The application process was filled with uncertainty with little to no communication during inactivity

The business

1The client had been experiencing a large fall-off of traffic from their website for their recruitment drive. They were looking for a new way to engage their demographic
2The authoring process was difficult to manage across multiple platforms - Editing and reuse were particularly difficult
3Content was inconsistent across the digital estate
4The recruitment process is lengthy, so they were looking to keep users actively engaged during low periods
5Ultimately they were looking to raise awareness and gain the interest of new recruits

RPP user research and paper prototyping

Multiple templates could be built from reusable components

The Design

The users experience

1Applicants needed to be able to begin their application process, save it, and carry on at a later stage
2There were a number of platforms which applicants could use apply - and so the language used throughout the digital estate had to be consistent
3Applicants were assigned a point of contact, to guide them though the lengthy application process - offering support and setting expectations throughout
4The applicants could use the app, the website or the isometric camp - to track their progress through a gamified experience
5Notifications were used to alert them of important events, due dates, and what documentation was required
5The applicants only had to provide their information once. Data was collected and saved securely and immediately - removing potential friction

The business experience

1Content authors used a content management system to author content in a consistent and structured way. One CMS pushing out to a number of digital platforms
2The development teams were given suppport and training on accessiblity principles (WCAG2.0 at the time)
3Spent time with the content authors navigating their content needs and ways of working
4Provided taxonomy and categorisation structure, that supported both the authoring mental models - and matched the users established mental models

Iterative collaboration was important

The solution

The users experience

1Applicants could apply through all/one of four systems consistently - Their points of entry required the four platforms (e.g. internal portal vs public facing website)
2Users were able to login to one platorm, logout, and sign in on another application, and their progress/data was saved
3The applicant were easily notified prior to any important dates, assessments, or when any documentation was due. The expected formats of all were also clearly explained
4During periods of low activity - user were provided with relevant content to help prepare them for their next steps
5They were kept in the loop of their eligibility and able track their progress through the application
5They were able to ask questions relevant to their application and recieve personalised feedback from their point of contact

The business design solution

1Authors only had to maintain the structure of the content in a single CMS - reducing time and effort across multiple platforms
2Only eligible applicants required an assignee - reducing the overhead for points of contact for ineligible applicants
3Points of contact could go in and easily automate the different stages required for the applicant - and assess their progress
4Governance was made simpler by having everything exist in one place
5All images and assets were optimised dynamically - and all brand rules were followed without the authors having to manage them

"Traditional" responsive website version

3D application for use with Occulus

Outcomes/Outputs included:

To date the product has not been launched. This is an ongoing project which may/may not be released. The outcome which was unanimous in our research was that the product would be incredibly useful for both the recruitment teams and their new recruits.

1User feedback has suggested that all four platforms would have had a huge positive impact on the recruitment drive.
2They loved the "isometric camp" view of the headquarters and felt this set a realistic expectation of what to expect
3Being able to track progress was a huge improvement for the business and the applicant.
4User loved the gamification aspect of the site. Having access to notifications and a point of contact were hugely helpful for self service

Design system and brand guidelines.