Applicant Tracking System
Timeline
January 2022 - April 2023
Background
Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) help companies organize candidates for hiring and recruitment purposes. These systems allow businesses to organize and filter candidates based on their experience and skills.
Business objectives
This project aimed to revitalize an existing Applicant Tracking System (ATS) by enhancing its UX/UI for both clients and employees that used the platform. The goal was to solidify our position as a digital recruitment leader in LATAM by:
Optimizing User Experience: Simplifying navigation, enhancing information display, and improving component interaction will create a seamless and intuitive experience for both clients and employees. This will increase user satisfaction and engagement with the platform.
Boosting Conversions: By optimizing the user experience, we aim to increase micro-conversions, such as application submissions or job postings, ultimately leading to increased revenue through successful recruitment efforts.
Methodology
In the fast-paced startup environment, the ATS redesign required rapid iteration. We adopted the Agile methodology, prioritizing features in short sprints with frequent user testing. This facilitated continuous feedback, design iteration, and timely value delivery. Throughout each sprint, a technical handoff ensured the development team had a crystal-clear understanding of every section being built, fostering close collaboration for a successful outcome.
Let´s talk about the process
Phase 1: Empathize & define
User-Centered Design & Data-Driven Optimization
A highly iterative and user-centered design process formed the foundation of the project. I actively participated in each stage, ensuring continuous feedback loops and optimal results. This comprehensive approach incorporated:
Deep User Understanding
Joining the team, I became a new user myself. This helped me quickly learn the platform's ins and outs, identify any frustrations users might have, and get a head start on improvement ideas.Extensive user research (internal & external) pinpointed user needs and pain points. Benchmarking of over 17 international HR platforms and ATS provided valuable best practices and improvement opportunities, which led to an analysis of product differentiation strategies and best practices.
Data-Driven Insights
User behavior analysis through Hotjar, revealed heatmaps showcasing user focus and potential problem areas. This data directly influenced design decisions to improved user engagement and usability. Heres some of the data we analyzed:
Areas of Low Engagement: Heatmaps revealed sections with minimal user interaction, suggesting these elements might be confusing or irrelevant.
Unexpected Clicks: Heatmaps highlighted unexpected clicks or areas where users clicked outside of intended interaction points, indicating potential usability issues.
Scrolling Patterns: Heatmap analysis of scrolling behavior helped us understand how far users were typically scrolling down a page. This data informed decisions about information placement and content prioritization.
Phase 2: Ideate, prototype & test
Ideation & Iterative Refinement:
Collaborative Prioritization: User research and benchmarking findings were documented and presented to stakeholders, to establish clear business priorities and a well-defined direction for the redesign.
Brainstorming: Collaborative brainstorming sessions fostered a wide range of ideas, generating a broad range of ideas using mind-mapping tools for visual clarity. Ideas were then categorized and prioritized (e.g., interesting, potentially risky) to identify those most suitable for prototyping and testing.
Prototyping: Prototyping bridges the gap from ideation to reality. This "thinking by doing" approach allows me to explore feature dynamics early, minimizing wasted development effort. Prototypes also serve as clear communication tools, fostering team alignment on the feature's potential impact. This iterative process, coupled with user testing, drives data-driven design refinement and ensures a user-centric product vision.
Usability Testing & Refinement: This stage is all about overcoming biases and let real users give you feedback about the product and identify potential flaws before launch, allowing for necessary iterations and refinement.
Phase 3: The results
Enhanced User Experience
Cohesive & Accessible Design:
A unified design language prioritizes accessibility considerations, like color contrast, readable fonts and component dimensions, creating a user-friendly and inclusive experience for all users.
Intuitive User Journey:
Eliminated unnecessary complexity, addresses users pain points, and ensures feature relevance and usefulness. This results in a more intuitive and efficient journey for both internal recruiters and clients.
Improved Client Satisfaction:
By optimizing existing features and developing new functionalities based on user needs, we created a more user-friendly and enjoyable recruitment experience. This ultimately led to attracting a wider client base and boosting overall customer satisfaction..
