Job Archive
Role: UX Designer
Responsibilities: Conducting interviews, paper and digital wireframing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, and iterating on designs.
Project Date: September 2022 - October 2022
JobArchive was made to help first generation immigrants in the United States find and apply to jobs with their native language in mind. Along with the job search feature, information on English courses and job fairs to build connections are also featured.
User Research
I conducted interviews and conducted empathy maps to understand the users and their needs. The primary user group identified through the research were immigrants who had recently moved to the United States, and those who’s first language was not English. This user group needed ways to search for jobs they had a degree in, and if needed, in their native language. Through research, we found it was difficult for users to find jobs related to their degree, especially when it came to search engines that were not in their native language.
Persona
Paul is a 20 year old University student. He immigrated to New York from South Korea when he was in middle school. He is close to graduating university, and wants to find a job. He would love to work at his dream company: The New York Times. He is having a hard time looking for an entry level job due to his English not being proficient and not knowing exactly where to look. He is currently working part time at a restaurant. During his break, or down time, he will consistently look through his phones web browser to search for a journalism job.
Goals:
find a job related to journalism
eventually work at the New York Times
Frustrations:
language barrier
“I do not know where to look”
Tina is a 35 year old, mother of 2. She recently immigrated from Vietnam to New Jersey, due to her husbands job. Tina received her doctorate in optometry in Vietnam. She is currently looking to be able to practice in New Jersey. She is not sure if her degree would transfer to the United States for practice. She has had a difficult time figuring this out, due to language barriers. While her children are in school, she will go on the computer to look for information, and different job openings.
Goals:
find a job as an optometrist
figure out if her degree will transfer over
Frustrations:
hard to find information due to language barrier
User Journey Map
I chose a persona that could serve as an all-in one persona, Paul, as a reference for my design decisions and created a journey map where I identified improvement opportunities.
Design Process: Site Map
Design Process: Wireframes
Paper Wireframes
I did an ideation exercise (crazy 8s) to generate ideas for the home page.
Stars were used to mark the elements of each sketch that would be used in the initial digital wireframes
Digital Wireframes
After ideating and drafting paper wireframes, I created the initial designs for the job search service. I wanted to make sure the users had an easy way to navigate.
Usability Study
Unmoderated Usability Study • United States, Remote • 5 participants • 30-60 minutes
Findings:
users wanted a way to search with distance in mind
users wanted a way to save job listings so they could refer back
users wanted easier access, or a way to filter if a job was remote, in office, or remote
Refining the Design
I created an advanced search option so that users could search with distance, working options (remote), along with other information.
Users can now save job listings, so that they can refer to it at a later time, if necessary.
Design Process: High-Fidelity Prototype
The high-fidelity prototype followed the same user flow as the low-fidelity prototype, including the design changes made after the usability study.
Going forward…
conduct another round of usability studies to see if there are any other pain points that need to be addressed
conduct more user research to determine if areas need to be added
What I learned…
While designing the job searching service I learned that the first ideas for the app are only the beginning of the process. Usability studies, feedback, and research influenced each iteration of the app’s designs. Each step taken was a learning opportunity.