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Product: ATS (Applicant Tracking System) Project Scope: A comprehensive overhaul of the candidate-facing career portal, spanning 30+ flows and touchpoints. This portal is white-labeled by enterprise and mid-market clients, serving millions of job seekers globally.
My Role & Responsibilities
As the Lead Designer, I was responsible for:
1. Research & Discovery
2. Ideation & Design
3. Design System Adaptation
4. Validation & Testing
5. Cross-functional Collaboration
6. Communication & Stakeholder Management
Challenges
1. Outdated & Inconsistent UI: The existing portal had multiple disjointed screens, leading to confusion and drop-offs.
2. White-labeling Requirements: The solution needed to be highly customizable to reflect each client’s brand identity.
3. Complex User Journeys: Candidates perform tasks like job searching, joining talent communities, applying for roles, and managing interactions post-application. This called for seamless navigation and consistent feedback loops.
4. Low Adoption & Satisfaction: Previously, only ~50% of our customer base actively used the ATS product. Candidate and recruiter satisfaction scores were lagging due to clunky workflows.
Business Need
By creating a more usable and clean career portal experience, we aimed to:
• Increase ATS Adoption: Encourage more customers to enable and use the product.
• Enhance Candidate Satisfaction: Remove friction in the application process, leading to higher conversion rates and better brand perception for our clients.
• Enable Client Customization: Deliver a white-labeled solution that large-scale enterprises and smaller companies alike could effortlessly brand and adapt.
Our company’s ATS is used by companies of all sizes—from small businesses to large enterprises—to manage their recruiting process. The candidate-facing career portal needed a modern, intuitive, and adaptive overhaul to meet escalating user expectations and to stay competitive in the B2B SaaS market.
Design Process
1. Research & Discovery
• Stakeholder & User Interviews: Gathered insights on current pain points from recruiters, hiring managers, and candidates.
• Competitor Benchmarking: Compared competitor ATS portals to identify industry-standard features, usability norms, and design patterns.
• Sentiment Testing: Used Optimal Workshop to gauge immediate reactions to the old portal vs. redesigned concepts, as well as competitor experiences. This early feedback guided our prioritization of key areas (e.g., search flow, application steps).
2. Brainstorming & Feasibility Check
• Collaborative Sessions with Dev Teams: Hosted preemptive brainstorms to explore possible UX enhancements and validate technical feasibility. This early engagement helped secure buy-in and reduced surprises down the line.
• Ideation Workshops: Paired with another designer to sketch out future-state concepts, focusing on the end-to-end candidate journey.
3. Wireframing & High-Fidelity Design
• Adaptive Layouts: Created both mobile and desktop versions from the start, ensuring the experience was fully responsive.
• Design System Integration: Strategically pushed the boundaries of our design system to accommodate white-labeling needs, introducing new component variations and color theming options.
• Component Library Updates: Partnered with the design system team to get new or modified components documented so developers could easily implement them.
4. Testing & Iteration
• UserTesting.com: Conducted moderated sessions to validate the revamped flows, focusing on sign-up, job search, application, and post-application engagement.
• Rapid Iteration: Gathered user feedback on clarity, speed, and error prevention, then iterated on the design to address top issues like confusing navigation or overloaded form fields.
5. Final Specifications & Handoff
• Interactive Prototypes & Detailed Specs: Delivered clear documentation on interaction states, accessibility standards, and responsive behavior.
• Frequent Check-ins: Maintained ongoing touchpoints with PMs and devs to address any roadblocks, ensuring alignment and on-time delivery.
Impact & Results
1. High Traffic, Global Reach: Over 30 million candidates now interact with the redesigned portal across hundreds of client-branded experiences.
2. Improved Satisfaction Metrics: Post-launch feedback from alpha/beta customers showed higher satisfaction scores:
• Candidate-side CSAT: Marked improvement from initial baseline scores, validating the new, modern, and streamlined UI.
3. Positive Reception from Dev Teams: The robust documentation and early collaboration helped developers quickly implement changes, reducing time to market.
4. Enhanced Brand Perception: The polished design raised the bar for our entire HCM suite, emphasizing usability and modern design principles.
Reflection
This two-month initiative not only modernized a critical piece of our ATS offering but also demonstrated the value of early and consistent cross-functional alignment—from dev feasibility checks to design system enhancements. By keeping business objectives at the forefront and actively listening to candidate feedback, we delivered an experience that was both user-centric and business-impactful.
Key Takeaways
• Integrate Teams Early: Preemptive brainstorming with dev leadership reduced technical roadblocks and fostered strong buy-in.
• Design System First: Adapting established components for a white-labeled platform underscored the importance of design system flexibility.
• Data-Driven Decisions: Employing user testing and sentiment analysis throughout kept the redesign on track to meet user needs.
• Proactive Communication: Frequent updates to PMs and stakeholders ensured everyone stayed informed and supportive.
This iniative not only modernized a critical piece of our ATS offering but also demonstrated the value of early and consistent cross-functional alignment—from dev feasibility checks to design system enhancements. By keeping business objectives at the forefront and actively listening to candidate feedback, we delivered an experience that was both user-centric and business-impactful.
