Project Description
Charlotte’s Web
Introduction
User Problem
– Getting good referrals is tedious and often wastes the recruiters’ time.
– Recruiters need a quick and easy way to keep track of their network.
– Recruiters need a fast, upfront, and easy way to provide monetary incentives to persons providing referrals.
Business Problem
There initial business problem posed:
– How do we get recruiters to ask for more referrals? The data supports that they result in better placements. This in turn leads to us making more money.
Solution
The solution proposed by the stakeholder was a mobile app that would integrate into the clients internal structure and make it easy for recruiters to ask for and get referrals by providing monetary incentives.
– This was not possible given the budgetary limitations of the project.
– It also did not take into account that many recruiters do not want to advertise a referral fee as it typically comes out of their spread.
The Solution we came to together proposed that we enable recruiters to track how good of a relationship they have with those within their networks.
– It was within budget, solved a core problem for our users, and could easily be built upon to address the other needs of recruiters.
Expected Results & Success Metrics
15 – 20% increase in placements!
Logistics
Scope
This was an extremely short project with the total hours being slightly over 420. The deadline was also extremely tight. One of the biggest challenges here was designing something that could be built within this time period and still address the problem.
My Role
I was the sole designer on this project. In addition, I handled PM duties for the duration of the project.
Main areas of responsibility:
– Creating and running a design workshop with client
– User Research
– Prototyping
– User Testing
– UX Analysis
– Wire frames
– Mock ups
Team Make Up
Team Role |
Hours / Sprint | Total Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Product Manager | NA | 20 |
| UX Designer | NA | 26 |
| Front End Dev | 40 – 80 | 200 |
| Back End Dev | 40 – 80 | 200 |
| QA | NA | 0 |
Solution
Home Page
For the home page, we wanted a unique, simple, and easy way to communicate the general warmth of your relationships with the people you know. Think of how wide of a range of individuals are in your 1st connections on LinkedIn.
– Profiles are created or imported or a combination depending on what data comes in.
– The User can scroll up or farther away from themselves to see cooler connections and down and towards themselves to see warmer connections.
– The dial scrolls through people horizontally/alphabetically.
Profile
When clicking on a user profile, you have the option to star the person which will move them closer to you and denote a warmer connection. You can also go to a detail view of that person profile.
– The intention was that contacts would be mass imported and connections to messaging and email APIs would automatically track communications.
– Being able to do this manually was important as well because people use other methods of communication such as LinkedIn.
Menu, Filter & Listview
- The menu is extremely simple with only icons showing; network view, list view, and profile.
– Filtering toggles let you limit who you see onscreen if you have a large network.
– The list view is a simplified version of the network view, but it also allows you to search.
Outcomes
This project had a unique outcome.
Our primary stakeholder and the users we tested with found value in the product prototype and thought it would be helpful to them in their recruiting efforts overall and in getting more referrals. Our primary stakeholder was pleased that the product could be built within scope.
During the design process, our team did not have access to my stakeholder’s senior who had very specific ideas regarding the product. After showing them the prototype we engaged in direct communication with the senior stakeholder. An explanation of how the budget was limiting what was technically feasible was provided and it was decided that the project would be paused for the time being.
We ended up saving the client a ton of money!
Discovery & Strategy
DISCOVERY WORKSHOP
Immediately upon starting the project we made sure that we would have recruiters to interview and test our prototype with. They were not able to attend the workshop in person or virtually so I set up the initial discovery workshop with the stakeholder and separate interviews for each recruiter. One thing that was unique about this workshop was that stakeholder wanted to do a Lean Business Model Canvas, so I incorporated some workshop methods into the creation process for this canvas so we could get the insight of other team members.
Our developer could not stress enough in the workshop how very little could actually be built within the scope and budget. Idea after idea was shot down. This had a huge impact on how we moved forward!
NOT A DESIGN SPRINT
– Discovery Questions – Sent to client before hand to get them thinking.
– User Persona Definition
– Lean Business Model Canvas
– Hypothesis: Problem, Solution, Expected Result
– Long Term Goals
– Finding Our Center: Team and client vote on priorities and jobs to be done.
One of the favorite exercises among stakeholders in almost every workshop or design sprint I run is called, “Finding Our Center.” It is a cheesy name but the exercise allows the group to express what they think is the most important task for the app to accomplish and the stakeholder gets to be the decider.
Definition & Research
User Interview Quotes
Lisa: Digital Recruiter
Lisa has 3 years of experience and finds candidates for companies like Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, and Starbucks. She fills about 9 reqs per quarter.
“Checking in with people you have not talked to in a while and staying consistent with people is important. Maybe you don’t have a role now but you might later.”
“Where do most of the candidates you find come from?”
“LinkedIn, definitely LinkedIn. Every digital recruiter starts and ends their day there.”
“The biggest incentive is putting someone to work because that is money in your pocket.”
“In my whole 3 years of doing this, I have probably, maybe got three total positions filled that came from a referral.”
“Would you say this is something you put much effort towards?”
“No, not at all.”
“Typically I’d say that there are no incentives for referrals. It’s not really something we advertise because it comes out of our spread. So it’s not something that we want to give to everyone right? It does not really benefit the person giving the referral either, to me it does,’t really seem like something I should put a lot of effort into.”
Julie: Account Recruiting Manager
Julie has 6 years of experience and is an Account Recruiting Manager for a Microsoft account. She is a successful hybrid account manager and recruiter.
“I don’t think people give referrals for the fee or a gift card. It makes people feel good be the person that refers somebody. I do like the idea of making it easier to get people referral fees. If they know they are going to get it maybe they will think harder to provide a good one. If people know up front that they could get one, they will be incentivized.
“How do you measure success?”
“There are company goals and ladders, but I do a percentage for myself. I filled 8 reqs last year and I am on track for 10 this year in addition to my other duties.”
“Do you think people prefer the gift cards or the referral fees?”
“I think they prefer the one that is more money.”
“A lot of my network is referral based. For entry level positions I will post it on Facebook and get a bunch of hits. I build my network that way and I would say that 20 – 30% of my referrals are from Facebook. ”
“Do most of your references come from friends or are the professional?”
“I would say it is a pretty even split between friends and former’s that have worked with me in the past.”
“I would say that my main tool is LinkedIn.”
“Do you feel like talking to all the referrals you get makes you less efficient? Like it wastes time?”
“Yeah I do feel that way. Sometimes I get a referral and see there resume and I am like, “UGH!” I take the time to talk to them because I want to keep them coming but they do waste my time.”
“Is the recruiting process faster when you get a referral?”
“Yes. It is 100% faster. People are eager and want to move through the process quickly.”
“I never offer referral fees. I’ll buy people a gift card or send them lunch or dinner and expense it just like a meal.”
“What is the difference between these two?”
“Going through the process of corporate approval is horrible. I did it once, it takes forever. I can get a gift card today.”
Michael: Digital Recruiter
Michael has 2 years of experience and is a digital creative recruiter. He works to fill reqs for a wide range of enterprise clients and fills about 4 reqs a month.
“Do you think there is a way to provide people incentive to give better referrals?”
“I think in general people refer friends and close acquaintances. People also tend to be very adamant about how great that person is even if they are not a great fit for the roll.”
“What percent of the referrals you receive are a waste?”
“I would say 75 to 80% go nowhere.”
“How do you measure your success?”
“The number 1 way is money. Number 2 way is my standing on the ladder internally. Our profession is competitive.”
“Can you elaborate?”
“Yeah, so there is a ranking system, how much have you brought in compared to others. Everybody has numbers, I want to be at the top.”
“When you get a referral, do you feel there is a higher chance of that person landing the role?”
“I think it depends on circumstance. If I get one from the manager of that team, yes. If it s a general referral no.”
“Do you feel like it goes faster?”
“Probably a little bit because they are from a trusted source.”
“I don’t like reaching out to people for referrals. I just don’t like it. There are alot of bad referrals for the few good ones. Great candidates are likely finding a lot of opportunities on their own. That being said I do talk to every person that is referred to me.”
“What keeps a relationship with somebody providing referrals going? Is it mutual benefit or?”
“You have to keep talking to them, More than just consistent communication, you have to tune in and keep up with people.”
“How do you keep track of people? A hot-book? Post its? Spreadsheets?”
“We have a database system called Tickles. It gives you a reminder every 30 days or so to reach out. I do this with everybody and hope that something comes from it in the future.”
“I would say for every 15 referrals I get. 1 gets traction and potentially plays out. It is probably a little less frequent than 1 per quarter.”
Refining Research
We had a tight schedule and needed to make sense of the research. I reviewed notes from the interviews and categorized the ideas into the following categories.
– Thoughts & Beliefs
– Actions
– Success
– Stats
– General Ideas
– Pain Points
Ideas went into categories on a Miro board. Then,
– SME quickly voted on all.
– As they voted I identified areas of interest or conflict.
– Probing questions and discussions.
Thoughts & Beliefs
– All agreed that the higher level of the role the more likely they would be to try and find a referral.
– All agreed we could not change how or who people would refer, but thought that monetary incentives would be the best way to drive better referrals.
– All agreed that they would not put effort into referrals because is there no return.
Actions
– All agree that most candidates they submit are actively looking for a job and most people they get referrals for actively looking for a job.
– All said that they prioritize the roles that have the highest chance to land and prep their candidates.
– All agree that doing research on a referral is a necessary prior to speaking with them.
– All use some sort of tool to remind them to reach out to people every day.
– All reach out to referrals even if they know they will not place.
Success
– All agreed that success in their role was measured by the money they brought in and the number of people placed in jobs.
– All agreed that they want to be ranked higher than their peers, but also say they don’t care to compete with those around them.
– All agreed that building their personal brand is important.
Pain Points
– All agree that different types of recruiting such as creative are more subjective than other verticals.
– All agree that most referrals come through text or email.
– All agree that referrals are not just for friends and family.
– Most agree that filtering or objectively measuring referrals would be helpful.
– All agree that people who refer friends think they are great but they rarely are.
– All agree that having corporate approve referral fees take forever and is not worth the time.
Stats
– Most agree that less than 20% of the reqs they fill come from a referral and that most referrals are not good for the tole they are being referred for.
– All agree that they spend at least 4 hours a day on LinkedIn.
– This section had the largest number of splits, but the general sentiment was that not many referrals would be good or would end up in a placement.
General Ideas
– Most agree that recruiters will not work together to bring in a single req.
– All agree that recruiters typically work individually.
– All would agree that they do not actively seek referrals.
– Most feel like they are wasting time on referrals.
– All agree that being consistent with your network is the key to success, but everybody did this differently. Post its, whiteboards, software, notebooks were all used.
– All agreed that the process and software suggested and implemented by corporate did not help them to fill reqs.
Analysis & Ideas
Painting a Picture
The initial goal of the project was to make it easier for recruiters to get better and more referrals from their referrers by providing incentives to the referrers and making it easier for the recruiters in the process as well. Some of our key findings during the interviews were:
– Most people refer friends and close colleagues.
– A large percentage of referrals do not work out and even waste the time of the recruiter.
– Compensation is not a huge motivator for providing referrals but thought that it could incentivize better referrals.
– Many recruiters do not spend time and are not comfortable asking for referrals.
– Many of the current internal tools recruiters use are not actually helping their workflow.
– The chance of recruiters working together in a team format is very low.
– Recruiters do not like reaching out to people for referrals, they often feel like they are bugging them. At the same time recruiters understand the importance of reaching out to everybody in their network regularly.
Ideas that would not work
Anything including any type of payment system was immediately out of scope for the development team. Even if this was in scope there would be an enormous amount of corporate red tape with approvals etc. In addition, recruiters were concerned that they referral fee would come out of their spread which would make them not want to use it.
Anything that would promote team work for improved performance of the whole. Recruiters are competitive and prefer not to work with others as that would impact the money they make. They like being able to rely on themselves and their own hard work.
While most agreed that a filtering system or way of objectively testing referrals would be helpful, the data, and subject matter expertise for each type of role or candidate pushed this out of scope even if it was only going to be for one vertical.
Ideas that could work
An app that would import contacts and track communications by plugging into text and email apis. The app would measure this input and display visually.
An app that would let you track how close you were to the people in your network and would allow you to manually record interactions with people.
An app that would allow you to enter some very basic profile information for people in your network.
Design & Iteration
Round 1
– We initially did not know if we would be able to complete an app and it was thought that creating a web app as opposed to cross-platform app would be easier.
– The main idea and simplest version of the application was to manually add people into the app that you wanted to keep tabs on.
– Then you could manually track your communications with them.
– You could visually see how warm or cold the relationship was.
– You could view their profile and add small amounts of information to the profile.
– One wire-frame here shows the main page with contact profile images viewable from cool to warm relationships.
– Relationships automatically get cooler if you do not communicate with them.
– The bottom dial is to sort through contact alphabetically.
– The other wire-frames shows some of the available filters and lets the user navigate between a list-view, the visualization, and their own profile.
– One wire-frame here shows a basic profile page with limited information and the ability to manually star this person meaning you had some type of interaction with them. A Star would result in a shared interaction and move them closer to you.
– Stale days are the number of days since you have communicated with this person and each on of those moves the person farther away from you.
– The other wire-frame shows what happens when you click a profile.
– A star is shared interaction.
– The profile icon takes to you to that users profile detail page.
– The hand can be used to move that user manually. One idea for this was placing people once they are brought in vs having a default. Another was that sometimes a simple shared interaction or lack their of is not enough to define a relationship.
Implementation & Collaboration
To build or not to build?
While we never did get to build this solution, part of the reason we did not was because of how closely we worked with our developer and involved them in the discussion about the possible designs with the stakeholder. We communicated with the stakeholder almost immediately after our initial discovery that it would be almost impossible to solve the intended problem with the scope and resources available. Thanks to great teamwork and communication we saved our client a ton of money.
Evaluation & Observation
USER TESTING WINS
– Users enjoyed the easy visualization of their network and thought it would make it easier to be a better recruiter.
– They asked for features that would make it easier to communicate directly from the app which could be added in the future.
– They also asked if they could invite their contacts after they imported them into the app. This was a feature we wanted to implement but was placed into the backlog.
– Users appreciated the overall simplicity of the application.
Take Away
User found value in the app and many of the features they asked about were things that could be built on top of the existing app but were just currently out of scope. All users had a way of keeping track of their network, but they all did it differently which kept them from leveraging the power of their network. This solution was simple enough and provided enough value that they were all able to get behind it now in addition to being excited for how it could grow.
Conclusion
The budget for the project had a major impact on what we could and could not do. Once we realized the scale of the problem outmatched what we could design or build we informed the stakeholder and they chose to move forward.
According to the users we tested with, the prototype would provide value. However it did not immediately solve the initial problem that the final decision maker wanted solved. This is good example of why it is important to have all stakeholders and decision makers be a part of the process. So decisions are transparent, communicated clearly and understood. In the end, I still consider this project a win as we saved the client money that could have been spent attempting to build a solution with not enough budget. We also came across many interesting thoughts, feelings, and ideas users had that challenged some of the assumptions being made what drives recruiters.