Indeed Interview Platform
01 Scope
This is a zero-to-one incubator project that has grown to become the #1 priority at Indeed.
02 My role
Led UX/UI & research from scratch. Facilitated design workshop. Partnered with PM to define the product vision. Collaborated with designers from other teams along the way.
03 Team
The team started with 1 UX designer (me!), 9 developers, and 1 PM. We have now grown to 3 sub-teams with 3 UX designers, 30 Developers, and 4 PMs.
PROBLEM
Covid-19 led employers to cancel in-person hiring events.
A hiring event is like a job fair but with only one company hosting the event and with actual interviews occuring.
SOLUTION & RESULT
Our team built a video interview tool—Indeed’s No.1 priority.
5.2m interviews conducted
$67.2m in revenue facilitated
3x more preferred by employers
PHASE 01
Get the basics right
Launch the MVP for Hiring Events and iterate based on feedback.
LEARNING FROM IN-PERSON EVENTS
There are 3 user roles at the event.
LEARNING FROM IN-PERSON EVENTS
Two common use cases inform the event flow.
Any interviewers can interview any candidates — When the employer is hiring for one role or very similar roles, it’s less important for coordinators to direct the traffic.
Specific interviewers must interview certain candidates — When the employer is hiring for multiple roles at the event, the coordinator needs to direct the candidate to the right interviewer.
First, the candidate checks in when they arrives.
The coordinator directs the candidate to the right interviewer.
The interviewer and the candidate connects.
EMPLOYER MVP
We designed and launched the MVP in 1 month.
Focusing on the simpler use case to move fast — The other use case will be supported with the Assign feature.
Lean research — For the initial research, I relied on past research and experts from the Hiring Events team.
Only implement essential features — The video room only allows 2 people at a time, and the only actions were mute/unmute, turn the camera on/off, and end the interview.
CANDIDATE MVP
Taking a mobile-first approach for the candidate experience.
More than 60% of jobseekers on Indeed are on mobile. Past Indeed research also indicated that some JS don't have access to computers. Currently, most candidates access the interview platform on mobile.
GATHERING MVP FEEDBACK
I talked to 11 users and sent post-event surveys.
“I really loved this hiring event. It was so convenient for both parties. I would love to do this again.” — a pilot user
POST-MVP FEEDBACK
Connection issues were disrupting interviews.
Strategy 1: Prevent errors early by letting users test connections. Result: -53% decrease in error
Strategy 2: Provide a fallback option to connect by phone. Result 16% increase in interview rate
POST-MVP FEEDBACK
Not having a resume made interviews inefficient
We introduced the resume feature. Interviewers look at resumes during interviews so that they can talk about candidates’ specific work experiences. Based on my feature prioritization survey, 92% of employers said they often or always view resumes during the interview.
BY Q4 2020
We generated over $2 million in revenue.
We also facilitated over 200k interviews. The company set a goal to increase the number of interviews for 2021.
PHASE 02
Grow the product
Scale the platform to support more products and use cases
STRATEGY
Integrate with 5 more Indeed products
EXPANDING THE USE CASE
Support a new interview type—Scheduled Interview.
Scheduled interview is the the typical interview where two parties agree on a set time. I removed unnecessary steps and add fallback options for the late states.
WITH THE PRODUCT GROWTH
I ran research and proposed a new interview room's information architecture.
We learned that users grouped their actions into two major categories: “candidates’ info and “video controls.” When searching for actions, they were first drawn to the bottom bar. They also tend to glance over a large groups of actions because they're harder to parse.
PHASE 03
Differentiate the product
Define the product strategy
STRATEGY
Provide a more complete interview experience on Indeed.
RESEARCH & BRAINSTORM
Gaining alignment with research and a design workshop.
I conducted 2 research projects with a total of 26 employers to understand how Indeed can help employers track interview notes and feedback. Then, I led a design workshop with 4 researchers and 6 designers from other teams to align our visions.
VISION
My research indicated that we should focus on structured interviews for SMB employers.
1. SMB employers found value in keeping interview records on Indeed.
2. Enterprise employers hesitated to switch their processes.
3. SMB employers wanted more guidance in interview best practices and interview questions. Indeed can help these employers implement structured interviews.
01 Interview guide
Employers can keep their interviews consistent with an interview guide. They can use Indeed’s suggested questions or add their own.
02 Structured notes
Employers take notes directly on their interview guides. They thought structured notes help them easily scan info about the candidate afterward.
03 Structured feedback
Employers were excited about the structured feedback because it helps them keep track of the “why” behind the decision and makes comparing candidates easier.
04 Debrief room
For interviews with multiple interviewers, employers said they typically have a debrief meeting where they talk about the feedback from each interviewer.
05 Top candidates
When having only a few openings, employers like to compare top candidates side-by-side. They currently use excel sheets or to-do-list boards to do this.
HIGHLIGHT
My vision designs and research resulted in Structured Interview Team being formed.
“Daowz has strengths in research and understanding our customers… [she] went well above and beyond in building a fantastic vision for Interviews. It expanded the scope of Interviews at Indeed.” —Product Director
OVERALL RESULT