FindHer
FindHer
Empowering women in India to close the gender employment gap
Client Work • Job Search Platform • 0 to 1
6 min read
Role
UX Designer
Researched and wrote user interview questions, designed several core features, developed brand strategy
Timeline
4 months
Team
1 Project Lead
5 Designers
7 Developers
Tools
Figma
Context
During Spring 2023, I was a UI/UX Designer at Generate Product Development where I worked with 12 other students to build a client project, FindHer, from scratch.
FindHer is a job search web-app that empowers women in India to search for employment and enter the workforce. It features a unique dating app-style matching system, where both job applicants and businesses are users, selecting top matches based on each other's profiles.
THE PROBLEM
India's 2020 Labor Force Participation Rate*
*percent of people employed or actively seeking employment
A major reason for this stark difference is the stigmatization of working women in India, leaving women to care for the household instead of pursuing career growth. Even when employed, women are still expected to take on the brunt of household and family responsibilities.
72%
Men
24.8%
Women
vs.
24.8%
Women
THE SOLUTION
A job search web-app that seeks optimal matches between applicants and businesses through upfront policies and genuine user profiles.
#1
Questionnaire
Applicants determine what they need from their jobs.
#2
Personality-first applicant profile
Lets applicants show off their true selves and priorities.
#3
Transparent company profile
Displays company details, benefits,
and culture upfront.
Competitors lack personalized job/company matches and in-depth search functions for Indian women.
COMPETITIVE RESEARCH
USER INTERVIEWS
The team didn't have a great conception of the problem at hand, so we interviewed 4 Indian women who were currently working in India to better understand their job search pain points. I worked with another designer to research user interview best practices and together we wrote our interview questions. We found that:
Applicants want a comprehensive profile and seek transparency from companies.
Applications lack personal touch
Our interviewees felt like they only got to highlight their technical skills rather than their philosophies and personalities.
The interview process lacks communication
Interviewees were often unsure when they might hear back from companies or about next steps. Getting ghosted was a common theme as well.
The company’s treatment towards women should be clear
Are women treated well at this company? Does this company provide maternity leave? etc.
How might we prioritize transparency and enable users to fully represent themselves on a job platform?
PROBLEM STATEMENT
LO-FI WIREFRAMES - APPLICANT & BUSINESS PROFILES
Personable profiles inspired by dating apps.
Traditional job profiles felt uninspiring and sterile to me. Since one interview insight was to add more personality into profiles, I took inspiration from dating apps like Hinge and Bumble to make personable and comprehensive profiles with pictures, video statements, and layouts that highlighted these features.
After getting feedback from the team, we went with Design A since it was unique and strongly emphasized the applicant's personal section (pictures and video statement).
Changes included:
→ Removing the navigation bar since the compact layout made it unnecessary
→ Replacing the "About" card with questionnaire responses to make users' preferences explicit
→ Making the "Experience" section scrollable to minimize the need for page traveling
After getting feedback from the team, we went with Design A since it was unique and strongly emphasized the applicant's personal section (pictures and video statement).
Changes included:
→ Removing the navigation bar since the compact layout made it unnecessary
→ Replacing the "About" card with questionnaire responses to make users' preferences explicit
→ Making the "Experience" section scrollable to minimize the need for page traveling
ITERATIONS - APPLICANT & BUSINESS PROFILES
PROTOTYPE - APPLICANT PROFILE
LO-FI WIREFRAMES - APPLICANT & BUSINESS QUESTIONNAIRES
To make the questions more digestible, we created a segmented, click-through design. The responses here would appear on users' profiles, so each question was isolated for better focus. I initially explored a non-segmented scrolling design but decided a segmented version would be better to avoid the overwhelming feeling of an endless scroll.
Changes included:
→ Removing the small dots from the progress bar for cleaner UI
→ Adding ranking-type questions for better profile matches
→ Repositioning the "Back" and "Next" arrows for a more continuous flow
→ Removing the illustration for cleaner UI
ITERATIONS - APPLICANT & BUSINESS QUESTIONNAIRES
PROTOTYPE - JOB LISTING QUESTIONNAIRE FOR BUSINESSES
MORE HI-FIS
These pages were made by other designers on the team and you can see how some of them flow together in the following prototype. Although I didn't work on these, I wanted to show the breadth of features we had.
PROTOTYPE - APPLYING TO JOBS
VISUAL IDENTITY
CHALLENGES & TAKEAWAYS
There was some confusion with the platform's logistics which required us to reach out to the client. I learned that it's important to regularly check in with the client about questions since their vision and input are important to building a successful product.
MVP comes first.
Client communication is crucial.
Since this project began from scratch, the scope was fairly large and there were several ideas we weren't able to design because the MVP came first. Although I brought up some suggestions, I learned the importance of focusing on the "Must-haves" to stay on track and deliver an MVP on time.
THINGS I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY
Cut down the scope
The breadth of features we needed to design took away from the depth, making it hard to polish each feature. I would've liked to spend more time tweaking and testing a design than rapidly producing many features.
Conduct user testing
I'm interested in how intuitive our product is and how the branding would be received. This was a semester-long project only so unfortunately, I haven't been able to follow up on its progress.
Thanks for reading!
Check out my other work ↴
Thanks for reading!
Check out my other work ↴
Xometry
|
Redesigning an old staff tool to provide a seamless experience
Klaviyo
|
Removing user error and stress from marketing campaigns
Klaviyo
|
Removing user error and stress from marketing campaigns
Xometry
|
Redesigning an old staff tool to provide a seamless experience
FindHer
Empowering women in India to close the gender employment gap
Client Work • Job Search Platform • 0 to 1
6 min read
Role
UX Designer
Researched and wrote user interview questions, designed several core features, developed brand strategy
Timeline
4 months
Team
1 Project Lead
5 Designers
7 Developers
Tools
Figma
Context
During Spring 2023, I was a UI/UX Designer at Generate Product Development where I worked with 12 other students to build a client project, FindHer, from scratch.
FindHer is a job search web-app that empowers women in India to search for employment and enter the workforce. It features a unique dating app-style matching system, where both job applicants and businesses are users, selecting top matches based on each other's profiles.
THE PROBLEM
India's 2020 Labor Force Participation Rate*
*percent of people employed or actively seeking employment
A major reason for this stark difference is the stigmatization of working women in India, leaving women to care for the household instead of pursuing career growth. Even when employed, women are still expected to take on the brunt of household and family responsibilities.
72%
Men
24.8%
Women
vs.
24.8%
Women
THE SOLUTION
A job search web-app that seeks optimal matches between applicants and businesses through upfront policies and genuine user profiles.
#1
Questionnaire
Applicants determine what they need from their jobs.
#2
Personality-first applicant profile
Lets applicants show off their true selves and priorities.
#3
Transparent company profile
Displays company details, benefits,
and culture upfront.
Competitors lack personalized job/company matches and in-depth search functions for Indian women.
COMPETITIVE RESEARCH
USER INTERVIEWS
The team didn't have a great conception of the problem at hand, so we interviewed 4 Indian women who were currently working in India to better understand their job search pain points. I worked with another designer to research user interview best practices and together we wrote our interview questions. We found that:
Applicants want a comprehensive profile and seek transparency from companies.
Applications lack personal touch
Our interviewees felt like they only got to highlight their technical skills rather than their philosophies and personalities.
The interview process lacks communication
Interviewees were often unsure when they might hear back from companies or about next steps. Getting ghosted was a common theme as well.
The company’s treatment towards women should be clear
Are women treated well at this company? Does this company provide maternity leave? etc.
How might we prioritize transparency and enable users to fully represent themselves on a job platform?
PROBLEM STATEMENT
LO-FI WIREFRAMES - APPLICANT & BUSINESS PROFILES
Personable profiles inspired by dating apps.
Traditional job profiles felt uninspiring and sterile to me. Since one interview insight was to add more personality into profiles, I took inspiration from dating apps like Hinge and Bumble to make personable and comprehensive profiles with pictures, video statements, and layouts that highlighted these features.
After getting feedback from the team, we went with Design A since it was unique and strongly emphasized the applicant's personal section (pictures and video statement).
Changes included:
→ Removing the navigation bar since the compact layout made it unnecessary
→ Replacing the "About" card with questionnaire responses to make users' preferences explicit
→ Making the "Experience" section scrollable to minimize the need for page traveling
ITERATIONS - APPLICANT & BUSINESS PROFILES
PROTOTYPE - APPLICANT PROFILE
LO-FI WIREFRAMES - APPLICANT & BUSINESS QUESTIONNAIRES
To make the questions more digestible, we created a segmented, click-through design. The responses here would appear on users' profiles, so each question was isolated for better focus. I initially explored a non-segmented scrolling design but decided a segmented version would be better to avoid the overwhelming feeling of an endless scroll.
Changes included:
→ Removing the small dots from the progress bar for cleaner UI
→ Adding ranking-type questions for better profile matches
→ Repositioning the "Back" and "Next" arrows for a more continuous flow
→ Removing the illustration for cleaner UI
ITERATIONS - APPLICANT & BUSINESS QUESTIONNAIRES
PROTOTYPE - JOB LISTING QUESTIONNAIRE FOR BUSINESSES
MORE HI-FIS
These pages were made by other designers on the team and you can see how some of them flow together in the following prototype. Although I didn't work on these, I wanted to show the breadth of features we had.
PROTOTYPE - APPLYING TO JOBS
VISUAL IDENTITY
CHALLENGES & TAKEAWAYS
There was some confusion with the platform's logistics which required us to reach out to the client. I learned that it's important to regularly check in with the client about questions since their vision and input are important to building a successful product.
MVP comes first.
Client communication is crucial.
Since this project began from scratch, the scope was fairly large and there were several ideas we weren't able to design because the MVP came first. Although I brought up some suggestions, I learned the importance of focusing on the "Must-haves" to stay on track and deliver an MVP on time.
THINGS I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY
Cut down the scope
The breadth of features we needed to design took away from the depth, making it hard to polish each feature. I would've liked to spend more time tweaking and testing a design than rapidly producing many features.
Conduct user testing
I'm interested in how intuitive our product is and how the branding would be received. This was a semester-long project only so unfortunately, I haven't been able to follow up on its progress.
Thanks for reading!
Check out my other work ↴
Thanks for reading!
Check out my other work ↴
Xometry
|
Redesigning an old staff tool to provide a seamless experience
Klaviyo
|
Removing user error and stress from marketing campaigns