Stepstone
Creating and publishing job adverts is Stepstone’s core business, generating €514 million annually. However, the existing self-service tool, designed for SMBs, lacked key features required by larger companies, such as the ability to reuse previous information efficiently. I redesigned the builder to address these needs, enabling medium and large enterprises to create job adverts at scale.
Key results
Increased customer satisfaction by 15%
Enabled faster job advert creation
Improved text editing capabilities
My role & timeline
Led product design
Worked with Product, Research and Engineering
September 2024 - December 2024
The problem with our current solution
Employers struggle to create job adverts to attract quality talent
I analysed previous research and conducted usability tests on our existing job builder with diverse user groups, uncovering key insights:
Usability issues
Forced AI content generation
Unintuitive text editing
Lack of guidance
Unsure how to attract job seekers
Missing market insights
Frustratingly slow
Too many steps
No options to re-use existing content
Analysing the competition
Stepstone's builder was missing key features
I conducted a competitor and SWOT analysis of some of our direct (LinkedIn, Workable & Onlyfy) and in-direct (Upwork, Fiverr & Otta) competitors.
A key insight was that Stepstone required significantly more steps and interactions to create a final job advert compared to its competitors, highlighting an opportunity for streamlining the process.
Defining a strategy
Creating a plan to meet OKRs
Using insights from the discovery phase, I developed a design roadmap from late September through the end of the year.
This strategy focused on addressing the specific needs of larger customers, with the goal of enhancing user experience and increasing Net Promoter Score (NPS).
I set up monthly test-and-learn points with customers to ensure we were on the right track.
An iterative process
Ideate, prototype, test & learn
I frequently iterated during the design process, using prototypes and user testing to address key goals and validate decisions.
A significant challenge arose with the previous page layout, which struggled with structural issues, especially when integrating supporting content.
To tackle this, I explored three primary layout options and rigorously tested them against various content types. Ultimately, I selected a single-column layout, which enhanced task focus and provided scalability for future enhancements.
Enabling speed at scale
A key issue identified was the time required to create job adverts. I tested two solutions: reusable job ad templates and a document upload tool for pre-existing specifications.
After user testing and an impact vs. effort workshop, I prioritised the document upload tool for its efficiency and minimal user effort.
Flexible requirements gathering
I redesigned the requirements and responsibilities gathering process to help employers specify their unique needs.
This included introducing a granular importance scale, open text input, and optional AI-generated content for greater flexibility and precision.
Enhancing text edit
I explored various approaches to make text editing more intuitive. The final version I developed and tested struck a balance between enabling users to review and edit information effectively, especially since some entry points to this step involved AI-supported content creation.
Final screens & components
The outcome
Quantitative
Increased customer satisfaction at the job creation stage by 15%.
Qualitative
Reduced the steps to create a job advert from 8 to just 2, significantly streamlining the process.
Enhanced text editing functionality, making it more intuitive and user-friendly.
Next steps
Conduct further testing on the new design with larger customers.
Focus on increasing application quality by helping employers create better job adverts.
