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Usability enhancement for task efficiency

mlee partnered with a staffing agency to develop a CRM platform tailored to recruiters. While the platform offered robust search capabilities, its design fell short in usability due to feature misalignment, creating hurdles for the recruiter's daily workflows. My role in this project was to address these gaps by identifying and solving usability issues to empower users for recruitment success.

Team

3 Product Designers

6 Developers

What I did

UX Research, Product Design

Usability Test

Timeline

September - December 2024

(4 months)

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Project Overview

mlee needs to improve the requisition page to ensure the recruiters' efficiency in managing requisition. In order to do so, I:

  • Facilitated 10+ contextual inquiries and user interviews with recruiters

  • Identified 5+ critical UX issues

  • Delivered 3 high-impact UX solutions

Problem

Despite its potential, the CRM platform's design caused unnecessary friction in recruiters' workflows, delaying hiring processes and detracting from the platform's value as a recruitment tool. Key challenges included:

  • A cluttered, non-intuitive interface

  • Inefficient filter navigation

  • Complex tracking and managing requisitions flow

Goal

The project focused on improving recruiters’ task efficiency and user experience by:

  • Redesigning the navigation to increase accuracy and scalability

  • Simplifying the requisition table to prioritize actionable insights and streamline workflows

Results

13.2%

increased overall recruiters satisfaction

26%

Reduction in task completion time

Methodology

To deliver a better user experience, I conducted 3 contextual inquiries and user interviews to get a deeper understanding of user workflow and learn about how they navigate the current product. In addition, we leverage competitor analysis to ensure design consistency. And I conducted A/B Testing and usability with 15+ users to ensure usability improvements.

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User Research
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Problem Identification
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Design solutions
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User Tests
Current Requisition Page

Excessive task completion time caused by unclear visual elements and a complex workflow

The requisition page is the backbone of recruiters' daily workflows, helping them manage job postings, track progress, and prioritize tasks. However, they reported frustration because it requires a high learning curve to familiarize themselves with the designs.

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Recruiter

The first thing I check is if I have new applicants every day, and then I will start with the requisition that is "closer to money"

Quotation mark.png

Once I update the requisition status, the table will reorder. So I emailed myself a hyperlink to keep on track of it."

Quotation mark.png

User needs

Recruiters prioritize tasks based on the likelihood of closing the deal, focusing on requisitions in later pipeline stages and closely monitoring application updates.

Requisition(Before)_edited.png

Designs Principles

After defining the product strategy, the UX came up with the design value for Pulse to keep the cohesive product experience. Pulse is a versatile platform with robust functionality while serving as an essential tool for a recruiter's repetitive tasks. Therefore, we define its core design value

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Scalability

Implement a universal design system and layout logic

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Intuitiveness

Improve usability to reduce learning time and human error

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Efficiency

Redesign all user flows to prioritize usability and data visibility

UX problem 01: Inefficient Filter Panel

Horizontal navigation and confusing UI cause excessive scanning and filtering time

Left-to-right filter panel design slows down navigation time due to its conflicts with users' natural up-to-down reading patterns on web pages and mobile devices

Missing opportunity to provide faster access for user's tasks

UXproblem1-InefficientFiltersPanel.png

Dropdown, filter, and cancel all-in-one button design confuses users

​Challenges​

The varying responsibilities of users result in diverse user workflow and differing filter usage

Testing & Solution

Restructured table with a side filter panel for easy access

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Implement a tab function to streamline workflow

Before (2 steps)

Users must click 'User Assigned' and search for their names in the dropdown.

After (No action required)

Users can view the requisitions they manage upon landing on this page, while still maintaining access to all company-wide requisitions.

To ensure the filter layout accommodates various user group’s needs while remaining intuitive and efficient, we conducted A/B testing with 15+ recruiters from different proficiency levels.

Option A

Some users prefer a horizontal panel as it matches their existing habits

Option B

72% of participants prefer the side panel because it provides a clear input field and a narrow-focused area

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Req_filter(Side).png

UX problem 02: Complex Table Layout

Users struggle with irrelevant indicators and inefficient workflow 

Despite displaying the pipeline stats, the requisition table fails to serve user needs in prioritizing tasks due to distracting designs.

UXproblem2-ComplexTable.png

Less critical columns occupy key attention areas, diverting focus from essential information

Distracting icons and a cluttered layout

Users cannot see recruitment progress until click to the pipeline

Solution

Minimize clutter and simplify the table to enhance access to key indicators

By ​enhancing the table's functions, I streamline the recruiter's workflow of tracking and managing requisitions:

  • Declutter the table by using a universally recognized "red dot" design to indicate new applicants

  • Added Job ID field to minimize user reliance on external tools

  • Added a Progress field to simplify user flow in prioritizing requisition

Req Table.png

The Progress field displays applicants who have advanced to later stages in the pipeline:

  • Helping recruiters prioritize the next steps, such as screening and follow-up

  • Benefit the company by encouraging recruiters to push the candidate further close to placement

Final Deliverable

Redesign the Requisition navigation and table layout

The redesign significantly improved recruiter workflows, making the CRM platform more intuitive and efficient. Here’s a look at the transformation:

Before

  • It took users 2 clicks to find out the requisition progress

  • Users keep track of requisitions by sending themselves a hyperlink 

Requisition_Before.png

After

  • Visible applicant progress allows users to prioritize tasks with no further clicks

  • Users can identify Requisition through job ID

Requisition_After.png

What I learned

Being a founding designer in an early-stage startup meant navigating plenty of ambiguity—whether it was in stakeholder requirements or the metrics we were tracking. What I would do differently:
 

  • Expand User Testing to include different user persona
    Every recruiter had their own unique habits and workflows, making it difficult to create a one-size-fits-all solution. To truly find the best outcome, it became clear that testing with a broader group of participants was necessary to ensure the design met a wider range of needs.

  • Leverage Success Metrics to advocate for users and ensure team alignment
    For a productivity tool, establishing concrete success metrics from the start not only allows for a clearer measurement of the design’s impact but also indicates business success through efficiency improvements. Aligning these metrics early on can help the team prioritize features that directly contribute to these goals. This approach should be critical in getting stakeholder buy-in, as the metrics provided solid evidence to support user-centric decisions and highlighted the tangible business value of the improvements.

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