Digital Service-
Workverse
Love it Before You Apply | Carnegie Mellon University // 2022
Area
User Research, Service Design
Methods
User Interview, Contextual, Inquiry, MVP testing, Competitive Analysis, Investor Pitch Deck
Participants
Interviewed 25 job seekers and recruiters
Team
5 students
My role
Responsible for research, Conceptualization, User testing, Delivery of key modules, Investors pitch
Project Overview
The lack of information about the job and workplace makes it difficult for job seekers to choose the right job which could match their mission, vision, and career growth. The service ‘WorkVerse’ aims to fill this gap by establishing the connection between recruiters and job seekers.
Why?
Recruitment is an exhaustive process for candidates. Jobseekers apply at hundreds of jobs in a day in hope of selection. However, due to generic applications, they get rejected, ghosted, or even scammed. In desperation, they apply to irrelevant jobs without focus and get rejected again & again! Oftentimes, the available online job posting platforms fail in providing detailed information on various aspects related to the job and companies.
What?
Workverse is a digital platform designed to empower jobseekers by offering detailed information about job positions, teams, and companies. It connects users with mentors, providing guidance and support to build their confidence before they apply for jobs. Through these resources, Workverse ensures jobseekers are well-prepared and informed, enhancing their chances of securing their desired roles.
How?
Workverse connects jobseekers with mentors in different companies who provide them inside scoop of companies. Jobseekers fill targeted application which increase their chances of success.
The Service Innovation Process
DISCOVER
Desk research ,UX research, Problem Definition
IDEATE
Ideating solutions
MVP TEST
MVP Testing
PIVOT
Rapid Prototyping,
User testing
PITCH
Business model canvas, Value flow model, Client Presentation
Literature Review: PESTLE analysis and product opportunity gap
The PESTLE analysis was conducted for the year 2022. The social, environmental, and technological factors interacted and generated the need for a product that can facilitate jobseekers in the recruitment process.
There is an opportunity for a technological product that helps candidate in the recruitment process and brings the right talent to the recruiter
Directed Storytelling: Directed story telling method was used to understand the experiences of users in job search and application process. I interviewed 12 jobseekers and asked them the following questions -
- Tell me about a time when you applied for jobs
- How was your experience with platforms?
- What do you value in a company – what do you need to know while talking to recruiters and researching the job description
- Product Mgmt, Business Analyst, and Operations are the high-demand roles with the least clarity.
- Tell me about a time when this process was frustrating – what are points you found difficult.
John
34, Senior Recruiter
John is the recruiter from Red Hut company which provides automation solutions. The company specializes in providing IoT devices such as Smart plug, smart lights etc. The recruiter often looks for candidate on various platforms to fill the open position in product managment and business analysis roles.
Pain Points
Too much time spent in recruiting process – filtering 1000s of applicants that don’t meet requirements Attracting the wrong talent – cultural fit but not competent for the job
Goals
Hire quality candidates that fit in with the company culture The candidate must also be competent enough to get the ground running from Day -1. This is to serve the high demand of their innovative products
Sofia
23, Graduate student
Sofia is a recent grad from Carnegie Mellon University. She is major in project management. She is new in the country and facing difficulty to built network and find the correct job. She works as an assistant project manager for teo years after completing her undergrad.
Pain Points
Mindlessly putting in bulk job applications daily in hopes of getting a single response. Spam emails and phone calls from dubious job boards and staffing agency Fraud phishing emails from scamsters posting as a recruiters
Goals
A targeted job search which yields interviews for roles that are more aaligned with her interests and compentencies. Finding the right jobs to apply for.
Key Insight : All parties involved in the recruiting process yearn for transparency and right fit for them.
The research helped me define the problem statement
'How might we bring transparency in the recruitment process for job seekers and recruiters so that they find the right fit for them?'
Initial Idea
WorkVerse will be a digital service that would connect job seekers and mentors through a metaverse. The job seekers would get to know about the company’s culture and the day-to-day life of employees on the job. With this information, they would be able to apply to positions with strategic and focused applications. The companies in-turn would be able to get easy access to suitable candidates.
The Minimum Viable Product Testing
In order to test the idea, a booth was set up in the public space that simulated the digital service in a physical environment. The in-person activity enabled rapid and verifiable feedback on the service by the target user segment.
A paper prototype of digital service
Role-playing as a recruiter
Direct interaction with job seekers
User Group:
26 candidates approached the booth and experienced the service. The questions were framed to test the assumptions taken at the inception of the digital service WorkVerse. The key questions asked in the booth.
Do you find the job description comprehensive?
What would you like to know about the company before applying?
What do you think about Digital Service WorkVerse?
Would you pay for the WorkVerse service?
In other research with hiring managers, I researched if companies would invest in such a service to attract the right talent.
UX research helped in validating these assumptions -
Assumptions
- Need for a virtual connection in a post pandemic era
- Companies need top talent and want to distinguish them from competitors
- Jobseekers want to unlock the mystery about company culture and fit
- Job seekers will pay for a metaverse experience to witness a 'day-in-the-life-of'?
- Recruiters would be happy to provide role information and enlist in the platform
Assumption Proved True
Assumption Proved False
Validations
- People still prefer one on one interaction over Al or Metaverse
- Recruiters end up sourcing candidates if the ones who have applied don't match minimum qualifications
- Not a priority for some students. They will adjust if a high paying and interest-aligned job is guaranteed
- New grad job seekers are willing to pay for personalized services eg. 1:1 conversations, mock interviews, referrals from a current employee
- Recruiters feel the information sought can be time-taking and are not confident to give it without verifying it
Assumption Proved True
Assumption Proved False
Key Insights
The MVP-1 testing provided new insights and direction for the product. The assumptions were further tested with recruiters and jobseekers which provided following learnings:
- Jobseekers prefer to have in-person interaction with company representatives in place of MetaVerse.
- Knowing about company culture is not a priority for many students they are ready to adjust while mid-level professionals seek information on the company’s culture.
- Jobseekers want mock-interview practices, resume reviews, referrals, and mentorship.
- Product Mgmt, Business Analyst, and Operations are the high-demand roles with the least clarity.
- The employees can provide resume reviews, and mock interview practice however they cannot provide referrals in exchange for money.
The Pivot
The MVP-1 testing provided new insights and direction for the product. The assumptions were further tested with recruiters and jobseekers which provided following learnings:
- Product Mgmt, Business Analyst, and Operations are the high-demand roles with the least clarity.
- The employees can provide resume reviews, and mock interview practice however they cannot provide referrals in exchange for money.
The Service WorkVerse Prototype
The digital service Workverse will be accessible through a browser extension. Whenever a job seeker would search for a job, the pop-up would appear for the jobseeker to find related mentors.
The list of workverse mentors appear by enabling a chrome extension as jobseekers look through jobdescription
Job Seeker‘s Journey from discovering WorkVerse to filling the application
Value Flow & Service Blueprint
In the initial phase of the digital service, WorkVerse would help job seekers looking for Product Management, Business Analyst and Operations roles in Technology companies. The job seekers would subscribe Workverse for a fee. The current and ex-employees of the various companies who are associated with Workverse would provide the jobseekers inside scoop of company, mentorship sessions and other services such as resume reviews. WorkVerse will store the applicants’ data on applicants and will use it to provide highly valuable candidates to the companies for some fee.
Business Model Canvas
Key learnings / Challenges overcame
It was difficult to stimulate the exact metaverse environment due to shortage of resources. I learnt how paper prototype and role playing can be utilized to test the service. While role playing, we decided to replicate and test the service in physical environment. I learnt to use role-play as a technique to solicit users response.
Another obstacle during the project revolved was limited network of recruiters available for testing. The project’s potential to validate the service offering across various roles was constrained by this limitation. With broader access to recruiters, we could have thoroughly tested and validated the service for numerous roles. However, due to this limitation, we focused our efforts on developing the minimum viable product (MVP) specifically tailored for Product Management and Business Analyst positions.