Project Type
Freelance
Product
Collaborative Google Sheet
Area
UX/UI Design
Tools
Google Apps, Figma
Timeline
March 2020
The Corona Hiring Sheet is a user-friendly online sheet for quick and easy job seeking and listing in the tech industry. It offers fast data input and high impact with minimal effort required.
Problem Statement
The pandemic caused companies to freeze hiring and reduce staff, leading to unemployment and remote work policies with no return date. Skilled professionals sought new job opportunities online, but faced information overload and outdated postings as companies made hiring decisions.
My Role
Research, UX design, UI design, Crisis Management.
Constraints
No-code
Approach the UX/UI solution only using applications that don’t require any coding or previous knowledge of programming languages.
Usability
Maximum allowed response time, 24 hours availability. Ability to filter information to minimise the "clutter data" the user gets exposed to.
Maintainability
It must be easily maintained to keep to this rigorous crisis schedule.
Urgency
It must be designed and built as soon as possible as a damage containment.
Defining the User Profile
Before assessing any type of viable solution, we dived into understanding and defining our users to understand each situation.
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A technical profile who is seeking a new job during the pandemic and struggling to find which companies in tech are still hiring.
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A talent recruiter with fresh job opportunities. With a lot of offers coming in and out, there’s not enough time to manage the process of publishing it on other hiring platforms. They would prefer to list their contact information so that job seekers contact them immediately.
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An altruistic multitasker stuck in lockdown.
In their extra time, they are in charge of ensuring the sheet’s health: keep it organized, updated and voracious. Thus, moderate all the submitted information. The process of doing this should be easy to adopt into their daily routine.
Main Product Features
Defining main features top talented profiles were on the loose, seeking new job opportunities in order to gain stability as soon as possible. Being unemployed and confined, the internet became the main source of communication.
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Browse through the latest job listings
Post their personal profile and contact information
Contact recruiters or actively hiring companies
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List a job opportunity within a few minutes
Post recruitment contact information
Scout through available talent postings
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Find helpful news and articles about the hiring situation, useful remote working practices, and mental health.
Connect to other job-seeking databases.
Research & Ideation
How might we build it fast, accessible and able to allow moderation?
Process Validation
A strategic combination of apps gave us the opportunity to create an easy-to-build and easy-to-adopt flow for all our users. We prioritized a host who allowed us to build and ship the solution the fastest.
The Outcome
A Unique Web-like
UI Experience
Quick access to actions and product information, including easy-to-find buttons for data entry, a live count of entries, instructions, and access to helpful resources.
Streamlining Job Connections
Where we displayed the data of people looking for jobs, companies that where hiring, and recruiters in the same way. Easy to navigate, using the advantage of common knowledge of an Excel sheet.
Easy Data Submission
Each entry was supervised by our sheet moderator to ensure the accuracy and relevancy of the data. After a brief validation process, the information was updated to our database. This allowed for a low-barrier process for users to submit their information, while still maintaining the integrity of our database.
The Aftermath
Impact
Our product has received 1,400+ entries and has helped 30+ people find jobs. Additionally, we have received over 80+ thank-you messages. Two years later, we are still receiving messages from users telling us that they have gotten jobs thanks to our spreadsheet.
Recognition
We received a lot of support when we published the spreadsheet, along with many suggestions on how to improve it, from both individuals and companies. Andrew from BetterSheets.com even did a video review of our product. You can check it out here :)
What could have been done differently?
Although our moderation system has been effective, we believe it could be improved and automated. We receive messages from users asking us to remove them from the database after they have gotten a job, and as a long-term database, we should include a way to verify the status of job seekers and job offers to manage expired entries.
Unexplored features
Our spreadsheet has not fully utilized filter options. We are also considering ways to monetize our product.