Prototyping, Research, UI/UX
Adobe XD, Figma, Paper & Pencil
Design Fellow
Simone Stolzhoff, Mark Unger, Joy Zhang
IDEO CoLab, San Francisco
Spring 2019
Problem
Traditional paper résumés are a pain to make a show a limited picture of who a job seeker is as a person.
SOLUTION
SkillStack is a mobile app for job seekers to "stack" their past experience, projects, and personality into a fun-to-consume story, using customizable cards.
Initial Exploration
We began the sprint by exploring IDEO's "Dynamic Workforce" pillar more broadly. The pillar looks at how the nature of work is fundamentally changing—especially with the rise in gig economy jobs and new relationships between human and machine.
The traditional medium required for applying to most jobs, a paper résumé, has not undergone proportionate changes to reflect this changing workforce. We were tasked with reimagining the résumé, in a way that is portable, user-owned, and useful in career planning.
"How Might We... help people build skills and competency profiles that are portable, user-owned, and useful in career planning?"
Each member of our team spent some time individually researching the existing ways people showcase themselves for job applications.
We discussed creative formats, such as an interactive website, a personal story told through video, a graphical résumé, and qualifications communicated through a Twitter Moment.
Together, we went through each example, and noted what we liked and disliked about each résumé, as well as any questions we had or areas we wanted to further explore.
Aside from formats, we also wanted to think about what a traditional paper résumé says about a person. Today, what is valued in a résumé, and who does it favor?
To do this, we held another brainstorming session in which we came up with different attributes that could be taken into consideration during a recruiting process. We categorized them by whether they are "never," "sometimes," or "always" evaluated via the résumé in the earliest stage.
Job Seeker Insights
We conducted three job seeker interviews. From our conversations, we learned that there are a few main problems:
1. There is a barrier to entry
Crafting a résumé that lands the job is difficult for those who have gaps in their career history, switched industries, or are in “gig economy” or freelance jobs.
2. It's hard to tailor applications
Customizing résumés for each role is a tedious process. Not only does it take a lot of time, but it is also ambiguous.
3. The boundaries are unclear
Telling a story infused with personality feels unnatural for some without clear structure or requirements.
IDEATION
With the problems clearly defined, our team members worked together on some sketches and brainstormed potential solutions.
We each came up with a few ideas for how the insights from our interviews could translate to a product that best addressed our target users' needs.
Afterwards, we came together to explain our ideas, ask questions, and vote on our top three. SkillStack was the favorite.
SkillStack Exploration
Our team created quick mockups to test some of the top ideas we saw from our sketches: card formats and auto-generated content.
Final Mobile App
Using the SkillStack mobile app, you can customize cards that paint a more true picture of yourself. "Stack" cards compiling your past experience, projects, and personality into a fun-to-consume story.
Showcase
For those who attended our booth at the public showcase, we offered the opportunity to make a stack using Instagram Stories and card assets we designed. Some attendees viewed the submitted stacks as if they were recruiters.
Future thinking
The traditional paper résumé is mainly used for corporate positions today.
Takeaway: Instead of limiting our scope upfront, we thought beyond the résumé and who it caters today, to explore roles we may see more in the future (e.g. gig economy jobs).
A two-sided product
Job seekers and recruiters are both involved in the application process. However, they have different roles and needs.
Takeaway: We had to work with a mixed group of individuals to create an improved system for both parties.
Launch a pilot program
Due to time constraints, we were not able to build out and test this product further.
Takeaway: I want to launch a pilot program (first working with a single company for certain postings), to test the entire flow.