We had to relook at who we are trying to solve the problem for? When and where do they need us? why do we really need to build this? What are the anxieties and motivations of the users? and how are we best placed to fill the gaps?

We worked with users from different regions and work experience to zoom out and understand their career motivations across life spans and also zoom in to their current ways in which they would go about fulfilling the task. The users were in a way representative of the Maslow’s hierarchy - it is surprising in how it relates back to the way one looks towards the purpose of their work.

We saw a similar pattern of behaviour within the multitudes of anxieties and motivations. Whilst their goal and purpose would be different the cycle of action was the same with varying intensity and application. A universal funnel of sorts.

This helped us discover a flow to build for both extremes 1. for a highly discerning visionary in terms of meeting his/her exacting demands with deep validation layers, and 2. also make it very easy for the perpetual desperate or diffident user to find a place to work.

We had to relook at who we are trying to solve the problem for? When and where do they need us? why do we really need to build this? What are the anxieties and motivations of the users? and how are we best placed to fill the gaps?

We worked with users from different regions and work experience to zoom out and understand their career motivations across life spans and also zoom in to their current ways in which they would go about fulfilling the task. The users were in a way representative of the Maslow’s hierarchy - it is surprising in how it relates back to the way one looks towards the purpose of their work.

We saw a similar pattern of behaviour within the multitudes of anxieties and motivations. Whilst their goal and purpose would be different the cycle of action was the same with varying intensity and application. A universal funnel of sorts.

This helped us discover a flow to build for both extremes 1. for a highly discerning visionary in terms of meeting his/her exacting demands with deep validation layers, and 2. also make it very easy for the perpetual desperate or diffident user to find a place to work.

We simplified to deliver a singular listing card which gave the most relevant details to understand the opportunity. This then repeated so the value became relatable.

Reinforcement at the top helped drive the action and reciprocation towards the application interview process, so as learners within the cohort interacted, they would invariably measure each other and the fundamental human behaviour of envy and competitive spirit would take over.

Filters were bumped up to the home page so discovery of relevant jobs is easier, also we realised that most users were mature tech audience and had been habitual to applying filters to find relevant results, so we cross referenced this from fashion.

We also pushed users to stretch their goals, basis their learning behaviour with what we identified as marquee companies they should aim for improving profile for the learner and subsequently for Upgrad.

We created a job details page which provided for deep validation and guidance. You can quickly skim whether your skills are a fit and realise where you should focus your learning behaviour towards. Understanding the factors needed to succeed in the interview and the job not only helped in getting a better transition, but also made learning focused on market requirements.

You could get a sense of the organisation and culture and whether it matched what you are looking for and also gave direction on any skills that you need to develop. You can actively track your job application and decide your next course of action.

One of the most surprising wants users had was for building good resumes. This in fact was the most impactful feature in our user testing and single handedly changed the dynamic, in terms of utility of the platform, with users kicking of with resume building. We were then able to start to track for them their job application status, provide guidance and deliver on the eventual transition. This act of commitment showed the desire of users and how it matched with their aspiration.

We allowed for building your resume with support text both on web and mobile and created a versioning system for the user to know the edits and use as per need.

Learner’s whilst applying went with a lot of choices, this then made it hard to organise the different opportunities, which in turn affected focus and preparation, leading to suboptimal results.

A kanban board, connected with the details page, combined an ability to add remarks made the entire job hunting process smooth and efficient, resulting in a massive jump in conversions.