Project Overview
Background & Problem
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Hunt Club, an executive search firm, accelerates candidate placement through a referral-driven approach.
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They've cultivated a network of industry 'Experts' who were incentivized refer their contacts to these job opportunities.
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Despite being mutually beneficial, the referral platform had low use.​
Process
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Planning:
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Planned and executed generative research (20 user interviews).
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Used insights to inform ideation and concept testing.
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Upon validation, planned and executed usability testing.
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Methodologies: Generative research, concept & assumption testing, moderated usability testing, product analytics, personas, journey mapping and brainstorming workshops.
Results
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Increased Monthly Active Users by 21% through design and delivery of a new feature informed by research.​
Team
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For this project I was the sole UX Researcher & UX Designer.
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I partnered with a Product Manager, Engineering Lead and Principal UI Designer.
Phase 1: Generative Research
Hunt Club recognized that it was underutilizing the Expert community, but didn't understand which motivators or opportunities made the most sense to pursue.
Methodology
User interviews (remote)
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20 user interviews
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Sign up reason = "Make referrals"
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At least 3 engagement touch points in the last year
Research Questions
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What motivated users to sign up?
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How have their experiences differed from their expectations?
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How can we create more engaging experience?
Insights
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Motivators: Altruism, professional gains & building social capital.
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Pains: Recency bias increased the cognitive load of the referral experience.
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Beliefs: "What goes around comes around."
"To the extent you're able to help someone get in a better situation or get to a place in their life that they want to be in, that's meaningful to me."
Introducing: Connie the Connector
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Phase 2: Concept Testing
I led a cross-functional workshop to ideate how we might increase user engagement knowing that the current experience had too high of a cognitive load.
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I consolidated ideas into a lower fidelity concept to test our assumptions.
Low Fidelity Concept
Display avatars of user's connections in job description thumbnails to pique interest.
Introduce the feature in confirmation emails from an existing user flow
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Include key context about the opportunity to boost confidence in referral.
Suggest potential referrals for an Expert based on matching criteria.
Concept Testing Plan
Methodology
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User interviews (Same participant requirements as before)
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Assumption testing​​
Assumptions
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Building off of existing touch points will increase adoption: Invalidated
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Users will submit referrals if we make suggestions: Validated
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Users will want to know why we are suggestion someone: Validated
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Users know what to expect upon submitting a referral: Invalidated
What users said
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"I can see how this would help me remember people I haven't thought of in a while."
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"I always wonder why you're asking me for an intro request because there's not always enough context to know if it's a match."
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"I'm nervous they're going to get a cold sounding email saying that I thought they'd be good for this job."​
I used an assumption tracker to map user feedback to assumptions I made with the concept.
Phase 3: Defining the MVP
Recognition over recall boosts user engagement
Rationale and context expedite decision making process.
Users won't proceed unless they feel in control of next steps.
What I learned about users
Adjust existing matching algorithm to suggest people a user could refer.
Display match rationale in the UI
Include details about next steps and enable sharing to facilitate double opt in.
Product recommendations
