People and Culture Content Hub
The Briefing
An internal business unit was tasked with a business goal, that is, to use the company website’s “about” section to maintain and recruit young, competitive talent. This was to be done with a message about how the firm’s values were similar to the target audience. Market research had determined that it was important to prove to this audience that our company was diverse, socially responsible, and a great place to work. The audience needed to be convinced that our firm didn’t only employ financial professionals, but needed talent from all academic backgrounds.
So while our research and initial thoughts were informed by market research, we decided that we wanted to watch real job applicants navigation paths while working through our current website. We used usertesting.com, and screened users to match the demographic that we were targeting for. In total, we initiated usability testing on 40 potential applicants, taking notes on any comments that might lead to a favorable content change. We also got to see how users navigated online, and watched how they behaved on sites other than ours to find work.
Using the feedback that we heard during our observations, we learned that the information hierarchy of the site didn’t properly describe the content, and should be updated. We recommended that a card sort take place to resolve the issue.
We also observed users trying to interact with elements that weren’t clickable. We suggested that these areas of the site remove their graphic elements if they weren’t absolutely needed. Instead, links to next steps were needed.
Other needs were uncovered during our observations and questionnaires with users. We learned so much, even in the small details, about what they were most interested in when searching for an employer.
We also found opportunities to direct the onward journey of the user towards our business goals. Important areas of the site needed links to prevent users from reaching a content dead-end.
As users navigated through the site, we learned that the most engaging content was the “Faces” section. This section featured human stories about real employees from all walks of life, and their experiences working for our firm.
We also found important areas that underperformed in fundamental ways, where next steps were not apparent nor obvious. We recommended clear affordances that would quickly signal actions for the user’s next steps.
Design recommendations were made based on our findings. These included a homepage, article page, and article listing pages for future build. Our designs were informed by our user research and business stakeholder needs. Content most important to users during their journey was elevated, while other content was condensed or eliminated if not helpful.
Unfortunately, our designs did not get built due to budgeting constraints, but the site plans to use them in the future. On the bright side, however, many of the content considerations were taken to heart. Content we deemed as most important was prioritized in the hierarchy, highlighted by order and placement, while content that we deemed unnecessary or confusing was revised, reduced in visibility, or omitted entirely. We felt as though we had done the site its proper service, and know that candidates are now finding their way through the content more meaningfully.