Overview

Client

HackerPen is a web-based tool built to support software engineers gain interview practice through peer-to-peer and professional mock interviews.

Problem

HackerPen has two user groups - interviewers and interviewees. At present, the only way to match for an interview is through time-based compatibility. HackerPen has asked my team to design a searchable marketplace where partners could be matched on detailed and meaningful criteria. HackerPen wants the entire user experience of their site to be on par with current market standards. 

Solution

Using results from a competitive audit, a current and future state user journey map, and a kano analysis, I designed five high fidelity wireframes that would improve user experience while navigating HackerPen as well as finding meaningful partnerships for mock interviews.

  • Methods

    competitive audit

    stakeholder interview

    user journey map

    feature concept cards

    tech estimation consultation

    dot voting

    kano survey & analysis

    high fidelity wireframes

    feature proposal report

  • Tools

    Google Docs

    Google Sheets

    Zoom

    Miro

    Figma

    Excalidraw

  • Deliverables

    competitive audit

    user journey map

    feature concept cards

    kano analysis

    high fidelity wireframes

    feature proposal report

 Competitive audit & stakeholder interview

After an introduction to our client and their project goals, a competitive audit was conducted on several websites with similar flows and features to identify areas of opportunity that do not meet market standards. A meeting with stakeholders followed to garner further information on HackerPen’s values, specific problems they wish to address, and upcoming projects/features.

 User journey map

User Journey Map current and future state

A user journey map was then curated to gain a deeper understanding of how an interviewee would flow through HackerPen, in its current state, and their thoughts and feelings as they went through each step. After proposed features were conceptualized, a future state line was added to showcase the changes the features would make on a user’s mindset.

Conceptualizing & Consulting

 Feature concept cards

After pain points were established through the user journey map, my team each created five feature concept cards that would meet the project goals of HackerPen as well as improve the overall user experience. Each concept was evaluated by developers to determine the scope of time needed to complete each design. My team then narrowed down the concept cards to ten by way of dot voting.

Post Interview Feedback Form

User Profile

Marketplace Search Bar

 Kano survey & analysis

These ten concepts were sent out in survey form to test user satisfaction on the proposed features. The analysis of the survey results concluded that users appreciated having a searchable marketplace where they can easily partner with professionals to practice mock interviews. They also enjoyed the ability to give feedback from the interview immediately. These results informed the final proposed feature designs.

The Final Design

Annotated wireframes 

Using the results from the user journey map and the kano analysis I designed five suggestions through high fidelity wireframes that would improve user experience on their site:

  • A company about page would inform users on HackerPen’s history and values as well as instruct users on how to navigate the site

  • An upgraded user profile would add a profile picture, the user’s name, areas for professional experience and credentials, and their preferred schedule.

  • The marketplace search bar would create meaningful search criteria for better matchups

  • Interviewer bios would allow further information on the background of each interviewer, a favorite feature, their price and rating, and the interviewer’s preferred schedule.

  • A post interview feedback form would open after ending an interview session to rate and give feedback on how the session went.

I gathered these illustrations into an annotated report for the client with a design estimate of six weeks.

If you enjoyed learning about my work on HackerPen, I would love to hear about it! Feel free to shoot me an email. If you are looking for your next User Experience hire, I would especially love to hear from you!