Xing – Ideal Employer

Optimizing Usability

Finding the employer of your dreams through swiping

My Role
s
Usability Evaluation
w
Interaction Design
b
UX Design
r
UI Design

Xing and the developer team at Renuo asked me to optimize the usability for one of their micro-sites. The goal of the website is to get people to find their dream employers, and save them to their Xing profile. Then they could be contacted by these companies in case new jobs opened up. Xing aimed to reduce the drop-off rate and get more users to actually save their selections to their profile.I focused on simplifying and streamlining the user experience on all devices. Optimizing conversions was the end goal.

g
k

Swipey swipe
‍Swipedy Swipe

The goal that Xing wanted users to accomplish was simple: Swipe employers and save the ones you like.

1. Swipe employers
2. Find dream employers
3. Save to profile

So, what's the problem?
‍A number of core issues

  1. Hierarchy: Unclear navigation and labeling made the website feel more complex than it really was.
  2. Interactivity: A lack of animation/interactivity made it so the user did not get any visual feedback. Many users who completed the task didn’t save their choice.
  3. Consistency: Long explanatory texts dominated. Scant conventions existed for copywriting, and styling; many elements looked and functioned differently despite serving identical purposes.Complexity: Additional steps and large amounts of copy made many users miss the actual task.
  4. Complexity: Additional steps and large amounts of copy made many users miss the actual task.
The original Xing dream employer microsite

I tried to improve these issues, but without rethinking or rebuilding the features themselves. This was mostly due to time and money constraints: The optimizations had to be shipped out very soon, and the development costs had to be kept to a minimum.

Navigation and Typography
‍Visual and cognitive overload

The goal that Xing wanted users to accomplish was simple: Swipe employers and save the ones you like. Having 8 clickable elements on the landing screen alone only added to cognitive overload. The primary call to action not looking like a button didn’t help either.
‍
The site was also heavy on long texts and one extra step. These were meant to help explain the user goal, but added to visual overload. People don’t like to read, They scan the page for usable information. If they don’t see what they are looking for, they leave the site.

The original Xing Wunscharbeitgeber landing screen. An example of visual overload. The call to action is also difficult to spot
The original Xing Wunscharbeitgeber landing screen. An example of visual overload. The call to action is also difficult to spot

Simplifying everything
‍Straight to the point

  1. Hierarchy: Where there were many, now there are few. The whole intro-section is much shorter and has one clear call to action.
  2. Interactivity: We adden an idle animation to the first card. The instructions are also written on it, so the information is relative to the context.
  3. Consistency: People scan text on the internet for short, discernable bits of information. That’s why we reduced the overall amount of text and added bullet points.
  4. Complexity: We reduced unnecessary fluff to help the user focus on the task at hand.
The original Xing dream employer microsite

Some peole might have concerns using the service while still being employed. To preemtively calm their minds, we added reassurances at the bottom of the cards. These regard privacy and editability, and explains that their dream employer can contact them directly if there are any vacancies.

“Henry is highly talented. He approached our project with the right blend of pragmatism and creativity. It was a joy working with him, and the result speaks for itself.”
Markus Liechti
Senior product manager, Xing

The mobile experience
‍Swipe till your thumb bleeds

Before, you could swipe endlessly without being asked to save your selection. To increase conversion we introduced a clear goal: swipe yes until you get three employers you like. This information only shows in context, which is right after the first yes-swipe. Then you get a prompt to save your selection or delete one of your choices. A clear call to action helps people complete tasks.

The original Xing dream employer microsite

Some peole might have concerns using the service while still being employed. To preemtively calm their minds, we added reassurances at the bottom of the cards. These regard privacy and editability, and explains that their dream employer can contact them directly if there are any vacancies.

Check out more projects

Escola

UX/UI Design, Branding, Illustration, Art Direction

R-Tunes

UX/UI Design, Branding, Illustration, Art Direction