ResumeBuilder - A Dynamic and Smart Resume Building Platform

Course: EECS 493 | Project Duration: 12 Weeks | Team: Blue Hippos, 4 UX Researcher and Designer

Project Overview

My team gathered interview transcripts covering many aspects of undergraduate students' career development.
We want to understand their job-searching experiences and challenges in the process, and help them by developing a digital product.

Backgound information of the interview data, conducted in Aug - Sep 2022. Full interview Script

Research Process

Interview Data Analysis: Affinity Diagram, Miro board.

Interpreting Interviews

Throughout seven interviews conducted for our project, our team crafted 110 interpretation notes to understand their job-searching experiences, challenges, and needs.

The interpreted codes are transferred into an affinity diagram to identify patterns and findings.

Research Findings

Insight 1: students find it difficult to build up a resume for job searching.
User need 1: students desire straightforward and specific feedback on their resume.

Insight 2: students find the job-search process long and requires the use of many resources.
User need 2: students desire a way to manage their interview preparation and job application schedule.

Ideation

Storyboard Description

After identifying user's needs, our group created 8 storyboards that each show a different solution to the user's needs. See all storyboards of my group.

I designed this storyboard as an initial idea to aid students in effectively crafting resumes.

Bakeoff

We displayed our storyboards on the wall to invite feedback and insights from others.

Usability Testings

To validate and refine our identified user needs, and to narrow down our solutions, we conducted speed dating usability testing sessions for all eight storyboards involving four potential users. Full interview transcripts

After conducting the four speed-dating sessions, we determined that the user-needs were indeed real.
Participants showed more interest in the breakpoint and user-need related to resume feedback.

First User-Need (Resume Feedback):

User expressed difficulty editing resumes with the need to add/remove sections.
Users mentioned challenges in fitting all important experiences on a resume.

Second User-Need (Managing Job Preparation):

Users expressed relatability and distraction in the job search process.

After weighing the pros and cons associated with each idea through user testing and insights gathered from the bakeoff, our team collectively agreed to converge on the design solution presented in my storyboard. This solution addresses the identified breakpoint wherein students encounter difficulties in constructing comprehensive resumes for job searches.

Our Idea

Our proposed resolution takes the form of a desktop application, enabling users to input all their resume items into a “basic resume.” When the user applies for a job through the application, AI technology filters the basic resumeand selects the strongest and most relevant resume items from the basic resume to create a customized resume.

Prototyping & Evaluation

First Hi-Fi Prototyping

Our team designed and built a high-fidelity prototype using Figma. See our first prototype.

User testing

Our team conducted four think-aloud-tasks on two users.
See the full user testing notes here.

First task: please sign-up using the method you find most comfortable, and then sign in.
Second task: please find your big resume and attempt to edit it, then view your most recent resume.
Third task: please view someone else’s resume and then like it.
Fourth task: please view the first job, adjust your resume as you see fit, and then apply to the job.

Our team generated six usability findings based on the analysis of the user testings.

Iteration and Redesign

Our team improved our prototype by addressing the usability issues discovered previously. See the changes we made.

After improving our prototype, our team conducted four think-aloud-tasks on four users.

First task: please sign up with your preferred method, upload your resume and then view the tutorial.
Second task: please find your big/basic resume and attempt to make and save changes to it, then view your most recent resume.
Third task: please view example resumes and add to your favorites, then view the resumes you have already added to your favorites.
Fourth task: please view the first job description, adjust your resume as you wish, attempt to apply to the position, mark it as applied to, and log out after the task is done.

Our team generated eight usability findings based on the analysis of the user testings. See the full user testing notes.

Final Design

Does this prototype solve the user's need?

The prototype removes some of the user’s decision-making burden.
Since the app can generate tailored resumes, the user can focus on gaining experience rather than deciding how to “build up a resume.”
Ultimately, this solves the user-need and makes the resume writing process more straightforward and less of a barrier in the job search process.

Reflection

I learned a lot about the power of iterations in this project. Engaging in repeated cycles of prototyping, user testings and addressing user feedback allows me to refine and enhance the product iteratively, and lead to a more polished and user-centric final product.

As all of my team members brainstormed innovative solutions, the challenge arose in selecting the most suitable idea for our final project. Effective communication became important during this ideation phase. We recognized that embracing and valuing each team member's input was essential. Ultimately, our collective decision-making process ensured that our chosen idea resonated with our shared vision and met the user needs.

Next step

The next step involves the integration of an AI algorithm to select relevant elements from a comprehensive resume by analyzing job descriptions, and construct a customized resume uniquely tailored for the specific job the user is applying to.