As with many Applicant Tracking Software platforms, Newton has always provided integrated email communication. However, more and more communication between candidates and hiring managers is being conducted off-platform via SMS. We wanted to add the ability for users to send and receive text messages directly from Newton, improving response times and resulting in a shorter time-to-hire.
Company
Newton
Date
November 2018 – August 2019
Role
Senior Manager – Product Design
Responsibilities
Tools
Sketch, InVision Studio, Jira, UserTesting.com
Skills
Product Design, Management, Research, Ideation, Architecting, Wireframing & Prototyping, User Testing
We engaged with 20 recruiters to conduct 1:1 interviews. Many of these subjects are current users of the Newton platform but we also approached non-users to get a good picture of attitudes in the wider industry.
Interest in Text Messaging
65% of the recruiters use their personal phones to send text messages to candidates. All would prefer the ability to write from a corporate number.
Of the recruiters who do not communicate with candidates using text message, 40% said they would if the ability was offered in-platform.
Feature Behavior
We wanted to find out more about how users would engage with the feature and initially focussed on how text messaging would partner with the existing email function in the platform. Our initial assumption was that users would value the ability to send emails, text messages or both concurrently. Our assumptions were wrong, with users only expressing an interest in sending email for more formal messages and text messages for quick two-way conversations but never both at the same time.
Several of Newton’s direct competitors offer a text messaging service. We found that companies like Jobvite and Greenhouse have partnerships with external text message platforms to offer the feature. Others platforms like iCims offer complex solutions that focus on features like bulk distribution. From this research we decided to focus on designing a simple, integrated solution that blends in seamlessly in with users’ existing processes.
I, along with key members of the Engineering Team, held extensive meetings with several text message service providers to understand the technical limitations and possibilities of their systems before selecting a company we felt could best support our requirements.
While Bandwidth (who operate their own network) and Nexmo (who are one of the few providers to offer international services) both had their advantages, we opted to go with Twillio who were able to provide a rich feature set and the highest level of support during implementation.
In order to produce some initial concepts for the feature, we needed to define some of the mechanisms that would be in use:
Following on from our user research, creating flow charts and low fidelity wireframes helped us find answers to these questions.
As our understanding of what was technically possible began to take shape, working with members of the Development Team, I began to architect the feature and how it might integrate with the existing infrastructure of the platform. Applicant Tracking Systems are highly process-based with automated messaging options and so I chose to integrate the new text messaging function into the existing, email-only messaging model in use in the platform.
With a sensitivity to existing user conditioning, I worked with my team on designing a solution that would be faithful to the current messaging widget but that would allow us to slot in the text messaging function and provide a cleaner, more intuitive UI. This gave us the opportunity to redesign the existing, aging email modal.
Below you can see Newton’s original email modal:
Here are some iterations of the new messaging modal:
Once we were happy with the design, a member of my team created a high fidelity prototype in InVision and we tested our concept several customers. Newton’s Product Manager facilitated the test sessions, while I listened in. Based on our findings, we continued iterate between rounds of user testing until I felt we had a solid design.
The final design of the messaging modal is clean and modern while still being faithful to the original email-only modal:
I am a firm believer in the strategic use of movement to add physicality and context to user actions. In this case I chose to bring in subtle elements of animation when switching between tabs and sending text messages to enhance affordance and add a delight factor to certain actions.
From the very beginning of this project, we engaged with the Engineering Team to ensure that they had a voice and insight into the project at every stage.
Our standard handover process involves creating an exhaustive deck that explains all elements and user flows included in the feature. I and members of my team then present this deck to members to the Engineering Team and add context by walking them through the thought processes behind the design decisions we have made. This deck is accompanied by a pixel-perfect Invision prototype, enabling Engineers to gather exact specifications.
Candidate Text Messaging was released in beta to a selection of engaged companies from June 17 to July 15 2019. During this period we kept in close contact with these companies and held focus groups at the middle and the end of this period.
This beta period allowed us to gather feedback on the feature itself and verify the pricing model, user behavior and frequency of use.
Candidate Text Messaging was released on August 1 and we have been receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback from our customers. Here are some key figures:
The chart below shows the rapid uptake in use of the feature in its first few days.
