One of the most significant targets set for FY20 is to diversify Newton’s revenue streams. A small team of key individuals (including me) was assembled and, after conducting some competitor analysis and engaging recruiters and current customers, we identified the addition of SMS messaging as a strong contender to deliver valuable functionality and a potentially lucrative revenue stream. As with most Applicant Tracking Software platforms, Newton had historically provided integrated email communication but the addition of SMS would form a key differentiator in the marketplace.
I, along with lead members of the Development team, held extensive meetings with several SMS service providers to understand the technical limitations and possibilities of their systems before selecting the company we felt could best support the requirements we had defined for this feature.
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 slot into 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 SMS function into the existing, email-only messaging feature of the platform. This also enabled me to ‘kill two birds with one stone’ and update Newton’s aging messaging widget.
With a sensitivity to existing user conditioning, I worked with my team on designing a solution that would be relatively faithful to the current messaging widget but that would allow us to slot in the SMS function and provide a cleaner, more intuitive UI.
We conducted many user research sessions to hone the behavior of the SMS interface, both with users and non-users. These sessions provided a valuable insight into the way the feature would be used, identified pain-points in our design and ultimately drove us to the decision to initially launch the feature in beta to a selection of clients who’s usage was monitored and who took place in regular focus groups throughout the period.
I am happy to report that upon launch the new messaging widget was widely praised by users and within the first few days the SMS feature was subscribed to by over 50 companies.
The original email-only messaging widget
Iterations of the SMS interface
The messaging widget’s email and SMS tabs
SMS’ animated interface
One of the most significant targets set for FY20 is to diversify Newton’s revenue streams. A small team of key individuals (including me) was assembled and, after conducting some competitor analysis and engaging recruiters and current customers, we identified the addition of SMS messaging as a strong contender to deliver valuable functionality and a potentially lucrative revenue stream. As with most Applicant Tracking Software platforms, Newton had historically provided integrated email communication but the addition of SMS would form a key differentiator in the marketplace.
I, along with lead members of the Development team, held extensive meetings with several SMS service providers to understand the technical limitations and possibilities of their systems before selecting the company we felt could best support the requirements we had defined for this feature.
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 slot into 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 SMS function into the existing, email-only messaging feature of the platform. This also enabled me to ‘kill two birds with one stone’ and update Newton’s aging messaging widget.
With a sensitivity to existing user conditioning, I worked with my team on designing a solution that would be relatively faithful to the current messaging widget but that would allow us to slot in the SMS function and provide a cleaner, more intuitive UI.
We conducted many user research sessions to hone the behavior of the SMS interface, both with users and non-users. These sessions provided a valuable insight into the way the feature would be used, identified pain-points in our design and ultimately drove us to the decision to initially launch the feature in beta to a selection of clients who’s usage was monitored and who took place in regular focus groups throughout the period.
I am happy to report that upon launch the new messaging widget was widely praised by users and within the first few days the SMS feature was subscribed to by over 50 companies.
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