Indeed
Japan Job Search Redesign
Indeed | 2019-2020 | UX Designer
Vision & OKR Planning, Strategy, Concept, Design workshop facilitation, Research, Cross-functional collaboration, Rapid prototyping, A/B testing
Competitive Analysis
I conducted competitive analysis to understand the typical job search experience of users by looking at multiple competitor sites. Their experiences were very different from Indeed's.
Competitors allow users to filter jobs with multiple criteria, whereas Indeed offers only a search box to enter keywords. The value proposition for Indeed in the US at the time was the ability to search for jobs with any keywords in a single search box. However, this approach did not resonate with Japanese job seekers’ expectations, and the search functionality in Japanese did not work as effectively as in English.
Additionally, competitors were more visual and dynamic, while Indeed had a simpler, text-heavy design. Japanese job seekers also preferred structured job information with visuals, so they could better understand the job and workplace environment. On the other hand, Indeed only offered simple paragraph text in job postings at the time.
Competitors (left, center) had more colors, icons, photos, filters, whereas Indeed had simple texts and minimum colors only.
Discovery Research
The research team interviewed Japanese job seekers to understand how they currently search for jobs, what motivates them, and their pain points. We found that part-time job seekers have specific criteria regarding the time spent searching for jobs, as well as factors like work hours and commute. Some job seekers search for jobs to earn pocket money, while others seek to connect with society through work.
Based on the findings from the interviews, we created a few archetypes and visualized their job search journeys.
Prototype
I created several rounds of low-fidelity prototypes based on the sketches from the design workshop. Then, I collaborated with a Design Technologist to develop a high-fidelity prototype.
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Design Systems
I incorporated the new design system into the prototypes at the request of the design systems team in the US to see if it would meet Japanese users' expectations.
User Interview
Participants found the prototypes better suited to their needs and were more willing to apply.
"Photos are helpful for understanding the workplace environment"
" I prefer reading bullet points over paragraphs.”
MVP
I created the MVP design based on user feedback and technical feasibility. I also incorporated Indeed's newly-developed design systems to test if they would work with the Japanese market. I consolidated and shared the feedback with the design systems team in the US, as well as with the external agency.
Results
First, we implemented the new job description, and it yielded positive and significant results.
+ 3.1%
More clicks/taps on Apply button
+4.6%
More jobs saved
100%
Rolled out in Japan
Iterations and Award
While continuing to iterate on the job descriptions, we began implementing other features, such as the job feed and search filters. I designed additional features to test during the iterations. The set of experiments to redesign Japan’s job search was recognized and won the internal engineering award in 2019.
Native App Exploration
I also ran a design workshop to offer a better job search experience for the native application.
Worldwide Expansion
The new Japan search experience was later adopted in the US and globally to help job seekers understand job information quickly and efficiently.
Share Success Externally
I wrote an article about the design process of this project for Indeed's design blog, aimed at an external audience.