Role
Product Design Intern
Responsibilities
UX Research, Usability Testing, Wireframing, Prototyping, Visual Design
Teammates
Yoni Friedman (SE Intern),
Catriel Sabatini (PM Intern)
Duration
4 Weeks (Design)
Overview
New features for recruiters to facilitate the follow-ups process to ideal candidates
Multiple follow-ups and scheduled send in Eightfold AI's email function are two critical features for recruiters. Recruiters can reach out to ideal candidates at the ideal timing more efficiently through these additions. The challenge of the project was how to add features to an existing platform incrementally. This project was my first project during the product design internship at Eightfold AI in the summer of 2019.
Problems
Eightfold's AI can help identified ideal candidates, but recruiters struggled to effectively engage them
Usually, recruiters use the email on our platform after they found qualified candidates for their open positions. However, two major issues stopped recruiters from continuing using the email client throughout the hiring process.
Current system allows only one follow-up
Can’t schedule emails for future delivery
Current system allows only one follow-up
Can’t schedule emails for future delivery
Research Insights
Different recruiter workflows to engage
There are two major ways of reaching out to matching candidates. Some clients would reach out to a large number of candidates without customization; the other two clients preferred more personalization for a better response rate.
Satisficer
High volume, templated outreach
"We'd like to reach out to a bunch of candidates at once to get a better response rate."
Maximizer
Personalized follow-ups
"People responded to my email if I change the content based on their experience."
Ideation
Developing for both types of users
How might we design a multiple follow-up experience for both maximizers and satisficers?
From the user interview, we decided to prioritize the major steps of the contacting process: the template, the email module, and scheduled sent. There are users who would reach out to a large number of candidates without changing the individual content, so we wanted to prioritize making sure the multiple follow-up feature works properly from an existing template. Then the user can customize the content in the current email module and choose if they want to send the email right away or send it in the future.
Proposed User Flow
Enabling new features into the current user flow
The colored steps are the major updates of the new user flow.
Testing and Iterations
Key design decisions and iterations
Based on the three external with our clients and two internal user ability tests as well as three design reviews, I went through many different explorations and iterations according to the feedback from the clients and directors.
Scheduled send
As the most technically independent new feature, we designed the scheduled send first. From designing the most ideal interaction to scoping down to an MVP, the development of the scheduled send button aligned the user goal and technical limitations.
Scheduled send pop-up on the redesigned email module
First Iteration
Ideal scenario: following up at the highest replied time
Initially, I designed a prototype for the best-case scenario, where we can suggest the optimal time based on the highest reply rate to statistically improve the scheduling experience.
Final Iteration
MVP: following up in the next two days
However, there was not enough data for such a scenario, so we defaulted on the options ("Tomorrow" and "Next Two Days" rather than business days) that the clients are used to for the initial launch.
Multiple follow-ups template
Expanding from the existing email template with a single follow-up, I added a management system for all the follow-ups. How to present time to the users' desire was the most significant change throughout the iteration.
Redesigned template with multiple follow-ups.
First Iteration
Scheduled X day(s) after the previous email
The first design suggested multiple follow-ups will be sent after X day(s) after the previous email to ensure the sequence of the follow-ups.
Follow-ups Scheduling Logic (Proposed)
Final Iteration
Adjust information presentation to match user's preference
However, after the user testing, I iterated the design because we found out they preferred X day after the initial email to calculate the number of days more easily.
Follow-ups Scheduling Logic (User Preference)
Multiple follow-ups email module
The challenge of adding multiple follow-ups into the original user flow is how to simplify the navigation system while being able to manage the individual information of every email. From subject, sending time, to the content, I iterate the layout and the user flow according to how recruiters compose their reach-out emails.
First Iteration
Utilizing tabs organize different follow-ups
By adding a tab navigation, users can manage information of the initial email and each follow-up individually. This navigation was designed for the users to work from top to bottom to ensure each email's information is correct.
Final Iteration
Moving tabs to the bottom to match how users compose emails
From usability testings, we discovered that most users thought about the follow-ups after they finish editing the initial outreach. Thus, we moved the tabs to the bottom of the window to accommodate users' writing behaviors.
Solutions
Multiple Follow-up Email Module
Integrating tabs to track multiple follow-ups
Tab-based interface solves recruiters' need to track and manage multiple candidate touchpoints. The design maintains sequence context while allowing individual message customization, eliminating the previous one-follow-up limitation.
Multiple Follow-ups Template
Adaptive templates architecture
The collapsible design shows only essential options by default, with more available when needed. This adapts to both high-volume recruiters valuing efficiency and those needing detailed personalization, reducing cognitive load while maintaining functionality.
Schedule Send
Customized scheduling with recommendations
Scheduling interface offering both manual time selection and smart recommendations based on working hours, enabling recruiters to reach candidates when most effective. Positioned as an extension of the familiar send button to maintain workflow continuity.
Results
Successfully launched at the end of August
Improved workflow efficiency
Reduced time spent managing candidate follow-ups
Higher candidate engagement
Better-timed outreach improved response rates
"Looking forward to playing around with the new feature. Thank you for all that you, your team and the company are doing to accommodate and push innovation on your platform. If I haven't said it before, I want to say that is an absolute pleasure to be working so closely with Eightfold!"
— One client after testing the demo
