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Some valuable insights from the interviews after synthesizing data.

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Interviewee: Shasta

Job title: Senior UX Designer

Location: Vancouver, BC

Experience: 8+ years with UI and research

Context: Got an opportunity to work as a senior from a recruiter who contacted her via LinkedIn.

Interview notes

Shasta used LinkedIn, Angel List, and Glassdoor for her job search. LinkedIn was her top choice because she could display her profile as "Browsing" as she was taking courses to fill gaps in her skill set. She also liked that LinkedIn allowed her status to be visible only for recruiters, as she did not want her boss and coworkers to know she was searching for jobs. 

For Shasta, it is crucial to research the company before applying for a job. In her search, she wants to know if the company's ethics are aligned with hers. Her resources are Glassdoor, news articles about the company, and reviews. 

When she looks at a job posting, she analyses the job title and description over salary expectations. She tries to find "red flags" and incongruences that show if the company knows and values the role. She also researches the design team size, their title, the CEO, the company's background, and if there is a UX researcher (which she considers a positive sign).

Her biggest pain points in the job-searching process was writing cover letters and sending numerous job applications without hearing back from companies. According to Shasta, writing cover letters is time-consuming, and most of the time, she gets no feedback. She heard that most recruiters don't read them at all, or sometimes it is a robot who is scanning them.  

She often attends events and meetups. Her goal is to connect to other professionals. She has no expectations of getting hired, but she is not closed to the possibility of arranging a meeting with someone or meeting someone who could connect her to an interesting company. 

Later, she adapted her job-seeking strategy to a more passive one. She set up her LinkedIn profile to be attractive to recruiters. She was contacted by recruiters every week without having to search and apply for jobs. Shasta likes this method as she could skip some stages in the job-searching process, like searching, applying, and writing cover letters.

Shasta prefers talking to recruiters or professionals in a meetup because she feels heard. She values feedback from talking to real people. 

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Interviewee: Vivian

Job title: UX Designer

Location: Vancouver, BC

Experience: 1 year as a UX designer

Context: Did a career change from Journalism to UX design 1 year ago. Today, she works in a company helping women have better access to information concerning their laws and rights.

Interview notes

At first, Vivian used to be selective in her search before realizing that she would have more chances of getting a job if she applied for more jobs. Her favourite tools are Indeed, Angel List, and LinkedIn. Besides job boards, she attends events and meetups. Her major goal is to learn, but she is also interested in connecting with designers and potentially growing her friend's circle. According to her, there is also a possibility that these connections could be helpful with her job search. She enjoys that people are eager to share their LinkedIn profiles. Sometimes, she feels uncomfortable talking to strangers, but she believes that doing so will be fruitful for her career.

Another thing that changed in her job searching method is that she spends less time on her cover letter than before. In the beginning, she used to edit or write a letter according to the job she was applying for. She later heard that they are not read or that they are scanned by robots. She started to use the same template for every job, except if it was an opportunity she considered valuable.

Her method of applying for jobs was to set notifications on Indeed so she would be aware of fresh postings. Vivian thinks that being one of the first applicants increases her chances of being hired. 

Besides writing cover letters, she often found herself getting frustrated with receiving negative responses or none at all. She also didn't like when a job application page was complicated and time-consuming. She gave up on some applications because of that. One of her favourite features on job boards was the "Quick Apply" button.

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Interviewee: Lee

Job title: UX Designer

Location: London, UK

Experience: 3 years as a UX/UI designer

Context: With a background in Font-end development and Photography, Lee entered the UX field and is constantly learning and finding opportunities for growth.

Interview notes

Lee's reasons to find a job were: Instability due to Covid; Temporary work status; Wanted to earn more; Seeking growth and learning opportunities

He considers himself very practical and goal-driven. He developed a method to apply for numerous jobs spending a small amount of time. He uses his phone to search and apply for jobs while on his lunch break at work. Many times, he skipped eating with peers to find a hidden spot and apply for jobs with a slice of pizza in his hand. It was urgent to find a job as fast as possible and receive better compensation. He needs to cover his and his wife's expenses as the only financial provider. He keeps his resume on his phone and uses the "Quick Apply" feature on Indeed. This way, he is able to send around ten applications at once. Sometimes, he uses his afternoon break to keep up with applications. Other times, saved opportunities that he found valuable on his phone and worked on them after work as he had access to his computer files. Although it was necessary, he preferred to save his time after work for projects, housework, or to rest. 

His favourite tool by far is Indeed because it is fast and efficient. He can also send a pre-saved cover letter without spending much time and effort. He is frustrated whenever he needs to apply for jobs on a company's website. They are often complicated and many times he has to re-write information from his resume when Indeed makes the same process much simpler.

*The interviewers' names were changed to protect their privacy

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User Interview Questions

Week 3: Interview questions for primary research. Here I start gathering qualitative data to understand repeating patterns, users' pain points and the reasons behind their behaviours. 

Which platforms do you use?

Why do you use them?

Can you tell me your experience when using the platform?

Can you please share with me when you had a problem using this platform and how you solved it?

What is your favourite device?

Why do you use them/what for?

What are the titles you search for?

What information is relevant to you when applying for a job posting?

How often do you apply for jobs?

What are the reasons you are seeking a job?

How do you apply for jobs / What's your process?

Where do you apply for jobs?

I see that you apply during X time of the day. Why?

Did you find any frustration when applying for a job recently?

If you could do anything in the world, how would you make this process ideal for you?

How would you rate your recent experience applying for a job?

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Getting started

For you who are new here, hi and welcome to my blog! 

I created this blog to document my capstone project from Springboard UX Bootcamp. I hope this is helpful for those who are interested in learning UX design. 

Here is where I kept track of the UX methodology applied to the project, the design decisions that lead to the resulting product, and the challenges that made me adjust and improve my ideas during the course. Expect to see a lot of post-its, research, ideation, wireframing, user testing, and prototyping. 

Let's dive in!