TAHCHE
Bridging the Talent Gap Between the Philippines and the West
Background
The app was designed for both iOS and Android systems. The deliverables included a comprehensive Design System, a complete design of the app interface and user experience, and a Prototype ready for development.
Year
2022-2023
Industry
HR
Role
Lead Product Designer
Timeline
8 months
Stakeholders
1 Product Manager, 3 Engineers, 1 Product Designer and The Tahche Client
Tools
Figma, Miro and Asana
Identify the problem
The Problem
The Tahche team had already established a market presence in both the Philippines and the US. However, they lacked a platform that could facilitate a seamless user experience for both companies and talent, as all processes were being handled manually. This method was leading to retention issues among their current users, primarily due to extended hiring timelines and intermediaries intervention.
How might we...
... create an end-to-end MVP for the Tahche team that automates their manual processes, thereby providing a seamless user experience for both companies and talent, reducing hiring timelines, and minimizing the need for intermediaries?
Discovering Business and User Needs
Understanding Companies Needs
Identify key features from the current manual process and those that are essential to provide a great user experience. These are the needs identified:
Be able to see high skilled talent in the Tahche Network
Want to see other job posts in their industry
Be able to see talent’s availability for coordinating first meeting
Business need: Allow companies to create their own job post under some guidelines provided
Understanding Talent Needs
Target current and potential Filipino talent seeking job opportunities with companies from the US and Europe. Identify key behaviour patterns when looking for a job in current job boards and pain points to address.
Be able to create their own profile by either filling the information manually or importing from LinkedIn
To set availability for interviews with potential companies
Be able to keep in contact with the Talent Specialist from Tahche by using a chat functionality
An unexpected issue was identified...
Due to hiring timings, some talent were contacting the companies directly or looking for job opportunities elsewhere.
Key Research
Market Research
User Interviews
Interviewed some of the current users and companies that Tahche had so that I could ask about their experience so far with the manual process and what were their pain points and expectations for the app.
They did not have an option to change their profile when they wanted.
They use LinkedIn to show their experience and education.
They missed some job opportunities due to interview timings outside their available time.
Features prioritization
By conducting Market and User research, I was able to prioritize essential features that will allow automatize the process.
Understand key pains, needs and wants.
Translate into features and functionalities what is being done manually at the moment
Present strategy to stakeholders and brainstorm closely with them.
User Journey
Conducted secondary research to create the product strategy and user experience. After this, I started creating the user journey based on insights and features prioritization.
Existing and new talent being onboarded into the new app
Allow them to create or import profile from LinkedIn
Profile creation based on questionnaire
Set availability for interviews
Verify their identity and credentials
Product Requirements
Identified and planned the product requirements for the app based on previous research and app goals.
User-friendly Onboarding Process
Profile creation either using LinkedIn and/or questionnaire
Talent and companies discovery
Message functionality for talent
Availability and identity verification
Design Process
Challenge 1: Design current manual flows
Problem: How can I design manual processes?
As there are two user types for the app, I needed to understand how each user was going to be onboarded to the app and what are the essential features they need so that intermediaries could be remove.
However, some features varied per user type as Talent and Companies are onboarded in a different way based on the services provided.
Solution: Design the base for a great User Experience
After identifying what were the current processes Tahche had in place for hiring talent and managing job contracts. I started designing the essential flows, I focused on the design for the onboarding as for each user type this was different. Also, designing how users were going to interact in the discover and profile screens and what information users needed to provide during the onboarding.
Challenge 2: Onboarding
Problem: Onboarding is different for both user types
Talent and Companies each had unique onboarding processes at Tahche, reflecting their distinct needs and services required. Talent could join the talent pool without any fees, while Companies were required to pay a $500 fee to initiate their engagement with Tahche and receive talent matches.
My task was to think about an effective onboarding strategy for these two distinct user types, considering their individual goals when they first engage with the Tahche app.
Solution: Personalize User Experience
Incorporating an account authentication and account type selection screen allowed me to tailor the user experience for each user type. Talent could join Tahche and start using the app immediately, without the need for additional verification steps in the onboarding process.
On the other hand, Companies required a unique code, provided upon payment of the fee, to gain full access to the app. This ensured a secure and verified onboarding process for Companies, aligning with their unique needs and the service structure of Tahche.
Challenge 3: Design System
Problem: Design System for both systems
Designing for both iOS and Android can present several challenges. Each platform has its own design guidelines, user interface elements, and user expectations, which can lead to inconsistencies in design and user experience across the these two platforms. Also, certain features or functionalities may work well on one platform but not on the other due to technical constraints.
Solution: Follow UI guidelines to ensure consistency
I adopted a platform-specific design approach while maintaining a consistent brand identity across both platforms. This means understanding and adhering to the design guidelines of each platform such as using Material Design for Android and Human Interface Guidelines for iOS and customizing the design to fit the characteristics of each.
Results and Reflections
Overall Design Highlights
Using a design system to create consistency across the app
Slowly transition from a manual to a more automated process by carefully onboarding current users
Successful feature prioritization based on current process
UI libraries for Android design to speed development process
Final Outcome
App was successfully integrated into the Tahche ecosystem after 8 months in the works, the client was happy with the work done!
Successfully streamlined the hiring process
Increased retention from 72% to 85%
Designed and developed for iOS and Android
