CV Easy App
CV Easy helps job seekers who want to land the job of their dreams – by guiding them in creating the perfect CV, and reducing the effort it takes to manage and update it.
MY ROLE
RESULTS
I have come up with an innovative way to build and update CVs, and also effortlessly collect references and testimonials. At this point, I have screens that showcase the main flows of the product.
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Researching to find opportunities for design, improvement, and innovation.
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Conducting interviews with focus groups and individual users.
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Making informed design decisions based on research and user insights.
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Creating a suitable brand identity for the app.
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Designing user journey and site maps for effective information architecture.
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Wireframing and prototyping in Adobe XD.
THE CHALLENGE
I took a problem statement from Ux Challenge - where I had to help job seekers create a beautiful CV that is responsive. I loved the challenge because this time around I wanted to create something specific to mobile platforms and users.
THE DOUBLE DIAMOND
By now, I am a solid advocate for this amazing tool... and because this time around I wasn't in a hurry, I went deeper into the process during the research phase.
I was able to do user interviews through focus groups and individually. And I have thoroughly enjoyed the discoveries I made (Who knew that PDFs can be responsive??). The process has prompted me to go read the Material Design guidelines to understand how to create great ui/ux for Android users.
I have made my research available here; in case you want to geek out with me. ;)
INFO. ARCHITECURE
I went and found a tool called Flow Map. I found it delighting to use for creating a user persona, a site map, and a journey map for signing up and creating a CV. This step really helped me to organize the most important screens in the app and how the user will be moving through them when they create a beautiful CV.
I am also making this information available here.
WIREFRAMES
I started sketching from the screens in the site map as well as the user journeys (information architecture is like a north star in many parts of the design process).
At this point I thought there weren't any more discoveries to be made, but I got a surprise when I started sketching the low-fi wireframes on paper. I had to redraw many of the screens because of issues like where would the confirm and move forward button would be? The screens where the user would input their information in sections like education or experience were quite a challenge. Because on one screen there has to be a simplified way to deliver high impact tools.
Once I had the low-fi sketches, I opened up Adobe XD for the mid-fi wireframes.
BRAND IDENTITY
By now, it's second nature to me to consider the identity of the product or brand I am working on...
I went to Pinterest for inspiration on colours, type and illustrations. I also went looking for free illustrations to use for the project - and UnDraw was the perfect resource for the task.
THE USER INTERFACE
I honestly have to admit that this is my favorite part of a project; because now I get to translate all the research and amazing concepts into something tangible. Oh, and I did get to apply some of the things I learned when I read through the Material Design Guidelines during the research phase.
Even at this stage, the user is always at the back of my mind. And in that regard, I decided to try having an app nav. bar that's at the bottom instead of the top. Apparently, it's easier on the thumb.
Lastly, putting together the illustrations was an absolute delight - it prompted me to push some boundaries with how I use colors in my designs. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
LESSONS LEARNED
This project is a gem in my memory... I genuinely enjoyed the process as well as the current outcome. I definitely will be treating this as an on-going side project... There are so many things I learned here, and so I will try to keep this part as succinct as I can;
1. When in the Ui stage - focus on the screens that showcase the user journey (especially if the project is quite robust).
2. Prepare your Ui elements well ahead of time.
3. The questions you ask during interviews matter - be mindful and purposeful when compiling them.
