All work

May Tsui · Product Designer

SEEK Asia (JobsDB & JobStreet)

Design Enhancement on Candidates’ Job-Seeking Journey

A design enhancement of JobStreet’s online applications experience, delivering evidence-based status and UI improvements to reduce candidate frustration and improve transparency across the job-seeking journey.

JobStreet My Applications dashboard showing six application cards with status updates such as received, interview invitation, and not suitable

Role

Lead Product Designer

Lead UX Researcher

Responsibilities

I worked alongside my product team on the end-to-end journey from design strategy to execution, launching across multiple countries with positive results.

About the project

The job-seeking journey was frustrating for candidates because there was a lack of visibility and frequency in status updates on JobStreet.

The challenge

01 / 04

Replacing uncertainty with useful closure

The job-seeking journey had always been one of the most frustrating processes for candidates. On JobStreet, infrequent status updates left candidates unsure what to expect other than waiting to hear back from hirers.

The objective was to make use of captured signals and provide useful feedback. By delivering constructive application updates, we aimed to give candidates visibility into their current status and help them plan their next step.

The research

02 / 04

Understanding both sides of the hiring journey

We combined quantitative and qualitative methods, pairing behavioural signals with attitudinal insights to understand the hiring journey from both sides.

Five hirers and nine candidates in Kuala Lumpur joined one-hour, face-to-face interviews. These conversations helped us understand the journeys and emotions from both sides.

  • Candidates preferred clear closure over incremental updates that did not change their situation.
  • Hirers valued closure but balanced transparency with operational and sensitivity concerns.
  • The opportunity was a status model that offered definitive outcomes and remained feasible for hirers.

Research Methods Applied

Behavioural

  • Web analytics
  • A/B testing
  • Heatmap

Attitudinal

  • User feedback
  • Jobs-to-be-Done
  • Journey mapping
  • User interview
  • Stakeholder interview

Jobs to be done

03 / 04

Know whether there is still a chance

When I have applied for a job, I want to check my application status and know as soon as possible whether I still have a chance, so I do not stay anxious about what to do next and I am not left hanging.

How might we define and display the right signals?

The design

04 / 04

A clearer model for application progress

We mapped the end-to-end recruitment journey from both hirer and candidate perspectives, identifying the touchpoints and system signals JobStreet could surface at each stage.

Research informed a clearer status model, new labels and timestamps. A heuristic evaluation also addressed system visibility, navigation consistency and affordances around expired jobs.

The work

05 / 05

From journey mapping to shipped screens

Service blueprint comparing the hirer's and candidate's journeys with system signals and touchpoints, and the hirers' drop-off point marked
01Journey map of the hirer and candidate sides, with system signals, touchpoints and the hirers' drop-off point marked
Feedback board showing received application, profile viewed and interview invitation statuses, each grouped by how useful candidates found them
02Candidate feedback on each status type, grouped from very useful to not useful
Two in-app survey widgets: how often the page is visited, and a 1 to 10 satisfaction rating on application status information
03In-app surveys capturing visit frequency and satisfaction with status information
Hand-drawn wireframes of a notification on the homepage and an application history page with a hirer and candidate progress timeline
04Early sketches: notifications and an application history with a progress timeline
Four application cards showing statuses for active and expired ads, such as employer processing, interview invitation and no longer accepting applications
05Redesigned status cards covering active and expired ads at a glance

The result

What changed after the work shipped

30% → 85%

Applications with feedback in Malaysia

6 → 1.5 months

Application status update frequency

+9%

Traffic to the applications page