workonward

Redesigning the Candidate Onboarding Experience

Streamlining onboarding and job discovery to reduce friction and increase candidate activation.

Role

Product Designer

Timeline

3 weeks

Responsibilities

UX Research · Product Strategy · UI Design · Design System

Deliverables

Onboarding Flow · Dashboard · Design System

CHALLENGE

How might we reduce the onboarding friction of new job seekers while strengthening their first impression of the platform and increasing candidate activation?

CONTEXT

WorkOnward is a B2B map-based hiring platform that connects local job seekers with nearby employers. It emphasizes location-first job discovery, helping candidates explore opportunities on an interactive map and enabling businesses to hire talent within their communities.

SCOPE SUMMARY

3 Weeks

Sole Product Designer

Startup

Onboarding Redesign

Dashboard Redesign

Design System Redesign

Design Solution

A. The Sign-Up flow showcases a 5 step process that collects early onboarding information and embeds job discovery personalization.

B. The dashboard page allows job seekers to quickly access their recommended jobs, the job map, and their application tracker. In addition, job seekers can complete their profile with additional onboarding information in order to increase their likelihood of better matches.

A. The Sign-Up flow showcases a 5 step process that collects early onboarding information and embeds job discovery personalization.

B. The dashboard page allows job seekers to quickly access their recommended jobs, the job map, and their application tracker. In addition, job seekers can complete their profile with additional onboarding information in order to increase their likelihood of better matches.

  • A. The Sign-Up flow showcases a 5 step process that collects early onboarding information and embeds job discovery personalization.

  • B. The dashboard page allows job seekers to quickly access their recommended jobs, the job map, and their application tracker. In addition, job seekers can complete their profile with additional onboarding information in order to increase their likelihood of better matches.

Design objectives

The redesign focused on three key objectives: reducing onboarding friction, prioritizing job discovery over profile completion, and establishing a scalable design system to support future product growth.

1

Reduce Onboarding Friction Through Progressive Disclosure and ATS.

Reduce Onboarding Friction Through Progressive Disclosure and ATS.

2

Shift the Dashboard design to emphasize job discovery rather than just profile completion.

Shift the Dashboard design to emphasize job discovery rather than just profile completion.

3

Establish a scalable, consistent design system for claude code and developer handoff.

Establish a scalable, consistent design system for claude code and developer handoff.

HEURISTICS audit

The sign-up process was short but failed to collect enough essential information upfront, pushing most profile setup into a lengthy dashboard experience for new job seekers.

INSIGHT

A drop-off in the dashboard pages indicates that new job seekers are faced with cognitive overload, unwilling to complete the onboarding, and thus affecting job seeker retention rates on WorkOnward.

Lack of Onboarding

"Onboarding" takes place when users sign up. But this process is only one screen and places the question load in the dashboard section.

An Overwhelming Dashboard

Lack of Onboarding

"Onboarding" takes place when users sign up. But this process is only one screen and places the question load in the dashboard section.

An Overwhelming Dashboard

USER FLOW

Because WorkOnward serves frontline and local workers who may be searching between shifts, onboarding needs to prioritize speed and clarity: collecting what matters without delaying access to jobs.

01

Create Account.

Quick and simple sign up to get started.

02

Set Your Basics.

Tell us what you're looking for so we can show you relevant jobs right away.

03

See your first job matches.

Get personalized job recommendations based on your location and preferences.

04

Complete your profile over time.

Add more details when it's convenient. Each section helps us find better matches.

Problematic Onboarding

I examined the current onboarding user flow through user testing of the job seekers' sign-up process from the landing page to the profile dashboard and identified key friction points such as redundancy, lack of CTA, decision paralysis, and inconsistent UI that caused users to drop off from applying to jobs on the platform. This friction ultimately impacted the retention and likelihood that job seekers would continue to use WorkOnward.

Proposed Onboarding

I examined the current onboarding user flow through user testing of the job seekers' sign-up process from the landing page to the profile dashboard and identified key friction points such as redundancy, lack of CTA, decision paralysis, and inconsistent UI that caused users to drop off from applying to jobs on the platform. This friction ultimately impacted the retention and likelihood that job seekers would continue to use WorkOnward.

Problematic Onboarding

I examined the current onboarding user flow through user testing of the job seekers' sign-up process from the landing page to the profile dashboard and identified key friction points such as redundancy, lack of CTA, decision paralysis, and inconsistent UI that caused users to drop off from applying to jobs on the platform. This friction ultimately impacted the retention and likelihood that job seekers would continue to use WorkOnward.

Proposed Onboarding

I examined the current onboarding user flow through user testing of the job seekers' sign-up process from the landing page to the profile dashboard and identified key friction points such as redundancy, lack of CTA, decision paralysis, and inconsistent UI that caused users to drop off from applying to jobs on the platform. This friction ultimately impacted the retention and likelihood that job seekers would continue to use WorkOnward.

redesign

The onboarding redesign served to give job seekers earlier access to job matching features while progressively building stronger profiles as they stayed on the platform.

testing disclaimer

Job Seeker individuals who tested and reviewed the sign-up process and dashboard redesign were done independently by me through the consent of WorkOnward.

Sign-Up Screen Redesign

Example screens from Re-designed sign-up experience.

1

Users set preferences before seeing jobs, ensuring results are personalized from the start.

Users set preferences before seeing jobs, ensuring results are personalized from the start.

2

Job Preview gives users instant access to opportunities, increasing engagement and motivation.

Job Preview gives users instant access to opportunities, increasing engagement and motivation.

3

Clear progress indicators and a step by step flow made the experience simple and less intimidating.

Clear progress indicators and a step by step flow made the experience simple and less intimidating.

4

Collecting the right information early helps users complete their profiles over time, leading to better matches.

Collecting the right information early helps users complete their profiles over time, leading to better matches.

testing INSIGHT

Tested in contrast to the original arding process, 3 new job seekers reported to understand WorkOnward's value proposition as a local map based hiring platform better, and stated they would be more likely to use it.

Dashboard Screen Redesign

Example screens from Re-designed sign-up experience.

1

Job discovery becomes the primary dashboard experience with recommendation, job map, and progress widgets.

Job discovery becomes the primary dashboard experience with recommendation, job map, and progress widgets.

2

Profile strength turns completion into clear, manageable goals.

Profile strength turns completion into clear, manageable goals.

3

Users add information one section at a time instead of completing one lengthy profile. ATS and sign up onboarding helps pre-fill information.

Users add information one section at a time instead of completing one lengthy profile. ATS and sign up onboarding helps pre-fill information.

4

Profile completion process is overall shorter with sections such as "record introduction" marked as recommended.

Profile completion process is overall shorter with sections such as "record introduction" marked as recommended.

testing INSIGHT

Tested in contrast to the original dashboard, 3 new job seekers experienced a 47% overall reduction in time required to complete a comprehensive job seeker profile.

scalable design system

Redesigning the design system was critical to approach the onboarding and dashboard screens with consistency.

Utilizing Claude and Codex, I audited WorkOnward's existing design system, branding, and interfaces and found several design inconsistencies and WCAG accessibility issues. I used Codex to guide me through design system refinements and token library creation, while connecting the library to claude design MCP in order to update future designs.

Google Sheets Database

With the consultation of Codex, I created an in-depth database of all design system specifications including their token names, usages, and more. I created the database as a reference for future designers, developers, and to ease the process of making the figma design system library.

Figma Design System Library

After transferring the design system metadata into figma's variable library, I was able to begin redesigning consistent cards, buttons, and text entry components.

AI development

I translated my Figma designs into functional prototypes, while maintaining control over the design system, interactions, and UX decisions, using Claude Code MCP as an implementation tool.

Accelerating Design to Code

I provided Claude with my Figma prototype and existing design system to translate the redesigned onboarding flow into functional, code-ready screens. I constrained AI-generated changes to minor UI and content refinements, preserving the core UX and visual decisions from my Figma designs.

Scaling an Existing System

Once the job seeker experience was established, I used Claude to accelerate the mobile and employer-side onboarding flow by extending the same components, patterns, and design system. This reduced repetitive design work while maintaining consistency across both user experiences.

Expected Impact

Creating a foundation for a more engaging job search experience.

INSIGHT

The redesign shifted WorkOnward from a profile-first experience toward a progressive journey that delivers value earlier. By restructuring onboarding, simplifying navigation, and introducing profile completion over time, the experience better balances job seekers’ need to quickly find opportunities with WorkOnward’s need for meaningful candidate data.

01

Faster Path to Value

3 tested job seeker users revealed that the newer onboarding process was faster by 47% and more practical as they could discover relevant nearby jobs earlier instead of completing their entire profile first.

02

Lower Perceived Effort

Progressive onboarding, skippable steps, and focused profile tasks broke the lengthy process into manageable interactions.

03

Stronger Matching Foundation

Collecting essential preferences earlier gave WorkOnward more data to personalize job recommendations while allowing profiles to grow over time.

Next steps

Once the redesigned experience is fully implemented, I would evaluate its impact by tracking the following KPI's: Candidate activation, onboarding completion, time to first job recommendation, profile completion, and application conversion. These metrics would help determine whether the new progressive onboarding flow successfully reduces friction while helping job seekers reach relevant opportunities faster. The insights would then inform future iterations and identify where the experience can continue to improve.

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