Sage Network
Connecting job seekers over age 50 to remote hiring experts and a peer support community.
ROLE
UX Research, UI Designer
DURATION
6 Weeks
PLATFORM
Desktop, Mobile
INDUSTRY
Professional
TOOLS
Figma, Miro, Adobe Photoshop, Whimsical
AREAS OF FOCUS
Research, Interaction Design, Responsive Design
Overview
* This case study presents a conceptual design, envisioned as part of a student project.
For this project, I wanted to design a digital product or service for senior adults
— a poorly represented user group across the tech industry.
Today, about 1 in 4 people over age 65 in the US are expected to live past 90 years of age. Despite increased lifespans and improvements in elders’ quality of life, the legal retirement age remains to be at or near 65-years-old. There is now a big trend in unretirement (reentrance into the workforce) after retiring, and a rising demand for work in this demographic.
The Problem
Many employable adults over the age of 50 in the United States are still inclined to work but struggle to get hired in jobs they truly want.
Research + Analysis
What would qualify as “work they want”? This answer is what I sought out initially.
I was eager to get this information straight from the source and immediately realized it might be a challenge. Where would I even begin to find older people to interview? Admittedly, I knew very little about this demographic and even less about how to find them off- or online.
A few assumptions I had about older people… 🤔
They are easily frustrated with technology
They don’t trust people, especially strangers, on the internet
Once trust is established, they really enjoy telling younger people their stories
Unsure about how many people I could survey or recruit, I kept my research criteria simple:
Find adults over age 60 who sought non-volunteer job opportunities in the last 2 years.
Research Methods:
Competitive Analysis
Live Interviews (10)
Surveys (16)
— Goals
1. Identify and compare the tools and resources older adults currently use to look for work
2. Identify motivations, habits, and struggles older job seekers face while searching
I mainly asked respondents about their…
Career +/- retirement history
Current ideal job
Most recent experience(s) looking for paid work
Motivations for finding work
Perceptions regarding how age played a role in their recent job search
Process while looking for a job (off-/online)
General feelings about the process
85%
searched for jobs online
LinkedIn - Indeed - Zip Recruiter
were the top 3 online resources used
63%
wanted to work with the skills they have
— Discoveries
1. Job seekers over 50 were often overlooked as candidates even if they had years of experience and were qualified for the position.
2. The jobs that were easily available and more inviting to them usually did not require the education and training they had.
*No respondents felt satisfied with these job options.
— Key Insights
1. No one mentioned using senior-specific resources for their job search.
2. Interviewees did not assume they were overlooked due to age, until after they were unsuccessful in getting an ideal offer for over 6 months.
3. Unsuccessful job candidates were willing to improve their skills and candidacy if provided helpful feedback.
Defining the Scope
— The User
Say hello to…
— Proposed Solution
Create a responsive website that better informs older adults throughout their job search and improve their chances of getting hired by providing useful tools to meet today’s job requirements.
Build a multi-generational community amongst seniors and helpful advisors knowledgeable with current hiring practices and experience getting older job seekers hired.
Since I had these two ideas for target users, I chose to design a simple all-in-one platform to address both in a way that is organized, easy to use, and easy to manage.
Design + Prototype
— Mid-fidelity Design
Key Features:
Main Dashboard
Virtual Support with a Hiring Professional
Search, Sorting, & Filtering
Scheduling
Coach Profile Sheet
Messaging
Community Support with Other Older Job Seekers
A Question-and-Answer Forum (shared space for all members of the Sage Network community: coaches and job seekers) to interact and support one another
Engagement interactions
Job Tools & Guides
Organizational tools and resources for users to prepare for their job search independently
— Usability Test: Round 1
Before designing in high-fidelity, I wanted to make sure users could easily navigate through these 2 flows:
Book a session with a career coach
Ask a question in the public forum
I tested the mid-fidelity prototype with 5 participants, who were given background information about the website, then asked to assess the following:
understanding of the brand and its services
task completion and efficiency
frustrations and pain points
successes and overall experience
— Branding + Visuals
— High-fidelity Design: Updates
After collecting users’ feedback, I addressed the problem areas and revised the prototype while designing the wireframes in high-fidelity.
These were the revisions:
Improved the copy on the landing page
Made button states more obvious
Increased text sizes and layout
Included a text caption to some icon buttons
Removed buttons on forms for consistency
Made the Q&A form more visible
— Usability Test: Round 2
I tested the high-fidelity prototype with 6 participants.
This time they were asked to evaluate:
the overall look and feel of the website
the interactions
the language and copy
the ease of navigation through the main tasks
The Final Design
Check it out.
Projected Outcomes
-
Increased confidence during their job search
Support from empathetic job seekers who relate to them
Joy & fulfillment working in careers they love
-
Fulfillment in helping qualified candidates find the right jobs for them.
-
Qualified candidates who are motivated to do high quality work and knowledgable with what is expected of them in today’s job market.
Future Product Roadmap
Test the revised product again with target users.
Make revisions and consider additional features.
Continue gathering users’ feedback to inform future iterations.
Make regular necessary improvements and adjustments.
Lessons Learned
To improve my process…
“Niche down” early by spending more time defining the user and refining the problem
Know when to move forward with research insights to focus on the most valuable solution
Identify when to adhere to my design process and where adaptations can be made
Ask interviewees more specific questions about how they use the tools they know
If allotted more time… Interview hiring professionals to hear their side of the story
Conduct a broader competitive analysis
Identify what all of the site features and elements might be before ideating designs for the dashboard