Visual Job Search Dashboard
The Problem
Finding a job is a complex process. An applicant considers internal factors: their own background, interests and location, as well as a host of external variables including potential employers and their available opportunities.
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My project team posed the following question:
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How can we help job seekers find the perfect job at the perfect company?
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This project was completed as part of coursework for a class on Information Visualization in the department of HCDE at the University of Washington.
Process
Research​
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The research conducted by our team took a two pronged approach: competitive analysis & user research.
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Competitive Analysis. In a review of existing resources for job seekers, we identified the tools that provided rich data on company characteristics did not present information visually. Those resources that did provide visualizations were not rich in data.
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User Research. Our team conducted an online survey and in person interviews to identify the needs of our users. We learned that when looking for a job, individual's criteria vary; there is no single rubric by which job seekers evaluate a prospective employer. Criteria that were mentioned frequently included values, culture, work-life balance, and location.
Design goals
From our research, we developed the following goals:
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1. Provide job seekers a visual tool to evaluate prospective employers
2. Include customization for visuals to allow users the ability to assess employers based on their personal values.
3. Incorporate live job posting data to provide users with up to date offerings from the best companies.
ITERATION
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After a teammate pulled company rating data from Glassdoor, we were able to explore possible visualizations using Tableau. Early on we identified the scatterplot as a simple and effective visual for encoding multiple quantitative data points. Our initial design feature two separate tabs, and no customization of graph axes. User testing demonstrated that navigating between tabs was not intuitive.
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Our next round of iterations drew inspiration from common affordances with regard to layout: filters at the top, brushing and linking across the whole page, more of a dashboards style. During this phase we utilized the RITE method to solicit user feedback and make adjustments. For the final iteration we were also able to add job listing data.
The Product
Our final product was a dashboard tool that allowed users to filter companies based on their field and location, and evaluate those companies by criteria of the user's choosing. Based on company filters and selections, job listings are populated into a table peeking out from below the fold.
Lessons Learned
There were many outcomes from this project aside from the final visualization. I also learned:
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The value of diverse skill sets on a team. On this team we had a powerhouse presentation builder, an API data master, and a prolific writer.
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The fun of Tableau. I learned this tool through this project, which meant lots of roadblocks to navigate, and lots of satisfying discoveries.
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The pride that comes with contributing something novel to the world. We never encountered a tool like ours, and it felt good to create something new, building off of the progress others had made before us.