The Problem

In today's competitive job market, the most widely used job boards are generic, have a coporate feel and are overly packed with information. This can make the job search process feel uninspiring and discouraging. Huntinn aims to revolutionize the job search experience by transforming it into a fun and engaging adventure that attracts Gen Zs and matches their preferences in the workplace and their expectations from employers.

We know that Gen Zers are one of the three most hired group in the US surpassing 70% in the last 3 years.

Often misunderstood, this group has a different set of expectations from their employers than past generations, why not tailor the job board experience to them?

The majority of them favor jobs that can give them a sense of purpose (86%) and admit they would turn down a company that doesn't align with their beliefs (41%). They expect their employers to foster inclusivity, work/life balance and support their mental health.

They favor companies that have sustainable practices. They are worried about climate change and they are willing to switch jobs due to environmental concerns (46%).

They expect flexibility, they prioritize their well-being and a positive work/life balance. There is an increasing application for part-time jobs and a preference for 4 days a week models for full-time positions.

They prefer companies that offer advancements, salary increases, meaningful work and a good team.

Sources: Deloitte Insights (2024). 2024 Gen Z and Millennial Survey: Living and working with purpose in a transforming world [Website]. Retrieved from https://www.deloitte.com/global/en/issues/work/content/genz-millennialsurvey.html Dolores, M., María, E., & Sofía, E. (2022). Generation Z Within the Workforce and in the Workplace: A Bibliometric Analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 736820. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.736820

This product will accommodate for Gen Zers preferences, highlighting how each company and job offer matches their preferences and expectations, and ideally create company scores by former employees.

Huntinn is inspired by a playful and brutalist aesthetic and steers away from the corporate and formal appearance of commonly used job boards like LinkedIn and Indeed. The app's lighthearted and colorful theme aims to align with its target audience. Keywords: bold, fun, young, sustainable, brutalism and fresh.

Brutalist Aesthetic: The app's design is influenced by a brutalist style, featuring bold lines and geometric shapes.

Colorful Theme: To create a more positive and fun experience, the app uses a lighthearted and colorful theme.

Gamification Elements: The incorporation of gamification features helps to motivate users and make the job search process more fun.

Targeted Job Search: Allow users to efficiently find aspired design roles using specific common filters like location, company size, job type, and required skills. B

Job Offers highlight relevant information about each company's practices and work environmnet: indicating in each job offer if the company offers Mental Health Support, Flexible models, a Sustainability Score, Work/life balance index and social causes the company supports.

Gamification Elements: Incorporate gamification features to enhance user engagement and motivation. These include:

Achievement Badges: Award badges for completing specific actions, such as creating a profile, applying for a job, or saving a search.

Progress Tracking: Show users their progress towards career goals and milestones.

Leaderboards: Allow users to compete with others and see their ranking based on various metrics.

Challenges and Quests: Offer timed challenges or quests to encourage active use and profile improvement based on companies expectations.

A flow chart was created to outline the primary screens and user flow, focusing on the job search path and profile with daily activities. Research into other gamified apps and job boards provided inspiration for the design (LinkedIn and Duolingo). The flow chart focuses mainly on the Job Search path and the Profile with daily activities.

Wireframes were created to map out the essential screens and layouts, guided by common UI patterns and basic shapes.

By referencing common job boards, we found common UI patterns and added a personalized profile onboarding that will be essential for this MVP and created some initial sketches for:

Login and custom profile, and

Onboarding flow to detect skills, desired role and job preferences

A Job search flow

At this stage, I got deeper into the UX writing of each screen to make the content short and easy to understand. I found out that the job application process needed an extra step to seem less overwhelming as noted in the wireframe. This modification is reflected in the final mock-ups and prototype.

The final design incorporates strong borders, colorful navigation icons, and a young and fresh color palette. Poppins font was chosen for its readability and playful appearance.

The prototype shows a walkthrough of the onboarding flow, application flow, job filter menu and the applicants profile.

Usability tests are needed to iterate the design: Usability tests would be useful to detect frictions, expectations and needs from actual users in order to develop this concept further and iterate on it's design.

Gamification Enhancement: gamified options need to be evaluated by users in order to prove if they add value to the experience or not.

Huntinn strives to make the job search process less grim and daunting by combining a different visual direction than coporate job boards and a job search process tailored to the needs and preferences of Gen Zers. It advocates for the employers and their right to have a more transparent and customized overview of companies, highlighting those things they care about the most: sustainability práctices, work/life balance, flexibility, and more.