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Executive Summary

This document details the development process of a website connecting customers seeking career guidance with experienced resume writer. It highlights key milestones achieved within a
6-month case study, focusing on user experience and pain points.
Outcomes:
Key Activities:
Problem: Customers need help finding a resume writer who understands their specific industry, writes effectively, and collaborates well.
Solution: Develop a website featuring a resume writer, offering easy appointment scheduling and personalized guidance.
Conclusion:
This initial sprint successfully gathered user insights and built a functional website prototype. Further development and testing will be crucial for launch and long-term success.

Executive Summary

This document details the development process of a website connecting customers seeking career guidance with experienced resume writer. It highlights key milestones achieved within a 6-month case study, focusing on user experience and pain points.

Problem: Customers need help finding a resume writer who understands their specific industry, writes effectively, and collaborates well.

Solution: Develop a website featuring a resume writer, offering easy appointment scheduling and personalized guidance.

Key Activities:

  • Market Research: Identified customer frustrations through online forums and surveys.
  • Sprint Planning: Set goals and user flows, focusing on efficient booking and clear communication.
  • Prototyping & Testing: Created wireframes and conducted user testing with 5 participants, identifying areas for improvement.
  • Next Steps: Implement SEO, A/B testing, blog expansion, job filter refinement, and launch.

Outcomes:

  • Identified key customer needs: personal growth, work-life balance, and career transition support.
  • Developed a user-friendly website prototype with an efficient booking process.
  • Gained valuable user feedback for further optimization.

Conclusion:

This initial sprint successfully gathered user insights and built a functional website prototype. Further development and testing will be crucial for launch and long-term success.

The Business Plan

Over the last six months, I've encountered numerous clients who have openly expressed their frustrations when seeking a resume writer possessing a profound understanding of the job market they aim to enter, exceptional writing skills, keen attention to detail, and a genuine enthusiasm for collaborative efforts. In the midst of the ongoing pandemic, individuals are fervently searching for encouragement and guidance across various facets of their lives, be it in their careers, family dynamics, spiritual journeys, and more. This blog not only recounts the writer's personal experiences but also delves into recent dialogues with others, aspiring to offer solace and direction amid these challenging times.

The Approach

Understanding the Need: I began my journey by immersing myself in online communities like Quora and Reddit. These platforms revealed a clear demand for compassionate resume writers who offer expert guidance in navigating unique career challenges.
Goal Setting and Sprint Questions: Next, I established a five-day sprint, defining long-term goals and identifying core sprint questions. My central concern revolved around creating a valuable, user-friendly website focused on resume building. I addressed questions regarding content quality, ease of registration, and potential integration of resume services with Christian ministry concepts.
In formulating the sprint questions, I sought to articulate my primary concerns regarding the website's development. Foremost among these apprehensions was the pivotal question: would customers find the content truly valuable? Recognizing that content resonance is paramount for both customer retention and the success of the resume business, I grappled with ensuring that the information provided would genuinely meet the needs of users. Additionally, I harbored concerns about the simplicity of the resume registration process, aiming to create an effortlessly navigable experience for users. Lastly, I grappled with the potential complexity of integrating resume services with Christian ministry, striving to strike a delicate balance between the two to ensure clarity and resonance.
Stakeholder and Customer Journey Mapping: I identified all stakeholders impacted by scheduling a virtual resume writer meeting and created a flowchart visually mapping the entire customer experience on the website.
“How Might We” Flashcards: To ensure alignment between client needs and resume writer expertise, I used flashcards focusing on the "How Might We" technique. Each flashcard contains a curated set of questions to help writers efficiently assess a client's job transition goals and experience during phone calls.
Following the creation of the map, I strategically singled out my primary customer and identified a key target on the map to center my focus on for the sprint.
Customer Focus and Ideation: With a single primary customer profile identified, I drew website design inspiration from successful systems like those found in square calendar availability platforms and Spotify's introductory filtering.
Solution Exploration and User Testing Preparation: Various solution sketches were created on flowcharts followed by lightning demos to showcase their integration into the site. I aimed for clarity and ease of use in these solutions to prioritize the customer's journey. To evaluate my prototype (mvp), I carefully selected 10 remote survey participants based in Charlotte, NC.
Survey Insights and Targeted Participant Selection: Survey questions were intentionally built around challenges, values, and priorities. Interestingly, "personal growth and development" and "work-life balance" seemed related to "career transition" aspirations, pointing to potential unaddressed difficulties of a wider clientele. Recognizing that user expertise would vary, I chose five survey participants for the user testing based on their varying levels of reliance on outside help when pursuing career goals.
In designing the survey, I strategically crafted questions that revolved around participants' present challenges, core values, and prevailing priorities. Notably, during the analysis phase, a compelling pattern emerged: the themes of "personal growth and development" and "work-life balance" exhibited a noteworthy correlation with aspirations for "career transition" and "job promotion." This observation is particularly intriguing, as it suggests a potential shared challenge among individuals who did not participate in the survey but may still be grappling with similar career-related dilemmas.
Subsequently, I selected five participants with varying proficiency levels based on their responses to the survey question probing, "When setting and working towards a career goal, do you tend to rely on your own efforts or seek out support and guidance from others?" This deliberate selection aimed to uncover potential issues in the user testing phase, ensuring the effectiveness of the system across a spectrum of user skills and preferences.
Storyboard for Wireframe Testing: Finally, I meticulously mapped the user journey through storyboards and wireframes. This allowed me to visualize the process from searching on Google to receiving an invitation confirmation, streamlining the experience and addressing any potential areas of confusion.

The Results

Overall Success and Insights:
User testing of the MVP yielded largely positive results, confirming the website's core design strengths. Valuable improvement areas were identified alongside two significant errors for correction.
Errors Search Visibility (Error 1):
Improve search result descriptions for greater initial website visibility. A more targeted approach may combat users being drawn to competitor sites.
Navigation Confusion (Error 2):
Simplify the home screen and navigation flow between the detailed resume/appointment page and main job filter. User behavior reveals a preference for direct action over detailed instructions.
The second error surfaced when participants encountered confusion upon reaching the second screen from the mvp, which provided detailed information about the overall resume appointment. In this instance, three out of five participants were uncertain about the next step to access the job filter screen. Analysis of their mouse movements indicated a reluctance to read the text on the page to identify the next action. Consequently, I hypothesized that a solution would involve streamlining the home screen version to guide participants directly to the job filter screen, while reserving the detailed version under the navigation toolbar as the "resume appointment" version.
Positive Feedback:
‍The MVP's interface, seamless process, and blog section received widespread praise. This reinforces project direction.
Technical Challenge:
‍Technical issues impacting certain participants revealed a need for detailed participant screening processes. Clearly outlining technical requirements upfront will ensure smoother, more productive testing sessions.
One challenge encountered during the user testing mvp session involved two participants who opted not to reveal their faces, attempted to complete the task using their phones, and faced difficulties in screen sharing due to their low-end PCs. Communicating the need for specific technical requirements proved awkward, and regrettably, these participants couldn't proceed further. The lack of preparation on my part for outlining these technical prerequisites became evident. Unfortunately, allowing them to participate wouldn't have been beneficial for the research, given the significance of observing participants' behaviors and movements. Subsequently, I had to recruit two additional participants who met the necessary technical criteria, but this didn't fully compensate for the time lost during the incident.

The Impact

The project is on track to address the key challenge of connecting customers with resume writers who meet their specific needs. Positive participant feedback signals its potential success. While minor navigation issues need addressing, they don't hinder the project's potential. The next step is launching the website, enabling resume writers to directly address customer frustrations and drive the project towards its primary business metric.

What's Next?

The upcoming milestones for the resume blogging website involve acquiring proficiency in SEO keywords, executing A/B testing, enhancing the blogging features, introducing additional categories in the job filter, removing the resume packaging section, and dividing the detailed resume appointment section. As of November 20, 2023, the website has been launched, prompting the next crucial step: conducting user testing to ensure overall user-friendliness. Feel free to explore the site at Skyscripted.com, and for your reference, here are the version 2 designs crafted in Figma.

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