JobOptim is a web-based healthcare data startup based in Minneapolis, MN. JobOptim is intended to be the marketplace for MDs and DOs to find jobs and for hospitals to recruit physicians. JobOptim’s goal is to create transparency and reduce friction in the physician staffing market. The primary differentiators of JobOptim’s platform is its ability to provide a map-based search for roles and compensation estimates for each job.

Medical professionals who have just finished residency and are looking for their first hospital job and mid-career physicians who are interested in exploring job opportunities using this database.

A minimal redesign to the existing layout of the website with recommendations to improve the usability and functionality of the map-based search. Additionally, from research, I included a functionality to allow for job alerts and apply on for the job position directly from the site.

Before defining a specific area of opportunity, I wanted to make sure I had a clear understanding of the goals of the organization, the goals of the user groups, and the intent of the website.

The Intent and Goals of the Website

The goal of JobOptim is to be a website that has:

• All permanent positions

• All locum tenens positions

• The best possible compensation estimates

• Information about the workload of the department

• A beautiful and intuitive user interface

Primary users

• Medical residents looking for a good-fit job that meets their personal needs and criteria

• Hospital hiring authorities (e.g., HR administrators, department chairs) looking to recruit and retain talent

Secondary users

• Mid-career physicians (working for 3-30 years) interested in exploring job opportunities

  • May be motivated by an increased or decreased workload, change in management, desire to achieve a higher salary, unsolicited job offer, curiosity, etc

Cognitive Walkthrough

I used the cognitive walkthrough method to complete a usability inspection of JobOptim to identify usability issues, focusing on how easy it is for new users to accomplish tasks with the system.

Major Findings from my cognitive walkthrough

• Interactive map functionality was a bit slow but accessible and working

• The map points were unclear and not easily distinguishable between a job post versus a facility point

• No way to properly apply through the website. The apply button directed me to an email associated with JobOptim so it was unclear who would receive the email.

My cognitive walkthrough provided good insights on what to anticipate as I prepare with my research team on building a test evaluation plan.

Competitive Analysis

Since I’m not familiar with the medical industry and what the job search entails. I decided to conduct my own competitive analysis on this type of platform to gain more insights around job boards for medical professionals. I felt that it will help me better understand the resources that users are currently using and their needs. Key summary of my findings from competitor sites that are not included in JobOptim that would be useful to use.

• Functionality to create Job Alerts and apply for jobs directly on the search site

• Accessibility for facilities, recruiters to post jobs

• Search functionality to specify employment type (ie. permanent, locum tenens)

• No map search functionality

• Career Resources

Usability Planning

I worked with a team of four researchers and designers to come up with a research protocol for our context inquiry. The goal for our research was to better understand what MDs or DOs are looking for when job searching, to identify areas of improvement in the current site based on user needs, and to learn more about what competitor sites offer compared to JobOptim.

My team and I decided to rotate various roles of the research to allow us to collaborate and experience different responsibilities of a research team. Stephanie and Annie each moderated the session with our two participants. I supported the research by observing and taking notes for the first session then focusing on recording the session for the second participant. 

Data Synthesis

My team and I completed a quick debrief after the interview and completed an affinity diagram with the various key takeaways that each of us took from the research. 

Our positive findings included:

• Effective discoverability search filter design - Users easily navigated between the available search result tabs/views

• Users appreciated the ability to search for jobs without creating an account.

The major research findings from the research with my team include:

• Confusing and lack of visual cue for correlation of the job list within the map search result view and the location of the map point icons

  • Map point icons do not depict universal meaning - Users expressed confusion about what the numbers meant after drilling through the points indicated on the map

• Visual affordance for findability - ie. a search button to execute the search

• Flexibility to create searches without an account, but no functionality to get notified of specific search criteria

• Lack of clarity and transparency regarding the source of data for job postings and compensation estimator numbers are coming from.

• Table list view of job list and facility list could use advanced search functionality and sorting functionality (ie. sort by state vs. address only)

Prototype Plan

Based on the research findings, I created the following user stories to assist me with the redesign of the JobOptim website. 

As a Physician, I want to…

• search for jobs by l search for jobs by location(s), and specialty using the map, so I can see a list of job postings matching my search.

• select a job post, so I can view the job post details.

• apply for a job, so I can make money.

In order to ensure my prototype process goes well, I sketched out my information architect and overall user flow to ensure my redesign meets the user needs from the research findings. I also completed some low-fidelity sketches to assist with the high-level visual design of my interactive prototype. 

Recommendations

Based on research findings, I recommend the following enhancements to the website:

• On click, the search can be executed with the search button

• Users can create job alerts to stay on top of new opportunities with job alerts.

• For the interactive map search,

  • Include a checkbox to indicate “Search as I move the map” - Search results list will update according to map point clicks or movement of the map

  • Search result job list contains visual cue to correlate with map point icons with the search list (ie. hover over map point to see what the job post is)

  • Legend/Key for the icons (ie. the job icon can be a person and the facility icon can be a building)

    • Zoom in and out button on the map

• Include an application submission form

Interactive Prototype

I created my interactive prototype in Figma. For this redesign, I considered the major findings from my research and some of the findings from the competitor sites. From my understanding of public-facing search system designs, I decided to not make drastic changes to the overall layout to maintain the user’s mental model on the searchability of the website. Due to the short time to create the prototype, I did not get a chance to complete the full redesign of the prototype.

Due to the short time provided to work on this project, I focused heavily on the design aspect of this project. See the details on the next steps below.

CONCLUSION

JobOptim is presently at a great start for its platform. The functionality overall works as intended and the usability has great potential and room for opportunities. The recommendations provided are intended to improve the existing usability of the website. I arrived at these recommendations by performing two contextual inquiries with my research team. By following these recommendations, JobOptim could see improvement in their user interface and the end-users would have a more satisfying experience navigating through the site.

NEXT STEP

Due to the short time provided to work on this project, I did not get to complete all the recommendations I wanted to put together. The next step I would take is to redesign the following:

• Home page to include a quick and simple search box with location, specialty, and employment type so users can quickly and easily access the search capability.

• More clear and communicative map interaction such as color-coding job posts with pins on the map includes other advanced filters like visas, telehealth, etc.

• Include more meaningful images of facilities and physicians

I would like to also conduct usability testing on the prototype to see if it is functional and usable for users.

Reflection and Key Takeaway

I really enjoyed the experience of learning how to create an interactive prototype in Figma and redesigning a website. My redesign did not fully revamp the existing look of JobOptim because I understand the work it takes to code and designs the layout of a website. The focus of my redesign was on the user needs which involved leveraging the existing design and adding some features rather than fully redesigning the layout. After seeing all the redesigns of my fellow UX designers/researchers, I got inspired and realized that I am rediscovering and tapping into my design creativity. I am looking forward to doing more design work.