By |Last Updated: June 23, 2023|

Within Squad Bay, the official Marine Corps application, Recruiter’s want to be able to use their profiles as “digital business cards” in order to “extend hallway conversations” and communicate with aspiring Marines and supporters within their communities.

The design team was tasked with enhancing the existing recruiter profile while also demonstrating concepts for an updated UI to be implemented for the entire Squad Bay app.

Within Squad Bay, the official Marine Corps application, Recruiter’s want to be able to use their profiles as “digital business cards” in order to “extend hallway conversations” and communicate with aspiring Marines and supporters within their communities.

The design team was tasked with enhancing the existing recruiter profile while also demonstrating concepts for an updated UI to be implemented for the entire Squad Bay app.

Project Challenge

Currently, Marine Corps recruiter’s profiles in Squad Bay are only used for administrative tasks and cannot be viewed by other users.

Recruiter’s need to be able to “extend hallway conversations” with aspiring Marines and supporters by sharing their digital business cards and building the Squad Bay community.

Project Challenge

Currently, Marine Corps recruiter’s profiles in Squad Bay are only used for administrative tasks and cannot be viewed by other users.

Recruiter’s need to be able to “extend hallway conversations” with aspiring Marines and supporters by sharing their digital business cards and building the Squad Bay community.

Research & Discovery

To kick off the project, the product team facilitated a workshop in Miro with active duty Marine Corps stakeholders to define enablements and determine any outstanding questions or limitations.

During the workshop, we uncovered common workarounds by recruiters and discovered they frequently use unauthorized third-party applications to create individual profiles and share resources.

To align the team on next steps, we prioritized the enablements into a now, next, and later framework to ensure business objectives and user needs will be satisfied in design concepts.

Using what we learned in the discovery workshop, I revisited the existing profile screens to highlight gaps between current functionality and identified user needs.

To kick off the project, the product team facilitated a workshop in Miro with active duty Marine Corps stakeholders to define enablements and determine any outstanding questions or limitations.

During the workshop, we uncovered common workarounds by recruiters and discovered they frequently use unauthorized third-party applications to create individual profiles and share resources.

To align the team on next steps, we prioritized the enablements into a now, next, and later framework to ensure business objectives and user needs will be satisfied in design concepts.

Using what we learned in the discovery workshop, I revisited the existing profile screens to highlight gaps between current functionality and identified user needs.

WORKSHOP DISCOVERY
Recruiters need the ability to share public facing profiles (“digital business cards”) that include:
  • 1

    Recruiter Bio

  • 2

    Recruiter Profile Photo

  • 3

    Contact Information

  • 4

    Personal Social Handles

  • 5

    Custom Links

  • 6

    Access to resources within Squad Bay

Existing Recruiter Profile Designs

Recruiters need the ability to share public facing profiles (“digital business cards”) that include:
  • 1

    Recruiter Bio

  • 2

    Recruiter Profile Photo

  • 3

    Contact Information

  • 4

    Personal Social Handles

  • 5

    Custom Links

  • 6

    Access to resources within Squad Bay

Existing Recruiter Profile Designs

Design Ideation

Using the existing profile designs and identified user needs and stories as my guide, I began to ideate concepts that would satisfy the task flows a user would need to complete their goal. Throughout the process, I focused on being empathic, imagining how the recruiters felt and behaved while going through the recruiting process.

Design Ideation

Using the existing profile designs and identified user needs and stories as my guide, I began to ideate concepts that would satisfy the task flows a user would need to complete their goal. Throughout the process, I focused on being empathic, imagining how the recruiters felt and behaved while going through the recruiting process.

Example User Story

As a recruiter, I want to share my digital business card so that I can communicate with aspiring Marines.

hypothesis

If we provide recruiters the features they currently rely on workarounds to provide then they will use Squad Bay instead of unofficial sources because it meets their unique needs.

Example User Story

As a recruiter, I want to share my digital business card so that I can communicate with aspiring Marines.

hypothesis

If we provide recruiters the features they currently rely on workarounds to provide then they will use Squad Bay instead of unofficial sources because it meets their unique needs.

Starting with low-fidelity sketches, I continuously iterated on the concepts, bringing in the product team to internally test scenarios based on requirements and identity any development considerations.

To enable the development team and create a design system framework for the entire app redesign, we agreed to use Material Design’s M3 guidelines. I then transitioned the low-fidelity wireframes into high-fidelity screens in Figma while working in parallel to build out the design system.

Starting with low-fidelity sketches, I continuously iterated on the concepts, bringing in the product team to internally test scenarios based on requirements and identity any development considerations.

To enable the development team and create a design system framework for the entire app redesign, we agreed to use Material Design’s M3 guidelines. I then transitioned the low-fidelity wireframes into high-fidelity screens in Figma while working in parallel to build out the design system.

Test

After several design iterations, we were ready for user testing with the Marine Recruiter Advisory Board, a group of active duty Marine Corps recruiters invited to participate by Marine Corps Recruiting Command in our user testing sessions.

My responsibilities included creating the high fidelity prototype in Figma along with a testing plan for user scenarios with several feature specific tasks.

This virtual testing session consisted of two rooms, each with a two moderators and a group of Marines. We conducted usability testing by having Marines walk through their sequence of steps out loud to complete various tasks. Our intent as moderators was to gain understanding behind their decision-making and the intuitiveness of the design.

After the session, we collected feedback for consideration and delivered a synthesis to the client for alignment. Test results revealed participants were excited about the new recruiter profile features and indicated that they would use Squad Bay over unofficial sources if those features were simple to use.

Test

After several design iterations, we were ready for user testing with the Marine Recruiter Advisory Board, a group of active duty Marine Corps recruiters invited to participate by Marine Corps Recruiting Command in our user testing sessions.

My responsibilities included creating the high fidelity prototype in Figma along with a testing plan for user scenarios with several feature specific tasks.

This virtual testing session consisted of two rooms, each with a two moderators and a group of Marines. We conducted usability testing by having Marines walk through their sequence of steps out loud to complete various tasks. Our intent as moderators was to gain understanding behind their decision-making and the intuitiveness of the design.

After the session, we collected feedback for consideration and delivered a synthesis to the client for alignment.

Participants revealed…..

Results

Results

User testing and stakeholder feedback deemed this project a success! So much so that Marine Corps leadership decided to adjust their contract and implement the new recruiter profile a year early.

My deliverables
  • Stakeholder Interviews

  • Wireframes

  • Prototypes

  • User Testing

  • UX / UI Final Designs

User testing and stakeholder feedback deemed this project a success! So much so that Marine Corps leadership decided to adjust their contract and implement the new recruiter profile a year early.

My deliverables
  • Stakeholder Interviews

  • Wireframes

  • Prototypes

  • User Testing

  • UX / UI Final Designs