How might we create an application that serves HR consultants and their clients?
Overview
HR Nexus was assigned to me during my studies at Parsons’ Human Centered UX/UI Certificate Program. The goal of HR Nexus was to analyze research and find opportunities to create a new HR consulting web service.
Digging into the Research
Company Identity & Values
Who is funding the creation of HR Nexus?
World’s Largest HR Consulting Firm.
What is the purpose of HR Nexus?
Provide startups with the ability to create secure futures for their employees.
What are the internal values of HR Nexus?
“People are at the heart of everything.”
“The future is made in the actions we take today.”
High Level Goals of HR Nexus
HR Nexus Clients
Create a platform for startups to access high quality HR consultants, at a fraction of the market price.
HR Consultants
Give retired and part-time employees a flexible employment option.
Value Propositions | What value will HR Nexus bring to users?
Needs in the Market
Affordable HR Consultancy services for startups and small businesses
Flexible hours for part-time and retired consultants
A platform for efficient communication and transactions between businesses and HR Consultancy
Ability to connect reliable HR consultants to small business owners
Trends in the Market
How can we differentiate HR Nexus from competitors?
A fluid and easy to use system
Highly experienced consultants
All communication, payment, and project planning is done within HR Nexus
Visualize progress on the projects with simple graphics and diagrams
Integration with other applications like Microsoft Excel
Defining the Challenges
Context, Actions, and Goals
What is the objective? Who are the users? What is required for HR Nexus to be a success?
Context
What is the Physical Context?
Both small business owners and part time HR consultants may work from home or a small office.
Older users may be comfortable in traditional work environments.
What is the Relational Context?
Communication between business owners and consultants should be accessed in a consistent way.
Consultants should be able to easily and clearly propose ideas to clients.
Actions
What are the most important activities for the app?
Allow for clients to post help requests that HR consultants can respond to with options.
HR consultants should be able to easily navigate between their multiple jobs.
What are the most important objects?
Service needs to be available on all devices in order to capture all types of users.
Paperwork must be completed digitally and kept in an easy to find location.
Goals
What emotional goals require fulfillment?
HR Nexus must feel human in order to gain trust of potential clients and consultants.
The service cannot be frustrating. Must be user friendly for the not-so-tech-savvy users.
What functional goals are required?
HR Nexus must act as the go-to resume for HR consultants.
Interactions between consultants and clients must be able to be completed quickly.
Design Requirements
Which 8 requirements would have the most impact?
Objective of the Service
How can we improve on the HR Consultancy service?
Create an application that connects experienced HR consultants to small companies and startups in order to give HR Nexus a wider pool of clientele.
Users & Stakeholders
Who are the top users and interested parties?
The Central Design Challenge
How can we create a platform to provide cost effective HR services for startups and small businesses?
Gather Inspiration
Ease of Payment
PayPal is an excellent example of a service that provides seamless payment to users.
Humanly Design
Despite the minimalistic look, Nintendo Switch’s UI has a unique feeling of humanness to it.
Productivity
Google Drive provides its users with a plethora of productivity services.
Ease of Use
After speaking with non-tech-savvy people, I discovered that they found pay phones easy to use.
