There is a background image of the talentsky profile on an iPad.

As the first hire at talentsky, this wasn't just a chance to design a product from scratch with no previous UI decisions to contend with. It was a chance to build UCD into the product lifecycle and company culture from the ground up. From the start, UX informed product direction, validated the roadmap, and followed designs through engineering to release.

Sticky notes on a whiteboard depicting part of a design process
Obligatory Stickies on a Wall Portfolio Picture

The other opportunity here was to grow a small design team. I got into UX without specific training. Consequently I appreciate that one of the biggest impediments to being a great designer is the opportunity for a good designer to show their true ability.

Along with baking design into the fabric of the company, I made it a point to delegate tasks and responsibilities that would allow the other designers to hone their existing skills as well as incorporate new areas into their skill set.

The text GDPR over a blue background with yellow stars in a circle
GDPR

I was tasked with formulating talentsky's approach to GDPR compliance. Given the business model, we were in a position to be both a data processor and a controller, requiring both implicit and explicit consent. This made for an interesting balancing act as the user experience would be different for each.

Printed pages with a stacked bar chart and line graph.
Updates to the Board

Our BOD had some amazing men and women and I was fortunate to meet with them on a number of occasions reporting on product progress, ideas, and challenges. I learned a lot from them.

Three donut charts in a row, the first is green with a value of 35%, the second is blue with a value of 52%, and the third is red with a value of 13%. Below those a bubble graph
Your Team's skills broken down by skills

The app had a unique perspective on teams leading to an interesting visualization. Team managers could list the skills they wanted per role as well as the level of proficiency for those skills and then report back the actual skill makeup of the team and how it compared to the target.

Four tabs on a web page reading, 'Moments,' which is selected, 'Skills,' 'Followers,' and 'Following,' above a section labelled 'Career Highlights'.
You are Better than Bullet Points

To that end, the crux of the app was reformulating the bullet points of a resume into small projects, highlighting the actual work done and in what context. This had the potential to push people deeper into understanding candidates even prior to meeting them.