Problem
The three brands fragmentation problem at SEEK
SEEK, the leading online job portal acquire based in Australia and New Zealand, expand their reach to Asia Pacific market by acquiring two leading job portal in Asia, JobStreet and JobsDB in 2014. JobStreet and JobsDB are market leader in a total of 7 Asia markets: Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.
The original plan is to keep the three brands to run as they are - don't fix something that's not broken, and there are lots of local customisation the two company does to fit each Asia market.
After acquisition we quickly discover fragmentation is a major blocker for the SEEK to move forward - whenever we want to improve our product for either job seeker or hirer - be it a big change like updating search algorithm or small things like adding "work from home" searching, one piece of work need to be duplicate to three or even more times so that it could implement to all Asia Pacific market, each require it's own launch strategy, this redundancy carry on to all the further iteration. This make product improvement unacceptably slow across SEEK, it's especially a critical challenge consider our global competitor can experiment and evovle to a rapidly changing market faster than we do.
The One SEEK company vision
The ultimate goal is becoming One SEEK - from three product and each manage regionally, unifying into one global product manage by one global team.
Building the foundation for unification
This unification project is an initiative to build the foundation for this One SEEK vision - building a unifying product with multi-brand in mind by a distributed cross-function team.
Solution
1. Empathise with the fundamental business and user requirement
My initial step was in-depth research to comprehend the existing system's functionality and the rationale behind each component. I engaged with colleagues holding expertise in various facets, including product managers, designers, engineers, and sales and marketing teams, to gain insights into the complex user experience. This collaborative exploration was complemented by hands-on testing.
I established testing accounts, mimicking end-to-end user experiences. Purchasing job ad packages and posting test job ads from a hirer's perspective allowed me to engage with and assess search and filter features comprehensively. I also applied to test job ads, providing insights into the application process from a hirer's standpoint.
Following this, I outlined the project's desirable business goals, aligning them with the organization's priorities. A balance between urgency and quality was a pivotal consideration.
The project embraced an agile "launch fast and learn" strategy, testing high-risk assumptions, favoring common solutions, and customizing only when necessary. Identifying non-negotiable business constraints within the existing system was essential, preserving elements that couldn't be altered while simplifying and aligning toward a common approach.
2. Define what success look like
In close collaboration with the product manager and engineers, I embarked on a comprehensive journey to define the project's success parameters. This entailed a meticulous examination of both business and technical requirements, establishing a well-structured timeline and launch pacing. Additionally, we meticulously outlined the specifics of our first launch, creating a launch plan with an emphasis on releasing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) in the Singapore market as an initial litmus test. The core focus remained on building and deploying a unified job discovery experience, underpinned by the principles of continuous iteration. This strategic approach laid the foundation for a successful project outcome.
3. Ideate different ways to get there
Running design workshop to build a solid common understanding of the job seeker journey, as a foundation to build a truly useful job discovery experience
Ideating the unified job searching experience, mapping each user interface component with technical functionality, refine with product manager and software engineers.
4. Prototype to get real world feedback early
To ensure the efficacy of our new job search experience, we took a hands-on approach by creating a prototype using InVision. This prototype served as a tangible representation of the forthcoming changes we intended to implement. To gain real-world insights from job seekers, I traveled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and participated in a local job fair.
At the job fair, we introduced job seekers to the prototype, allowing them to interact with it and share their thoughts. This exercise provided invaluable insights into the decision-making process of real job seekers when searching for opportunities online. It shed light on their considerations, including how they determine the appropriate keywords, location, and category for their searches. Additionally, we delved into their methods for assessing job postings, distinguishing which ones were worthy of further exploration and potential applications.
The firsthand feedback we received in this real-world context laid a robust foundation for our subsequent design iterations. These insights were instrumental in aligning our product with the genuine needs and thought processes of job seekers, ensuring that our design solutions were tailored to their expectations.
5. Test our new solution with A/B test
As part of our strategy to launch the new job seeker experience, we implemented an A/B testing approach in each market. To gather valuable insights, I developed a user feedback survey designed to capture job seekers' initial impressions of the new platform and identify areas for improvement. This survey was seamlessly integrated using Intercom, a robust tool that facilitated real-time, interactive conversations with our users. I also established dedicated live support hours, where I engaged with users, addressing their feedback as it came in, in real time.
Furthermore, to foster a culture of user empathy among the team, we established a Slack channel that fed live user feedback to everyone involved. This channel allowed for a transparent and immediate sharing of insights.
Once this user feedback was collected, I meticulously analyzed and categorized it into thematic groups. I then presented these themes to the product team, highlighting the most prevalent issues and providing real quotes from users to emphasize the importance of addressing them. This approach served as a critical cornerstone for keeping the team aligned with the pulse of our user base during the rapid platform launch.
Ultimately, this proactive engagement and user-centric approach played a pivotal role in shaping a more user-friendly and effective job seeker experience.
Impact
The successful unification of the job discovery experience across JobsDB and JobStreet delivered significant outcomes: a 12% enhancement in search performance, a 9% increase in job applications, benefiting a substantial user base of 40 million job seekers each month.
Furthermore, it accelerated future iteration speeds by threefold, while concurrently laying the groundwork for the One SEEK product and fostering a collaborative, high-performing team. This achievement underlines the substantial positive impact of our efforts on both users and the organization as a whole.
