Woolworths Careers

Overview

With over 190,000+ team members across Australia and New Zealand, Woolworths Group is one of Australia’s largest retail company with a diverse presence in supermarkets and general merchandise.

Competition for skilled talent is fierce, and the current applicant experience is not up to industry standards, let alone acting as an advantage in the market. The career site's user experience (UX) needs improvement to maximise engagement and enhance the overall candidate journey.

ROLE

Project Lead

DEVICES

Desktop, Mobile

TIMELINE

Aug 2023 - current

What’s the problem?

Storytelling and branding gaps

The absence of compelling storytelling and inconsistent brand elements diminishes Woolworths' ability to show its value proposition as an employer of choice.

Inclusivity and accessibility concerns

The current platform lacks consideration for inclusivity and accessibility. These barriers hinder individuals with different abilities from fully engaging with the site.

Disjointed user journey

The lack of cohesion and uniformity across touchpoints cause a frustrating and inefficient navigation process.

Mobile usability

The existing solution is not optimised for mobile devices. Mobile users face difficulties in accessing and navigating the Careers platform.

Old Woolworths Group careers site

PROCESS DEEP DIVE

How we got there

Competitive analysis

Objective: To identify industry benchmark, best practices and improvement areas

We evaluated other career sites in the market and focused on elements such as tone of voice, design, content hierarchy, and information architecture. This helped us in understanding where Woolworths is lacking behind, and what we could do to improve the site.

Look and feel workshop

Objective: To understand visual preferences which will guide our design concepts

We conducted a collaborative session with stakeholders and received guidance on elements such as the use of colours, grids, components, and how Woolworths’ branding would fit within the site.

Initial design concepts

Objective: To gather feedback before committing to a specific design direction

We brainstormed and designed 3 initial concepts. Concept A was the crowd favourite, focusing on pushing the team value proposition of Woolworths through visual aspects and storytelling.

Concept A focuses on pushing culture to the fore. Concept B is inspired by family of brands. Concept C is more functional and centred around application progress.

Wireframe designs

Objective: To create visual representations of the interface's layout, structure, and functionality

We developed high fidelity wireframes to visualise the site. The wireframes was used to facilitate communication, iteration, and alignment among stakeholders in the design process.

USABILITY TESTING

Then we tested our design

Objective: Our research aims to evaluate task accuracy, validate information architecture and ease of navigation, identify improvements, assess mobile responsiveness, assess accessibility and inclusivity, and understand user sentiments towards language.

MODERATED

participants

45 minutes each

1:1, Zoom

UNMODERATED

participants

15 minutes each

Maze.co

KEY FINDING 1

The site places a strong emphasis on certain business initiatives which resulted in content hierarchy that doesn’t align with user expectations, and confusing company jargon. This outweighs what applicants truly seek in their job search.

KEY FINDING 2

Participants are sensitive to diversity & inclusion questions with data privacy concerns and how their answers may impact their application.

KEY FINDING 3

Users want to see themselves as the perfect fit when applying for roles at Woolworths Group.

KEY FINDING 4

Users seek to be heard, informed and engaged throughout their journey on the Careers site.

INCLUSIVE DESIGN

Embedding accessibility in the design process

Inclusive recruitment

Objective: To ensure diverse representation among participants for usability testing

We prepared a recruitment brief which includes the minimum number of participants recommended for each team, diversity and inclusion pillars, and key behavioural attributes.

Accessibility reviews

Objective: To ensure alignment with varied perspectives and needs

We presented the designs with representatives from each diversity & inclusion pillars (e.g. Gender, LGBTQ+, First Nations, Disability, and Cultural Inclusion) to get their feedback based on their expertise.

Outcome

With its launch later this year approaching, this project is already demonstrating its potential to reshape the Woolworths career portal experience, evident from feedback received and usability testing.

Consistency and harmonisation

The redesigned site integrates with Woolworths' ecosystem, ensuring a unified user experience.

Mobile optimisation

With full mobile optimisation, it offers accessibility to users anytime, anywhere, across all devices.

Intuitive navigation

Users can identify key actions and progress through the process with confidence.

Accessibility validation

Feedback from testing participants highlights the site's accessibility as a standout feature.

I look forward to the site launch and subsequent tracking of key metrics, including conversion rates and application completion rates.

REFLECTION

What I learned

CHALLENGE

LEARNING

Working with an unfinished design system

Be flexible and agile in design development

Embracing a flexible approach, maintaining open communication with the design system team (WooliesX) to accommodate iterations

Designing without content

Integrate content strategically

Utilised placeholder content to maintain the structure and flow of the design, while advocating for early content finalisation to align with design direction

Navigating lots of stakeholders with multilayer feedback

Collaboration is key

Implemented a structured feedback process, prioritising clear communication, collaboration, and documentation to facilitate consensus among stakeholders