Untapped

Creating a quick apply browser extension

Solving a core user problem that seemed out of reach

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Browser

Context

What candidates want and companies need

While conducting research for another project at Untapped, a recruiting platform focused on diversity and inclusion, I noticed that candidates latched on to one component of the job page in particular: quick apply.

However, as a platform, we were limited in how often we could offer this function. 78% of the jobs on Untapped were external apply or not integrated, meaning candidates had to fill out details in a separate window. Plus, most companies without integration were at high risk for churn, so improving their experience of finding candidates via Untapped was crucial to the business.

I brought these findings to the product and engineering partners for candidate experience, and we devised a creative solution to our limitations, building a browser extension.

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Direct product feedback from users.

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Results from testing future concepts.

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Unintegrated clients were mostly at risk.

Project Goals

1.  Improve the application experience on Untapped

Make the job application process easier by allowing candidates to truly one-click apply to any job on Untapped, regardless of how a customer is integrated.

2.  Gain visibility into outside applications sent via Untapped

Learn about the number of applications driven via the Untapped platform, including a breakdown by candidate type (i.e. by demographic data), that can be used to educate customers, improve the product, and sell to new clients.

My role

Owner across product, research, and design

Stepped in for a recently departed product manager

Because the product manager for candidate experience had recently departed, I served as interim product manager, working closely with our VP of Product and engineering manager to set milestones, technical scope, and a launch plan. You can see some of that product documentation here.
 

Utilized research to inform the direction of the project

Beyond leveraging the research findings from the recent candidate study, I also analyzed feedback from our actual users and confirmed that the redundancy of applications was a significant issue. I then combed through competitor examples and set a framework of best practices for browser extensions, as no one on our team had worked on one before.

Designed the end-to-end experience and launch materials

At this point at Untapped, I served as the sole designer of our experience for both candidates and recruiters and for many of our marketing materials. I single-handedly designed the extension experience, gathering feedback from our Director of Design and Data and the product, engineering, and customer success teams. I then worked closely with our Head of Marketing to create a launch plan, including targeted email and social campaigns.

The first launch

Focusing in on the biggest impact

As part of my product manager role, it was my job to determine what external application tools our clients were using and the prospective clients from our ideal customer profile. Our VP of Product and candidate team engineering manager and I went through hundreds of companies, documenting the sources of their applications.

We determined that most of our current and ideal customers used the application tool, Greenhouse, deciding to focus on that platform alone on our first launch. We also found that over 60% of Untapped candidates used Google Chrome, making it clear that would be the best first browser for the launch.

Building for these two tools first would have a sizeable impact but still allow us to release the extension quickly, gather insights on how candidates might use it, and continue to iterate and expand in the future. 

User-flow

The decided initial user flow.

Introducing the extension

I decided to prompt the users to download the extension in two places: on their homepage dashboard and any Untapped job that used Greenhouse.

I then kept the designs for the extension itself simple and straightforward, giving the candidates a tool that seamlessly works into their application flow without being overpowering.

Dashboard

Candidates could download from their homepage dashboard.

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Users can also download when applying for Greenhouse jobs on Untapped.

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After login, their Untapped profile can be used to autofill.

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Browser

Once downloaded, a tab appears on any Greenhouse application.

On-click, the user can autofill with profile details.

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Success messaging.

If a user's profile is incomplete.

Error messaging.

The launch plan

Reaching candidates effectively

An effective launch plan would be crucial to get the most significant impact from the extension. I created a plan for the launch, including email and social campaigns, reviewing with our marketing team.

We'd had mixed results on our launch emails in the past, so I put together a drip campaign to be sent one week apart that would test two different email styles. One would be a short feature announcement, the other a personal email about the candidate's experience with a subtle link.

These two emails would allow us to connect with candidates whose communication preferences differ and gain insight into what would be most effective going forward.

Emails

Testing two different email strategies.

Beyond these two emails, I also created an email targeting Untapped users who had been active before 2022 but hadn't used the platform in the last year. This email focused on the browser extension as well as a suite of new features that had been launched since their last login. 

I also designed and wrote posts for our social media accounts and all the materials needed for our Chrome Web Store listing.

Chrome store promotion images.

The impact

The browser extension is set to launch in mid-May 2023. We will closely track the number of downloads in the first 30 days, the overall volume of items auto-filled per application, and the number of applications sent using the extension.

Beyond that, this project has already impacted our company's future. It was our first project that expanded outside of our native platform and served as a launchpad to continue to find ways to help candidates even when not using our site. We've already discussed future iterations that could include custom application tips, AI-generated answer suggestions, and analytics about what applications stand out most to recruiters.

For our customers, the extension will hopefully open their jobs up to more candidates who avoided applying before and give them insight into the types of candidates who find them using Untapped. This can also open the door to future clients whose external apply limitations will be a much more minor issue.

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© Sarah Gorman 2023