Motion
Job Search App for Dancers
ROLE
UX designer
DELIVERABLES
User Research
Information Architecture
Branding
Prototype
Usability Testing
TOOLS
Figma
Whimsical
TIMELINE
5 weeks
CONTEXT
BACKGROUND
Everyone goes through job recruiting at some point in their life. Many of us default to job boards such as Indeed or Google Jobs and even services like LinkedIn. The dance industry also spans quite a wide range of careers from music videos to dance companies. However, seeking opportunities as a performer often does not follow the traditional job search path and instead are discovered through social media or word of mouth.
PROBLEM
The dance industry, like any other industry, also requires a level of professionalism, and similarly may require resumes, portfolios, or something to showcase their work. However as it is a performance art, the recruiting process will of course differ from traditional recruiting. I realized the dance job market is relatively scattered and could use a platform that consolidates opportunities for both recruiters and users to find their match.
RESEARCH
I used a variety of research methods to get a more extensive understanding of the dance industry. It was important to get a big picture of what goes into the job search process for dancers.
USER SURVEY
I sent out a user survey to a few connections in the dance industry to share with their connections. The survey consisted of a few questions that helped me get a better idea of what the demographic of the user group might is. A few insights helped me with some design decisions later on.
A majority of participants are interested in more performance opportunities.
A majority of participants reported they were unable to apply from the platform they discover an opportunity on, typically having to find an email to apply through.
A majority of participants discover or seek opportunities through Instagram or by word of mouth.
USER INTERVIEWS
needs
Filter through irrelevant roles
Direct communication channels
Centralized platform for comprehensive listings and application submission
frustrations
Unclear or sporadic hiring timelines
Exclusivity and ambiguity, lacking communication or updates
Lack of technological integration as an industry
motivations
Build a sustainable career in dance
Pursue a hobby or career they are passionate about
Avoid being tied to a single role indefinitely
USER PERSONA
This user persona follows a passionate dancer, who loves her dance work, but supplements her income with other part-time work. She aspires to turn dancing into a full-time job, but not at the cost of uprooting her family.
EMPATHY MAP
To breathe life into Whitney, this empathy map gave her a deeper, more relatable personality. I was able to relate to her day to day thoughts and frustrations.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
From my user surveys and interviews, I had more information on what kind of existing job-search platforms were available to dancers. While not all platforms are geared towards dancers specifically, they offered a great benchmark for what many performance roles might look like.
DEFINE
DESIGN REQUIREMENTS
With the insights from dancers in the industry as well as an evaluation of platforms that are already out there, I honed in on four requirements that I wanted to focus on in my design. These were the main points that my interview participants found frustrating or lacking.
simple and intuitive
Dancers voiced concerns about people in the industry being less tech savvy. To make it easy for them and new users in general, the design needs to be straightforward and intuitive.
comprehensive information
Just as recruiters want to see all that a dancer has to offer in terms of their experiences and skills, dancers also want to see the details of a role upon applying and avoid a time consuming back and forth about missing context.
communication between users
Through research, I learned that users actually enjoyed the social aspect of Instagram. Users should be able to connect with and message each other to create the organic community they appreciate about Instagram.
centralized platform
I want to ensure users can keep professional opportunities and connections and go through the recruiting process in one place.
USER FLOW
I created initially task flows for job application, profile updating, and connecting in messaging. Building off of these tasks, I developed a user flow, following a user going through the process of updating their profile, searching for roles, and applying.
SITEMAP
To have clear information architecture for this app, it was crucial to flesh out the pages, links, and some key features or content each page would contain.
IDEATE
SKETCHES
Keeping in mind my goal to have a prototype at the end, I wanted to make sure I had thorough sketches before going into Figma. Especially on pages like the Profile and Job Search Results, where users are likely to spend most of their time, I made sure to visualize multiple variations before paring down to select elements and the most cohesive layouts.
LOW FIDELITY WIREFRAMES
My sketches gave me a good foundation going into wireframing. The low fidelity gave me a better estimate of how the spacing and elements would look digitally, but I still needed the assets to fill in the blanks.
Below are four key pages that I focused on based on user research, but there are plenty of screens that go into the whole flow. Feel free to check out more here!
LOGO + UI KIT
In building the app from scratch, creating the branding and UI kit was needed at this point before I moved into high fidelity wireframes. I chose a fluid, yet minimal logo, as well as bold and sleek fonts, that I believe reflect the artistry behind dance, while expressing the app’s professionalism.
I additionally designed a few buttons and modules that I was certain I would be using throughout the app. Through building the high fidelity frames, these would be adjusted and become polished components.
PROTOTYPE
Using the branding and UI kit and some additional sample assets, I finalized the high fidelity wireframes. I then created the necessary page variants and connected the flows, with usability testing in mind.
USABILITY TESTING
To stay within the scope of my project, I had my usability testing tasks in mind while building the prototype. I had 3 users go through a flow that touched on the three task flows I created previously: job application, profile updating, and connection and messaging.
USER TASKS
1. Search for a “Contemporary Dance” role and evaluate a specific job listing
2. Update their profile based on the skill-matching feature from the job listing
3. Connect to and message another user on the app
KEY INSIGHTS
Usability testing was successful in that I checked off the design requirements. Of course, there are always iterations to be had so I organized feedback using an affinity map, which you can check out here. It helped me deduce some key takeaways from my testing.
successes
1. Interface is clean and easy to use
2. Experience was intuitive and reflect some design standards that users are familiar with
3. App largely centralizes a key steps and information in job searching and resulted in a few different use cases
pain points
1. Messaging restrictions were unclear and app also lacked a sharing function for job listings
2. Missing Connections page limited the potential users saw in having connections
3. Current location on user profiles is a crucial piece of information especially in an in-person-heavy industry
PRIORITY MATRIX
Current location and messaging restrictions were my priorities for this iteration, because they create a more cohesive and intuitive experience for users, while staying within the scope of my timeline.
ITERATIONS
PROBLEM: NO CURRENT LOCATION
The inability to see a user’s location not only makes it more difficult to find connections in their area, but also creates more guesswork for recruiters, especially in an industry that relies on performers’ physical presence.
SOLUTION
A user’s location is available at the top of their profile and linked to search for more people in the area, allowing other users and recruiters to see that information immediately.
PROBLEM: MESSAGING RESTRICTIONS
Users noted confusion regarding whether they would be able to message someone that has yet to accept their connection request.
SOLUTION
I added a lock icon to show users who only allow messages from their accepted connections, though in theory users would be able to set whether they allow messages from people they aren’t connected with.
REFLECTION
NEXT STEPS
A major revision I would like to make for the Motion app would be to add a Connections page. While it wasn’t key to the flows I wanted to test, I believe it’s a major testament to the communication aspect of the platform. I would also like to do more research and testing with the the filtering options because there aren’t very many benchmarks for that information within the dance industry.
FINAL THOUGHTS
In a perfect world, a large sample size from an industry I’m unfamiliar with would be ideal, but my participants were very generous with their insights. If I ever come back to this idea, I would also love to learn more about the perspectives of recruiters and casting directors because job searching is a two-way street!
Job search platforms are quite complex, with so many things to look at, evaluate, and pare down, so I have no doubt that this initial prototype has holes. However this project spawned from a small grievance my friend uttered to me, so I feel incredibly fulfilled to have built an app out of a thought.