The Briefing

When the agency Die Botschaft contacted me, I was tasked with creating a career portal for a large client in the mobility sector. However, the project was still in its initial stages, and the specifics of the portal were unclear. The first step was to identify the current problems and define goals together.

During an extensive briefing session in Berlin, I worked with the project stakeholders to clarify the project's objectives and the specific goals of the client. Through this meeting and subsequent discussions, the project became more defined. In addition to technical and organizational details, the actual briefing could be formulated:

What needs to be done?
Design and develop a career portal that showcases the Netinera group as an employer. The portal should also have a central job board for all subsidiary companies.

Why should it be done?
‍To attract more qualified applicants for the holding and all its subsidiary companies.

The Process

After clarifying the project goals and requirements, the initial challenge was to determine whether a standalone career portal was needed or if an extension of the existing website structure would suffice. Given the defined objectives and constraints, it became apparent that a dedicated portal was necessary to achieve the desired outcomes. Technical considerations were also taken into account, including the need for a central database that would enable all 16 subsidiary companies to access the new portal.

As I was given complete freedom to decide on the website structure and content, the first step was to develop a comprehensive content concept with an associated information architecture. Then, I transferred this framework into two different interaction models: mid-fidelity prototypes with different approaches to navigation and visual design. I subsequently chose the "winning" route and transferred it into a high-fidelity prototype. In parallel, I developed the associated component library and a rudimentary design system. This prototype was continuously coordinated with the development team.

To achieve the ultimate goal of acquiring more qualified applicants, it was also necessary to optimize the reach of the new website. Since the holding had no SEO partner until then, I worked with the agency to prepare and accompany a pitch. This allowed the integration of SEO early in the design process and the consideration of page structure with appropriate content.

The Output

The result was a comprehensive product with an associated design system and component library. The handover, like the actual work, was done in Figma.

The Takeaways

The process was overall very efficient. By breaking down the project into consecutive work packages and defining specific milestones, it was clear for all parties involved when what would be done. From a budget perspective, this complex project could also be well represented.

However, in my opinion, content creation did not run so smoothly. In this project, we started with a theoretical content concept, i.e., which information is to be placed where. The actual content, however, had to be developed collaboratively with the client. Lorem Ipsum had to be filled with content. The agency had also planned text resources for this purpose. However, the effort turned out to be much greater than originally budgeted, not least due to many loops with the client. In my opinion, the choice of tools also caused additional confusion. Initially, all texts were inserted in Figma, and the client also commented there. However, at a certain point, there was a switch to Word documents, and from that point on, it became very confusing. It could ultimately be managed, but the effort was, as I said, increased.