Reet
A company hiring for a marketing position.
DEI
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
This case study explores people's openness in taking part in a blind video job interview.
My Role
This case study was created by me as a student in my UX program. The idea arose to explore blind interviews after having been a hiring manager myself and navigating the balance of keeping DEI at the forefront while interviewing candidates.
The Problem
The pressure on hiring managers to hire people from diverse backgrounds interferes with their ability to interview without unconscious bias.
The Solution
Replace a standard phone interview with Luna Connect®'s blind interview platform.
What's Luna Connect®?
A blind video hiring platform with:
Use of Q AI genderless voice technology
Shielding of age, sex, gender, race, sexual orientation, disability status, location, and accent
Tone, intonation, and body language are still present
Why is this good?
Hiring manager and candidate can focus on the task at hand:
THE JOB INTERVIEW
Wireframe Flow
Prototype of the testing of this study
Press "Play" to see the user flow.
How'd we get here?
Research Process
Why Blind Interviews?
I have a lot to say on this matter, so please read more on the background of this case study through my Medium article:
In short:
Redacted resumes, blind chat/emailing, an initial blind interview
=
The hiring manager feels confident in selecting final candidates
Market Research
What's out there already that uses AI?
- AI objectively assesses soft skills and personality traits through blind interviews with Tengai robot
- Weeds out candidates based on the customized criteria set for the role
- AI scoring
“Every candidate gets an interview.”
- Candidates text on mobile in their own time with conversational chat AI
- Every candidate gets insights back after the interview
- AI analyzes recorded interviews that candidates answer via pre-recorded questions
- There is never a face to face real-person interview
Caveats with these programs:
#1 IMPERSONAL
-Robot interviews don’t save time because recruiters/hiring managers go back to watch the video anyways
-A person can redo their response before they actually submit
-It's impossible to create an unbiased AI since humans design the system
Interviews and Surveys
- Interviewing the "right" people- ideally people that have been hiring managers
- Only one person mentioned DEI
- Want a blind interview? Most want the real 1:1 interview because soft skills are just as important as hard skills
- Dubious on the blind interviewing technology- How well does it work and how much soft skill can come across via avatars?
Quote from Interview Participant:
"I would rather know as soon as possible into the interview process if there would be discrimination. I want to be SEEN right away."
Affinity Map Based on Surveys
Mind Map Related to Live Interviews
How'd we get here?
Final MVP Idea
Secondary MVP Idea
Candidate is able to practice ahead of time for an interview with a simulator or in real-time.
Here's that flowchart:
Change of Mind: Testing for an Unwanted Idea
- From the people interviewed, most had said they would not want a blind interview
- Therefore started to focus on interviewer simulation/practice idea
- However, was married to the initial idea of blind video interviews
- Posted on Reddit for their thoughts
- Key Takeaway: You can't ask the user what they want because they don't know.
So, I continued with the initial idea: Luna Connect®, the blind video hiring platform.
Reasons Why This is a Good Approach
-More personal
-Hiring manager and applicant still get a sense of each other's character
-Mitigates unconscious biases
User Persona- Who is Luna Connect® for?
Hiring Manager X
X, a hiring manager for Reet, has decided to use Luna Connect®, a blind hiring platform to hire their next candidate for Marketing Manager.
Information Architecture
Task Flow
Wireframes
Mobile was first designed with the hiring manager connecting via text communication.
Then moved to desktop (below) via email communication as there was a lot of important information being explained to the candidate.
Initially, designs included the entire flow of the candidate's job search from Google and Gmail.
These were removed being not necessary for the MVP design.
Flow Change
It's best for the user to learn about Luna Connect BEFORE applying rather than AFTER.
The updated flow has the user review the blind interview information, and then has a conversation with a chatbot to clarify any further questions.
Examples of mid-fidelity wireframes that were tested
How'd we get here?
Test Results
What:
- Mid-fidelity wireframes
- Blind interview in lieu of phone interview
- Test wasn’t determining how well built the app is; more testing the concept
- Test to see thoughts once having seen the idea for the blind interview
Key Results from testing
Question to participants:
After having gone through the demo of the blind interview process, would you choose a standard phone interview or a blind video interview?
Out of 15 people:
8
Prefer standard phone interview
7
Would give Luna ConnectR® a try
Motivations on choice between standard phone interview and blind interview:
Phone
Leverage character
Dubious not a scam
Better able to tell personality
Luna Connect®
Helps with introversion
Creates equality in recruiting
Unbiased
Unsure
AI can still be biased
The more layers the tech the more untrustworthy
AI would miss important character aspects
Testing Conclusion
From initial interviews, people said they would not like blind interviews.
After users see the concept, with a more trusted interface and technology, candidates would be keener on the idea.
Iterations
Per feedback from user testing, Help Center was added to the navigation bar
Avatars
Updated the avatars to not look quite as robot-like. Designed the little avatar bodies.
Before
After
Avatars need to not demonstrate: age, sex, gender, race, sexual orientation, disability status, location, and accent.
Constraints
Not interviewing the "right" people
Lack of technology to fullest extent; ideally Q AI genderless voice would have been demonstrated
Not possible to have a completely unbiased influence in an interview
If you had asked people years ago whether they would have wanted Netflix, they would have said, "No way, I like going to Blockbuster."
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