Redesigning the future of job searching
SIMPLIFY • HANDED OFF 2023
ROLE
Product Designer
TIMELINE
Apr 2024 - Jun 2024 (3 months)
TEAM
3 Designers
1 Product Manager
SKILLS
UX Design
Market Research
Brand Design
OVERVIEW
Simplify helps thousands of students and professionals streamline job applications. My goal was to improve the job discovery and application experience by clarifying filters, restructuring job listings, and better balancing information density with application speed.
This project focused on increasing application efficiency, preview clarity, and user satisfaction, while preserving Simplify’s competitive advantage in company data.
THE PROBLEM
Major usability issues
Despite high usage, Simplify’s job board struggled with usability:
Job cards displayed large amounts of information, but little of it was relevant
Key decision-making details (salary, location, posting date, industry) were missing
The 3×3 grid layout made it difficult to track applied roles and compare listings
Filters technically worked but lacked clarity, discoverability, and precision
As a result, users were forced to click repeatedly into listings, slowing down the application process and increasing cognitive load.
Simplify job board page
RESEARCH
Why aren't users drawn to the job board?
We conducted a series of 12 qualitative user interviews with new and existing Simplify users and synthesized behavioral patterns and main pain points.
Two user sentiments from existing SImplify users
Key Insights
Insufficient job card previews
Users want to evaluate fit quickly without opening each listing
Missing tags (salary, location, industry) slowed decision-making
Friction in the application flow
Grid layout disrupted scanning and comparison
Users struggled to remember which roles they had already applied to
Filters lacked clarity
Multi-select functionality was not obvious
Autocomplete favored exact matches, limiting advanced searches
These findings pointed to a core tension: users prioritized speed and volume of applications over deep company research.
EXPLORATION
How might we increase filter clarity and restructure job listings to support faster, higher-quality applications?
Two user sentiments from existing SImplify users
Solution: An expandable preview panel to avoid repeated navigation
We moved away from the 3×3 grid to vertically scrollable job cards, prioritizing preview space for critical decision data for job application speed.
FINAL SOLUTION
An expedited application process for a user
The final solution introduced:
Vertically scrollable job cards with expanded preview space
Clear, always-visible filters with improved styling and multi-select affordances
Expandable company data side panels for optional deep dives
A cohesive, reusable design system (cards, grids, colors, spacing)
Together, these changes enabled users to search, preview, and apply within a single continuous flow, minimizing unnecessary clicks.
Schedule page on day-of hacker site
IMPACT
SHIPPED IN 2025
with major changes to the Simplify.jobs ↗ site.
31.2% INCREASE
in application speed in A/B testing
50% INCREASE
in satisfaction with application speed and clarity
REFLECTION
Information density ≠ usefulness
Users don't prefer being overloaded by information, but requires selective thought by the designer to determine what's useful. The User behavior often contradicts assumptions, making usability testing critical.
Designing quickly can be more impactful than completeness
During this project, I occasionally got stuck refining details too early. I learned that sharing work—even when it felt unfinished—led to faster alignment, better feedback, and stronger outcomes. Collaborating early and shipping quickly created more opportunities to learn and iterate, ultimately improving the product.