Case Study
Creating the Overpass Talent Marketplace
In Spring 2017, we had reached a point where the Overpass calling software was stable, and it was time to introduce our next major feature: the talent marketplace. The Overpass Talent Marketplace allows contractors all over the world to create profiles and get matched with remote call agent jobs. I served as the lead designer to bring this feature to market.
Context
After discussing the business objectives with the executives, I began with user research. I conducted competitor analysis to help determine our strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement, and recruited remote contractors for a questionnaire about their biggest pain points.
It was important to me to focus equally on the contractors’ experience as well as clients, who would be searching for and hiring contractors on the platform. I interviewed a dozen clients to learn about their needs and expectations when hiring contractors.
Approach
For the MVP version, it was decided to make most of the finding and hiring process manual, by having Overpass Talent Advocates serve as the middle men between the contractors and clients. With an eye to future automation, I created a flow that outlined the touch points between clients and contractors and what role the Talent Advocates would play.
In this initial flow, contractors sign up and create a profile while clients fill out their preferences for hiring, which are sent to our Talent Advocates. The Talent Advocates then send clients profiles of contractors who match their hiring preferences. When a client is interested in a contractor, they send a request to interview, and the Talent Advocate schedules a video interview between the client and contractor. Once a contractor is hired, they are train them on using the Overpass calling software to ensure a smooth onboarding process. Our Talent Advocates are also available to help clients set up their environment and campaigns.
Design
Working within the constraints of the company style guide, I created a responsive onboarding flow for contractors to create their profile. I broke it down into multiple steps, so as not to overwhelm the user with information. Contractors fill out their bio, skills, industry and work experience, availability and preferred hourly rate.
One of the features that sets Overpass apart is the contractor language sample. We ask contractors to record themselves speaking a short phrase so that clients can get a better sense of phone presence, accent, and enunciation. Contractors can record samples for multiple languages as well.
Contractors submit their completed profiles for review by the Talent Advocates. I created a dashboard for the Talent Advocates to keep track of, review, and approve contractor profiles. Talent Advocates can send profiles to clients from this dashboard as well.
Much of the process relies on emails being sent between clients, Talent Advocates and contractors. I designed the email templates and wrote copy for all the emails that would be sent automatically, and suggested copy for the Talent Advocates to send manually to clients.
Results
Within less than a year, we had over a thousand contractors sign up for the Overpass Talent Marketplace and we have many active clients hiring through the marketplace. Since launch, we have refined the process and added additional features to allow easier communication between clients and contractors. We are also constantly iterating to improve the experience.
Role
Lead Designer
Team
CPO, CTO, 5 developers, 2 designers
Date
March 2017
