Staircase timeline was originally the first design with a metaphor of career progression.
Nevertheless, after the first round of user interviews, feedback was collected from users that it could be subjective or misleading as career progression could not be just defined by the job title. Also, it would not be appealing if someone had a position downgrade shown in a downward staircase. It seemed like it could only be applied in a narrow scope when the users always had a progressing career in the same field.
Meanwhile, the old design failed to help users identify the most important information instantly, which was the current employment. For example, most users spotted the education before current employment.
A redesign was therefore conducted and a user journey based on the recruiter's reading preference and information requirement was created to prioritize the information. I decided to put less visual emphasis on career progression given it was also easily shown in the job title. Focus was put back to current employment and the recent employment history. Instead of a staircase, bigger logo size was chosen to imply career progression. Also, different line patterns were used to display employment and education.
It was a very good learning process from the users and also challenging to design a timeline with balanced information and clear presentation. Iteration of ideation and implementation was very useful in this way that a better design could be developed integrating users’ insight.
Revised design was done and it's time to ask the users again!
Comments