POWDERKEG

Usability Testing

Tasks of this project➔

Developed usability testing goals and protocols
Designed and wrote a task-scenario-based usability test
Conducted moderated, in-person usability tests
Synthesized usability test data
Communicated and prioritized usability problems
Recommended specific design improvements

System Overview

Powderkeg connects tech professionals with companies outside the traditional tech hubs, offering rich profiles, tailored matches, and direct access to founders and hiring leaders. Job seekers gain insights into company size and funding, while employers see candidates’ core values and personal summaries—resulting in smarter matches and a more efficient hiring process.

Testing Procedures

Scenario & Tasks

Key Findings and Insights

Research Goals

The usability study evaluated the Powderkeg interface from the perspective of non-expert users. The research focused on three key areas:

Usability: Evaluate how effectively users can complete common tasks such as hiring candidates, updating company profiles, and searching the candidate database.
Competitive Value: Identify features and capabilities that differentiate Powderkeg from competing platforms such as LinkedIn and Indeed.
Efficiency: Evaluate how efficiently users can complete key tasks and identify where the interface creates opportunities to save or lose time.

Participants

12 participants were recruited for the usability study. Participants were moderately technology-savvy users with experience using online job platforms in both job-seeking and hiring contexts. Participants did not necessarily work in human resources, allowing us to evaluate how easily non-expert users could navigate the Powderkeg platform and complete common tasks.

Participants were selected based on their familiarity with job-search and hiring platforms, providing a relevant perspective for evaluating Powderkeg’s usability, efficiency, and competitive value.

Testing Procedures

Moderated usability testing was conducted either in person or through a live remote session.

Test one participant at a time.
Ask participants to complete each task.
Collect a post-task difficulty rating after each task.
Administer the System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire at the end of the session.
Ask the provided post-test questions to gather overall feedback.

Pre-Test Questions

On a scale of 1 (completely illiterate) to 7 (very computer literate), how computer literate are you?

How many years of experience do you have using H.R. Hiring software?

What platforms do you have the most experience with?

Is your experience with hiring software primarily from the perspective of H.R. or a prospective employee?

Scenario

Let's imagine you are responsible for attracting and hiring a candidate for an open role on your team. I'm going to ask you to use Powderkeg to try to do that.

Tasks

Task 1: Add 1 perk/benefit to Powderkeg's profile.
Task Description: The user must go to the "Company Profile" and select the "Perks, Benefits and Industry" tab. They myst check a perk or benefit and scroll down and click save.

Task 2: Change the banner image of Powderkeg's profile.
Task Description: The user must go to the "Company Profile" page on the "Profile-Culture" tab. They must click "Upload Banner Image" and select an image from their computer. Lastly, they have to click "Save Profile" to ensure the changes are saved.

Task 3: Add a Twitter link.
Task Description: The user must go to the "Company Profile" page on the "Profile-Culture" tab. The user then must scroll down to the bottom oof the page and find the Twitter URL section. From there the user types in the handle and clicks save.

Task 4: Find a talent who specializes in product and can work in Atlanta.
Task Description: The user had to click on the "Talent Digest" page, and then filter candidates by "Area of Expertise" and "Location Options."

Task 5: Connect with the candidate.
Task Description: The user copies the user ID and then will draft an email to employee123@powederkeg.com. From there, the user will tell the employee who they want to connect with and let him know the ID number. From there, the user will send the email.

Task 6: Find two potential matches for the software developer position, and get introduced or reject them based on whether or not they can work in Denver. (You want someone who can work in Denver)
Task Description: The user had to click on the "Matches Feed" page. They then needed to click "Review Match" for each candidate, srcoll down tot see their location preference, and then click "Get Introduced" or "Reject." Then the user must type a short explanation as to why they chose to "Get Introduced" or "Reject" the two candidates.

Key Findings and Insights

Participants experienced little difficulty completing familiar tasks, such as changing a profile banner or adding social media links. Their familiarity with similar actions on other social platforms appeared to make these tasks relatively easy to complete.

However, participants experienced more difficulty with HR-related tasks, particularly connecting with candidates through the Talent Digest and reviewing candidate matches within the Matches Feed. While most participants were ultimately able to complete the tasks, these interactions required more effort and created opportunities for confusion.

This indicates that the HR-focused features could be improved to make key workflows more intuitive and efficient for users.

Design Opportunities

Simplify the candidate connection workflow within Talent Digest.
Make the Matches Feed easier to understand and navigate.
Provide clearer cues for HR-related actions and next steps.
Reduce the effort required to complete common recruiting workflows.

Next Steps

Explore design solutions for the identified HR workflow issues.
Create and test updated versions of the Talent Digest and Matches Feed experiences.
Conduct another round of usability testing to validate the improvements.
Compare task difficulty and usability ratings against the initial findings.