UX Research
@ Sprout Social
Qualitative
Picture taken from the new Careers site this research helped to inform - I do not own this photo.
Project Summary
Project Overview
I conducted 3 company-wide workshops, 11 department-specific workshops, and 12 executive interviews over 4 months to inform the redesign of the Careers website, which launched in late 2022.
Research Objective
The goal of this research was to create a repository of employee insights, frameworks for cultural leadership, and messaging themes to shape hiring, onboarding, and long-term recruitment strategies.
Impact of this Research
I delivered key insights and messaging recommendations, tested concepts and A/B-tested prototypes to validate content and design direction, and established a foundation for tracking and iterating on Careers site performance.
Scope
This 7-month initiative focused on building a new employee branding concept for the Company’s Careers website, aimed at showcasing its culture and elevating employee voices. The project culminated with the website launch in late 2022.
Phase 1: Company-Wide Research
Nov. 2021 - Feb. 2022
Key Findings
I presented findings from this first round of company-wide discovery research to an array of project stakeholders, including our Chief People Officer, marketing and design leaders, and HR Recruiting stakeholders. These findings informed the north star behind the messaging strategy that would become the Employer Brand of the Company — and guide design of the new microsite.
Core values that make Sprout employees tick.
Through this research, I uncovered four key areas of this company's culture that consistently drove employee engagement and company loyalty that would inform the strategy of the new website's content and design.
In addition to research findings, I also documented a number of opportunities and feedback employees consistently highlighted from their experiences in these workshops that I brought to leaders' attention.
I escalated the importance of sharing this feedback to my manager who supported my initiative to discuss and buildout an actionable, anonymized report for our Executive team.
Phase 2: Department Culture Research
Feb. 2022 - June 2022
Department Research Deliverables
For each department workshop, I distilled insights and themes into deliverables that highlighted key themes of each department's unique culture, areas of feedback and opportunity, and key strengths of each department. Some workshop participants were very excited to offer suggestions for site content and how they would like to see their personality showcased, which I also included in my recommendations for design and content direction of site pages for each department.
Phase 3: Concept Testing Research for Dept. Page Prototypes
April. 2022 - May 2022
User Testing Research Objectives
The goal of user testing these prototypes was to provide design and copy with audience-informed creative direction and identify any unintuitive elements on these pages that might cause confusion.
Research Impact
This project delivered significant value across multiple areas:
Career Branding: Shaped the messaging for the company’s new career brand, establishing a guiding “north star” for employee culture and candidate experience.
Leadership Alignment: Research findings informed the creation of a careers website and were shared with department leaders and executives to highlight strengths, unique perspectives, and areas for improvement across the organization.
Career Development: Insights from workshops on career growth and feedback directly influenced the Learning and Development team’s new Career Growth Resource Center, providing employees with tools to advance their careers.
Employee Experience: Escalated feedback on pain points to the executive team through a synthesized, actionable report, leading to recommendations for improving internal culture and enhancing appeal to future talent.
Organizational Collaboration: Uncovered new insights into the company’s cross-functional dynamics, fostering increased collaboration, stronger inter-team connections, and opportunities for growth and innovation.
This is the new Careers site that this research informed. This site is publicly accessible here.