See the prototype

See the prototype

100+ job seekers save hours every week

Improving Job Tracking in Jobbox.cc

The complete inbox for your job search

Jump to designs

Jump to designs

Job alerts from your favorite sites

Overview

What is Jobbox?

Jobbox was in its early days when I worked on this project, a simple job-searching platform trying to help people land their next role. As part of an academic collaboration, I explored how Jobbox could grow beyond just search, and actually make the whole job-hunting process less overwhelming.

Jobbox was in its early days when I worked on this project, a simple job-searching platform trying to help people land their next role. As part of an academic collaboration, I explored how Jobbox could grow beyond just search, and actually make the whole job-hunting process less overwhelming.

Jobbox was in its early days when I worked on this project, a simple job-searching platform trying to help people land their next role. As part of an academic collaboration, I explored how Jobbox could grow beyond just search, and actually make the whole job-hunting process less overwhelming.

Role

UX Researcher UX Designer

Timeline

3 weeks

Team

Individual

Research

What People Are Saying

According to my research, 10/10 job seekers said they spend nearly 60% of their time just searching and tracking applications. To stay organized, they juggle Excel sheets, notes apps, and multiple platforms but still feel scattered. This leaves little time to focus on what really matters: preparing for interviews and actually landing the job.

Kathryn M

"I feel like I spend more time updating my Excel sheet than actually applying for jobs."

Savannah N

“My tracker is in Notes, my resume versions are in Google Drive, and my job links are in Chrome tabs… it’s all over the place.”

Marvin M

“Sometimes I forget to follow up because I can’t remember which stage I left things at.”

Diya R

“I literally have five different tools open just to track my applications, it’s exhausting.”

Kathryn M

"I feel like I spend more time updating my Excel sheet than actually applying for jobs."

Savannah N

“My tracker is in Notes, my resume versions are in Google Drive, and my job links are in Chrome tabs… it’s all over the place.”

Marvin M

“Sometimes I forget to follow up because I can’t remember which stage I left things at.”

Diya R

“I literally have five different tools open just to track my applications, it’s exhausting.”

Richards R

“Job hunting feels like a second full-time job, and I’m not even getting paid for this one.”

Courtney H

“I know I missed an interview email once because I lost track in my messy system.”

Arlene M

“It would be so much easier if everything lived in one place instead of me patching it together.”

Devon Lane

“By the time I finish tracking applications, I barely have energy left to prep for interviews.”

Richards R

“Job hunting feels like a second full-time job, and I’m not even getting paid for this one.”

Courtney H

“I know I missed an interview email once because I lost track in my messy system.”

Arlene M

“It would be so much easier if everything lived in one place instead of me patching it together.”

Devon Lane

“By the time I finish tracking applications, I barely have energy left to prep for interviews.”

Problem Statement

How might we empower job seekers to take control of their search by providing a simple, organized system for tracking applications?

Research Methods

I used a mix of user research and competitor analysis to get a complete picture of the problem and the market.

User Research

10

active job seekers interviewed

I held ten individual, one-on-one interviews to get deep, personal stories from users.

The interviews were semi-structured, allowing users to guide the conversation while still covering key topics.

A short online survey was used to confirm common problems and measure how often they happen.

Participants were chosen based on being actively in a job search for the last 6 months.

Questions centered on tracking applications, managing follow-ups, and the general stress of the search.

Competitor Research

5+

competitors analyzed

I analyzed five direct competitors, including Simplyfy, Teal, and Hunter, plus two others.

I used a simple chart to compare the core features and tools offered by each competitor.

Tested the user journey on each competitor's product (e.g., how easy it is to add a job)

Business Model Review: We noted how each company charges users (free, paid tiers, etc.)

Identified Key Strengths & Weaknesses: The analysis focused on what each competitor did well and where they were lacking.

Analysis

Key Insights

The research showed a few big things I needed to focus on to make JobBox truly helpful.

Job search is stressful

People feel overwhelmed by tracking many job applications at once.

Users want flexibility

Other tools usually only let you track jobs with fixed, basic statuses.

Hard to connect

It's often difficult to link these tools smoothly with job boards or email.

No clear overview

Users really want one place to see all their job application statuses easily.

Pay to play

Many useful features are locked behind a payment, which isn't great for job seekers.

Storyboarding

Bringing Our User to Life:
The Sarah Persona

To build a product that truly helps, I first needed to understand who I was helping. Meet Sarah, a dedicated job seeker whose experiences and frustrations guided my design process. By stepping into her shoes, I aimed to design a solution tailored to real-life needs.

Journey Map

Mapping Sarah's Journey

After bringing Sarah to life through storyboarding, I mapped out her entire user journey to get a bird's-eye view of her experience. This wasn't just about her actions, but about understanding her feelings every step of the way.

Ideation

Sketching Key Elements

With a clearer idea of the problem, I quickly sketched some initial concepts. This process let me quickly explore and visualize how key features could be integrated into the user flow.

Key Features:

  • Making Job Tracker More Noticeable

  • Customizable Tracking

  • Clear Call-to-Action (CTA)

  • Nudging for Updates

  • Encouraging Job-Tracking

Paper Prototypes

Testing goals

  • Do users finally realize job tracking exists?

  • Is adding new job categories easy?

  • Understanding how users feel about “Save” CTA.

What the users said

  • Job Tracking was clear and liked the flexibility.

  • One user wanted to see all her job updates at one place.

  • Preferred the “Save” icon over CTA, as it was easy to distinguish.

Iteration

Mid-Fidelity Designs

What I changed

  • Added an activity page, where users can see updates on jobs they applied to, a while back.

  • Experimented with a drag-drop feature, inspired from most of the competitors.

What the users said

  • The activity page was confusing as it didn’t really suggest them about what to do.

  • Users found the drag-drop feature to be very satisfying, while majority of them liked both the views.

  • “How do I delete a job in the tracker?”

Hi-Fi Designs

The Final Screens

The Centralized Dashboard

This screen immediately solves the problem of application overwhelm by consolidating job listings from a user's favorite sites (like Indeed and LinkedIn) into a single, clean feed. Users can quickly filter the list and see a count of unique jobs discovered, reducing the noise of duplicate posts and letting them feel more in control of the market.

Job Description & Proactive Nudge

When a user clicks a job, they see the full description. Crucially, a proactive pop-up appears asking, "Would you like to track this job to stay organized?" This solves the problem of manual tracking by creating an immediate and simple call-to-action (CTA), making it impossible to forget to add the job later.

Flexible Job Tracker

This is the main solution screen, transforming the messy spreadsheet into a visual pipeline. Key features include:

  • Customizable Stages: Users can easily rename or add new columns to fit unique stages like "Portfolio Review" or "Design Challenge."

  • Drag & Drop: Moving applications between stages is simple and visual.

  • Intelligent Tracking: The system monitors the user's email for keyword-based replies (like "interview confirmed") to automatically suggest a status change, keeping the tracker accurate with minimal effort.

Activity Page

This screen provides a chronological breakdown of recent application activity, focusing on what needs attention. Users can see every status change, saved job, or application sent. By showing "Apply" or "Follow Up" CTAs next to recent entries, the system guides the user's next step, replacing mental effort with clear, actionable guidance.

Create a free website with Framer, the website builder loved by startups, designers and agencies.