Improving engagement across a two-sided marketplace

OVERVIEW

ApprenticeSearch connects skilled trades job seekers with employers looking to hire. The platform was experiencing declining engagement, with users signing up but not continuing to use it.

I led the redesign of its web and mobile experiences, focusing on helping employers post opportunities and job seekers find and apply for jobs.

In 2025, Nokia introduced Autonomous Network Fabric as part of its shift toward AI-enabled networks. Within this platform, Subscriber observability focused on how telecom operators understand and manage service quality at the subscriber level.

IMPACT

  • 40% increase in application completion rate by simplifying how job seekers discover opportunities and apply.

  • 25% increase in employer job-posting completion rate following improvements to the posting workflow.

EMPLOYER

HIEC

TOOLS

PROBLEM

People were joining the platform, but weren't staying long enough to get value from it.

Platform analytics showed that users weren't returning after signing up. For a marketplace dependent on both employers and job seekers, this meant fewer opportunities for meaningful connections.

Conversations with marketing and employer outreach teams revealed part of the problem. Employers found the platform difficult to use and saw little reason to invest their time when alternatives like Indeed were available.

A closer look at the product helped explain that frustration. Years of changes had left it with fragmented navigation, multiple ways to reach the same destinations, and inconsistent workflows.

APPROACH

Making the core experience worth coming back to.

The findings gave us a clearer direction. Employers needed a straightforward way to post opportunities, while job seekers needed an easier path from discovering relevant jobs to applying.

These became the priorities for the redesign.

The work began with restructuring how the platform was organized, bringing related activities together and simplifying the paths users followed. This carried through to the core workflows and interface, supported by a foundational design system that kept the experience consistent across web and mobile.

The direction was shaped with stakeholders and developed in collaboration with engineering, with implementation following the completed designs.

Vodafone came to us looking for better visibility into degraded subscriber service. As we mapped how network teams actually investigated these issues, we saw how much work happened outside any single tool.
Engineers were moving between dashboards, checking 25+ KPIs, reviewing sessions and network conditions, and taking manual notes to connect the evidence.

Alongside the core product redesign, I refreshed the visual identity and established a consistent visual language across the brand and digital experience.

Impact

  • 40% increase in application completion rate by simplifying how job seekers discover opportunities and apply.

  • 25% increase in employer job-posting completion rate following improvements to the posting workflow.