An Analysis and Evaluation of the Design Space for Online Job Hunting and Recruitment Software.

Despite heavy usage of social networking sites during the job hunting and recruitment process, little academic research has examined how these sites are used, the value they provide to the end-users, or how they should ideally be designed. The present study describes the use of a participatory design methodology to actively include end-users as part of the design process in creating an online job website. Participants who acted as job seekers and job providers both identified unique and overlapping requirements for an ideal prototype. The results enabled the production of a minimal viable product called EdgeMap. This prototype was evaluated in a usability study where participants endorsed EdgeMap as one they would use for recruitment and job hunting. The process and outcomes are discussed in terms of implementing participatory design methodology, design implications, and future directions for software design and adoption.