Case Study
Contra
The all-in-one platform for freelance hiring
Overview
More than 45 percent of American businesses have begun investing in freelance talent. With Contra, you can post job opportunities, hire top-notch talent, manage payments, contracts, and complete paid projects all in one place.
The goal of this project was to redesign and optimize the existing hiring experience, enabling users to post high-quality job opportunities in as little as 10 minutes.
Visit website
Process
Audit based on user feedback
Competitive research
Low-fi wireframes
Weekly stakeholder critiques
Iterations and refinements
Final design handoff to engineer team
User testing and follow-up optimizations
Takeaways
Simplifying complicated tasks
To post a job on Contra, you need to provide a description of the role you're hiring for, relevant skills for that role, project duration, budget, scope, and company details. Requesting this much information at once can be overwhelming and intimidating. This presented our first design challenge: How can we show this information in a digestible and enjoyable manner?
Early on, we realized that a single form wouldn't be the optimal solution. After conducting initial research and creating wireframes, we arrived at a step-by-step approach, also referred to as a wizard. This solution divided the 8 tasks into 4 manageable steps, making it easier for users to understand and follow. The improved usability resulted in reduced errors, drop-off rates, and increased overall user satisfaction.
Designing a frictionless experience
Saving the user time and creating an enjoyable experience leads to higher conversion rates. Our hypothesis was that by reducing the effort required, more users would progress quickly to the final step and successfully post their job.
We started by looking at the information we requested from users and identified inputs that could be autofilled. For example, when users select the role they are hiring for, we can automatically preselect the relevant skills for that role. By implementing autofilling, we were able to complete over half of the input fields, resulting in a faster turnaround time for job postings.
Offering helpful tips along the way
Offering well-designed and relevant suggestions throughout the user experience is crucial for user education. Providing clear instructions and guidance on how to effectively complete each step helps reduce confusion and uncertainty.
Through user testing, we found that Contra Smart Suggestions offer valuable information at the right moment, empowering and supporting users. This positive experience has resulted in increased user satisfaction and higher conversion rates.
“I highly recommend working with New Friend. They seamlessly integrated into our team with excellent communication and collaboration skills. They delivered high-quality, user-friendly designs within a tight deadline. The designers at New Friend would be invaluable assets to any project or team.”
Ry Magno | Product Design Lead, Contra