CareerScribe : Brand Consulting & User Experience

CareerScribe was created to address the gap between online job boards and social networking sites. The first of its kind, CareerScribe not only allows users to systematically track their career highlights and achievements online, but also provides ways they can leverage their portfolio within their network.

In a time where today's problems needed to be solved yesterday with tomorrow's talent, real value lies in leveraging the Web to speed the staffing cycle and reduce the time and cost of candidate investigation. CareerScribe approached Kristian Andersen + Associates with the intent of designing a branded application that would provide candidates the opportunity to substantively catalogue their most valuable professional asset (their career), while at the same time provide recruiters and hiring managers with the tools and processes they need to dramatically increase insight into the candidate, thus speeding the time to decision. The challenge was to create a compelling environment that far surpassed simplistic approaches to job search. The objective was to build a robust, valuable experience for both candidates and companies.

Kristian Andersen + Associates started by leading the management team at CareerScribe through our proprietary BrandSpring® process, during which we defined and began to articulate the brand platform. The outcome was a renamed company and product (formerly known as JobOtter), for which Kristian Andersen + Associates developed a new visual identity and supporting communication materials.

With branding in place, the team then began to translate the brand into the product itself by conceiving and expressing the entire CareerScribe UX through a series of high-fidelity prototypes. The big ideas and the prototypes, intentionally conceived at an early stage, opened up the thinking of what CareerScribe could be and what sort of functionality it should facilitate. Kristian Andersen + Associates oversaw the entire process – from articulating functional requirements to designing wireframes to product management to user testing. Rapid development cycles and continuous user input shaped the concepts and functionality within the application. Most of these insights made it into the Alpha version and the rest have been documented and will serve as catalytic concepts for Beta.

Leveraging video, stories and a sophisticated invitation process, CareerScribe provides high-performing professionals with a significant advantage. For companies, CareerScribe dramatically increases the insight they can garner from candidate profiles – before investing time or money into pursuing the match. CareerScribe is rapidly attracting both candidates and companies, each receiving value by leveraging this unique employment tool.