A Web App that Brings Empathy Back to the Hiring Process with AI and Design
View Figma File
Empply is a recruitment platform concept designed to streamline the hiring process while fostering empathy for candidates. Through thoughtful tools like AI-generated feedback, diversity metrics, and collaborative grading systems, Empply will make hiring smarter and more humane.
ETA Summer '25
Delivery Phase
In Progress (Link)
Development Phase
Complete (Link)
Definition Phase
Complete (Link)
Discovery Phase
Emplly is a hiring platform that strives to unlock a new way for HR leaders and hiring teams to acquire talent for their organizations. Our hypothesis: We need tools that let us hire smarter, faster, and with more compassion for candidates. So we've stripped current hiring processes down to bare bones and went back to the drawing board, asking questions that lay at the root of this common problem: What really matters when considering people for an open job? How can we utilize modern technology to quickly learn about EVERY candidate, ensuring no "hidden gems" slip through the cracks? And (most importantly, in our opinion) – how can we attack this problem with empathy for all involved?
Follow along as I dive into exactly what it will take to transform Empply from an idea into reality. Feel free to check out the project on Figma – you might even catch me designing in real time!
Platform Goals
My Part to Play
30 days
Problem
Hiring teams are abandoning empathy for applicants in favor of just trying to get the job done.
Solution
ATS tools that let hiring teams hire smarter, faster, and with more compassion for candidates
Responsibilities
Industry Average Range: 44 days
Strategy, Research, Design
Role
Timeframe
Now!
Method
By making candidate insights visible in every view, hiring teams can compare and grade candidates quickly – generating insights that AI turns into empathetic feedback for rejected applicants
Lead Designer
Average Time-to-Hire
85%
Industry Average: 28%
Percentage of applicants receiving actionable feedback from hiring team
+10
Industry Average Range: -21.9 – -44.7
Total Candidate Satisfaction Score (NPS)
(including rejected candidates)
In this view, the user can quickly see all Candidates for the "Senior Product Designer" job, see vital information about each, and start comparing candidates at a glance.
Discovery Phase
Phase Goal: Understand hiring team pain points and the current state of hiring tools
I also conducted a competitive analysis of leading ATS platforms and found they prioritize efficiency over empathy, leaving room for a solution like Empply.
My first step was to reach out to HR and hiring professionals to get their side of the story. What I found was that my assumption was mostly correct: HR teams were being absolutely flooded by applications, and there wasn't really an efficient way to go through them all without spending too much time filling an open position. This resulted in shortcuts being forged through the process, a lack of communication or collaboration, and little to no valuable metrics being used to make these important decisions. All of these problems created the problem I personally was having: hiring teams are abandoning empathy for applicants in favor of just trying to get the job done.
"We want to give rejected candidates something constructive to take away."
– Courtney, Recruiter
"It‘s hard to know where everyone stands on a candidate without endless meetings."
– Tasha, Hiring Manager
"I want my team to grade candidates fairly and consistently without overcomplicating it."
– Ken, HR Lead
"We try to provide meaningful feedback to candidates, but the process is just too manual."
– HR Specialist, User Interview
AI-Generated Research Recap
(in Podcast form!)
That's right! I fed Google's NotebookLM the transcripts from my User Interviews, and had it turn them into a 15 minute podcast. Enjoy!
If the embedded audio player doesn't work for you, you can open the podcast in a new tab by hovering/tapping the widget and clicking the "expand" icon in the top right corner.
"Hiring managers need a tool that fosters collaboration, reduces bias, and provides empathetic feedback to candidates, all while staying efficient and scalable."
Definition phase
Phase Goal: To uncover patterns in the User Research and land on an official definition of the problem
To synthesize the user research I just gathered, I did a quick affinity mapping session, jotting down my key takeaways from the user interviews and categorizing them into buckets of feedback:
- Enable efficient workflows with easy-to-use grading tools and intuitive dashboards
- Bake empathy into the process, using AI to suggest feedback to rejected candidates based on real hiring team grades and comments
- Build in ways to fight bias and ensure diversity
- Make choosing the perfect candidate really, really easy
The end result of my affinity mapping session broke down prominent feedback into four categories: Inefficient Workflows, No Empathy, Bias, and Complex Decision-making
A recruiter focused on diversity and meaninful candidate experiences
Priya
Personas
A hiring manager frustrated with the side effects of a rushed hiring process
Sarah
An HR lead who values standardization and tracking metrics
David
With my user interview data synthesized and formed into our guiding product principles, I developed three core personas to represent Empply's primary users. Each persona represents the needs, frustrations, and goals uncovered during the research phase.
"We need tools that feel intuitive and are aligned with how we actually think about candidates. Simplicity and collaboration are key."
Phase Goal: Design solutions that solve the needs of our personas and align with the three pillars of our project goals.
For Brand fonts I chose Albert Sans for our Headings, and Inter for Body copy. Albert Sans is a modern and approachable font that reads well at large sizes. It's also quirky in certain places, which gives it a much more approachable and warm vibe.
Inter is extremely legible and balanced. It works well in data-dense layouts like our Candidate Dashboard, where scanning quickly and processing information accurately is vital.
– Hiring Manager, User Interview
"Purple reflects the essence of Empply: empathetic, innovative, and a standout in the hiring world."
I started with low-fidelity notebook sketches of a few key interactions and necessary pages to establish layout and functionality. After reviewing these with design peers, I moved on to creating an initial brand for Empply.
Designing the Solution: Branding
I knew from near the beginning of the project that Purple would be our primary color. During my years of applying color theory, purple has always been a color associated with empathy, understanding, and connection – three entities empply should embody fully. Our primary color was solidified during our competitor analysis, and realized most ATS brands were neutral or "corporate blue". Purple would not only keep the Empply brand interesting, but would also make it stand out from the crowd.
Figma Variables & the beginnings of the Empply Design System
As is standard in my Figma projects, I set up a plethora of Variables and Styles that make rapidly designing consistent Components and Screens a breeze. I instituted a Brand > Alias > Mapped Variable structure which allowed me to define my colors and sizing scales in a way that will make them easy to adjust, should the need arise.
I built out a 4px sizing and type scale using a combination Figma's Variables and Text Styles, ensuring the entire app will feature consistent spacing and typography throughout.
As we've been building the first set of screens, we've also been building out the Empply Design System. As a Design System goes it's in its early stages, but the components being built using the system are looking really sharp!
Check it out in the Figma File!
When it comes down to it, hiring should focus on the Job that needs done, and the Person required to do it.
"I would LOVE to have a candidate's full details – including our internal grades – in one place."
The Empply architecture is primarily focused on two classes of data: "Jobs" and "Candidates". This structure helps keep hiring managers focused, ensuring they can easily navigate the system and manage every aspect of the hiring process. By dividing the app's architecture into these sections, Empply reflects the natural workflow of hiring teams.
Designing the Solution: Architecture
The Candidates section focuses on individuals, providing tools for detailed evaluation, communication, and tracking progress through the hiring funnel.
The key differentiator for Empply's Candidate profile is the composite grade. When your Hiring Team adds insights to a Candidate or grades them on one of the Metrics on the Scorecard, those insights will help paint a picture of how qualified that Candidate is for the open job. This is represented in a Candidate Score – a number 0-5 that is displayed right alongside the Candidate wherever they show up in Empply.
We also provide the option to turn your co-worker's grades off for a given Candidate as a step to combat hiring biases.
As an added touch, the answers Applicants give on their application regarding their Self-Identified Heritage and Gender will be aggregated (either privately or publicly, according to local laws) into an overall Diversity Score, which your organization can use to ensure you're staying diverse.
View more screens in the Figma File
View more screens in the Figma File
"Having a job-specific view might help us focus. Having everything we might need to know for a role in one spot would be huge."
The Jobs section is the central hub for managing open positions, tracking hiring progress, and configuring workflows. Each job acts as its own "container," housing all relevant candidates, settings, and activities related to that role.
What really sets Empply apart from other ATS solutions is the idea of Phases. Each Job in Empply is made up of three Phases – Qualifying (which has a goal of filtering out all unqualified applicants, leaving only Candidates qualified for the role), Evaluating (Reviewing portfolios, Interviewing, and testing Candidates for further evaluation), and Deciding (Ultimately choosing which Candidate should get an Offer).
Within these Phases, users can set important Metrics they would like to grade Candidates on. For example, common Metrics that can be found in the Qualifying Phase are Work History, Application Answers, and Portfolio Strength. It's a good bet that if a Candidate fails any of those categories, they could be consider Unqualified for the position. These are the insights the Phases and Grading portion of Empply hopes to provide users at a quick glance.
View more screens in the Figma File
Four examples of AI-generated feedback that can be suggested when users are formulating a candidate rejection letter. These insights are built using team grades and notes. Feedback like this is crucial for job seekers, and should make candidate satisfaction soar.
Love Empply?
- Prototype Testing - We'll go back to the same HR professionals we interviewed at the beginning of the project, present our prototype for interaction, and gather insights and notes on their experience.
- Development Team Recruiting - I've been in talks with a few past co-workers and old friends (as well as learning React on the side) to make this thing come to life!
- Investment Opportunities - Should all go well up to this point, it will be time to start looking for investors.
After That:
Come join me! I'm actively looking for creatives and engineers of all kinds to come on this journey with me. Drop me an email at jordan.barhorst@gmail.com and we can discuss!
- Interaction Design - Menus, Overlays, Tooltips and more interactive elements will be designed
- Primary User Flows - We'll marry together our existing Screens and soon to come Interaction Designs to create a few Primary User Flows
- High-Fidelity Prototype - Once our Primary User Flows are built, we'll start tying them together in Figma to create a clickable prototype. This will be the end of this current Phase of the project.
Next Steps:
...and you're caught up!
As a currently active project, this is where we're currently at in Empply's design and development.