In the fast-paced world of a company hackathon, where ideas are born and developed at breakneck speed, our team embarked on a mission to transform the way our company connected with contractors. We called it the "pMarket Hackathon," a whirlwind project that took us from concept to creation in just a matter of hours.
3.5 hours (entire workflow)
1 hr (Website Mockup)
Jamie (Billing)
Lindsey(Billing)
Pobzeb (Dev)
Katie (Customer Success)
UX Designer (Me)
The backdrop was clear: our company was grappling with an overload of work and a shortage of hands to get the job done. Hiring full-time employees was a time-consuming process, and onboarding them posed its own set of challenges. Turning to online platforms like Upwork for contractors proved equally daunting, with a cumbersome vetting process and no efficient way to assess their skills. We needed a solution, and we needed it fast.
Our mission was nothing short of creating a seamless, automated workflow that would revolutionize the contractor hiring process. We envisioned a platform where contractors could easily find us, sign up, provide essential information, complete job-specific assessments, claim tasks, and ultimately get paid for their work. This required not only a streamlined digital process but also a user-friendly website to guide potential contractors through the journey.
Picture this: a person stumbles upon our website, their gateway to a world of job opportunities. They begin their journey by entering their name and phone number, a step that gracefully ushers them into our hiring workflow. If they ever need to step away, they can pick up right where they left off.
As they progress, they provide personal details and financial information like their TIN and bank account. Their profile is then reviewed by our team before they gain access to the portal, where they can choose job interests and complete corresponding assessments. If they pass these assessments, they unlock specific workflows, allowing them to claim tasks and projects, effectively preventing others from snatching them up.
After completing their work, contractors can access a dashboard that displays their total earnings—a real-time testament to their hard work and dedication.
Our solution wasn't just about serving contractors; it empowered pMD employees too. They gained the ability to add jobs to individual workflows, attach necessary assessments to pJob dashboards, and monitor each contractor's earnings. This streamlined approach simplified the payment process, making it efficient and hassle-free.
As the UX designer on the team, I played a pivotal role in translating our discussions and workflows into a tangible design. I began with a simple black and white mockup, quickly evolving it into a fully-fledged website as components came together. ChatGPT provided invaluable assistance, generating rough copy for each section of the website, speeding up our progress.
The culmination of our efforts resulted in a fully functional website comprising several key pages:
Each of these pages contains copy that helps to quickly and simply answer user question
While the website's simplicity was intentional, driven by the need for rapid implementation, I acknowledge that it lacks a certain flair to ignite excitement. With more time, I would have infused more color and variety into the layout and crafted a more memorable logo. Basic UX features like hover effects on buttons and links also await implementation. Nevertheless, considering the one-hour timeframe, I am satisfied with the result. It encapsulates essential information and delivers a genuine website experience.
In hindsight, additional insights into available jobs and their quantities could be valuable, but for the initial version, we opted for simplicity and efficiency.
The pMarket Hackathon was a testament to our team's ability to innovate and execute under pressure. It showcased the power of collaboration, where ideas transformed into a user-friendly platform with the potential to reshape how we connect with contractors, offering them exciting opportunities and our company the workforce it needs.