Redefining candidate experience at Switzerland’s second-largest bank

“At a 200-year-old bank with 400,000+ job applicants per year, we rebuilt hiring workflows to restore fairness and internal trust.”

This project started as a request to improve candidate experience.
It became a story about changing how departments collaborate, listen, and deliver.

THE CHALLENGE

The hiring journey was broken.

No one fully owned it.

  • Stakeholders weren’t aligned

  • Internal applicants feared bias

  • Feedback loops were unclear

  • Tools and handoffs were inconsistent

  • Candidate drop-off rates were climbing

There was no single map, no shared language, no source of truth.
We stepped in to co-create one — from the inside out.

THE SHIFT WE MADE

From siloes and assumptions to shared understanding and action.

Here is how we led the transformation

  • Built a cross-functional blueprint with HR, Legal, and Hiring Managers

  • Visualized the current journey and made the friction visible

  • Reframed “UX fixes” as systemic shifts: clarity, confidence, fairness

  • Facilitated alignment workshops across three levels of the org

  • Trained stakeholders to co-lead research and synthesize findings

💬 “You can’t prototype fairness without your stakeholders in the room.”

THE DECISIONS THAT MATTERED

We weren’t just building. We were choosing.

  • Removed a mobile-first test after 2× drop-off on iOS

  • Rewrote job templates based on candidate comprehension tests

  • Delayed launch to align messaging with legal + compliance → prevented rework

  • Killed a proposed chatbot after 6/7 managers didn’t understand its use

These decisions weren’t random. They were based on data, feedback, and strategic listening.

WHAT WE SHOWED

Screenshots. Snapshots. Signals of change.

  • Blueprint of the hiring journey with annotated handoffs

  • Interview quotes mapped across emotional highs/lows

  • Before/after of job ads showing structure + clarity

  • Service storyboard used in onboarding and training

Results:

  • "No feedback" candidate complaints dropped from 44% → 18%

  • Candidate NPS increased by +12

  • Internal blueprint is now used across 4 departments

MY ROLE AND HOW I WORKED

Design Lead - but here’s what I really did

  • Coached HR in running and analyzing interviews

  • Hosted live mapping and feedback reviews with execs

  • Synthesized 54 insights into a visual roadmap

  • Made findings public and trackable via Notion

  • Mentored team members to take ownership of next steps

This wasn’t about driving deliverables — it was about designing collaboration.

WHAT I LEARNED AND FINAL REFLECTION

Real change happens when people see the system they’re part of — and feel invited to improve it.

“You can’t fix a broken journey with better screens.”
“If it’s not visible, it won’t be owned.”
“Adoption begins in the map room.”

This case study is a blueprint for what I believe design leadership is: Facilitating change, not forcing it. Designing with, not for.

“We started by trying to improve candidate experience. We ended by reshaping how teams across the company work together.”

Behind the scenes

War room

A dedicated space to display and analyse all interviews, identify patterns and insights, and review the first version of the blueprint

Blueprint iterations

Evolving from agile mapping with Post-its—allowing flexibility and learning—to the first digital version for better legibility and credibility.

Roadmap

A visual roadmap organises identified recommendations into short-, mid-, and long-term phases. A separate deep-dive page detailing a recommendation’s context and implementation was provided in the appendix.

Finalised blueprint as a vertical campfire

Measuring 1m x 3.5m, the map displayed all research, insights, initiatives, and gaps, becoming a strategic working tool.

Competitor benchmark report

The goal was to understand the competitors in the market and draw inspiration from elements of their journey that were better designed for the application. A competitor benchmark report was created, accompanied by a "to-be" storyboard, highlighting potential opportunities to better engage with future applicants.

As-is storyboard

Bringing issues to life by visualising key pain points through research quotes, supporting desk research evidence, and scene descriptions.

Online survey

A large quantitative online survey was created and analyzed, complementing 45 qualitative interviews. This approach helped establish data savviness and confirmed or refuted signals identified in the initial interviews.

Co-creation

Regular stakeholder co-creation sessions enabled open collaboration and ensured the blueprint evolved as a single source of truth.

Interviews

A variety of interviews were conducted with the support of a local agency to expedite the process. In total, 45 individuals were interviewed, and 5 user segments were identified.