With the new year not even two weeks old, the USAJOBS and Studentjobs.gov Web sites have launched a powerful new design. On January 13, 2004, the redesigned Web sites went live, delivering improved graphic design to home pages and search pages, as well as introducing site maps.

The USAJOBS relaunch in August 2003 introduced tremendous change to the federal job search, application and recruitment processes. In recent months, USAJOBS has consistently ranked as one of the highest-rated government sites for customer satisfaction. In December 2003, the site achieved its all-time high score of 75 on the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).

A Picture Tells a Thousand Words: The New USAJOBS Home Page

The USAJOBS and Studentjobs.gov home pages now have a crisp, contemporary look subtly integrating patriotic elements through the use of federal seals and color schemes, as well as new graphics and photos.

“We asked ourselves, if a picture tells a thousand words? What do we want USAJOBS to say?” said Jess Bergeron, Monster Government Solutions Senior Interactive Designer. “What we wanted USAJOBS to say is that it identifies with everyone. It should show that the US government is with the times. The experience should be comfortable and not make job seekers feel apprehensive.”

Monster Government Solutions’ usability testing indicated that job seekers needed to identify the USAJOBS site as the official federal jobs Web site, not a private site. If the site looked too commercial, it would put off visitors; but if it were too traditional, it would put off visitors and conflict with the vision and goals of USAJOBS and President Bush’s eGovernment initiatives. The new design balances the “official” look and feel with a contemporary design you’d expect from a leading private-sector site.

The new home page reformats and reorganizes page elements and introduces a multi-layering effect to deliver greater depth and visual appeal. Rotating images of federal employees and occupations enhance the personalization and site intimacy. “The large graphic representing the diversity of federal employees creates a personal pull. People can identify with the people on the home pages. It shows government workers are real people. I wanted to portray a personal element -- that this is not your typical government site,” commented Bergeron.

Key Elements of the New Home Page Design

• USAJOBS Logo has been moved outside the box to indicate literally and figuratively that USAJOBS is thinking “out of the box.”
• Unique Personal Images create a sense of intimacy, relationship and trust while reflecting the diversity of jobs and people in federal government.
• Color Scheme delivers hip but federal colors that are still 508 compliant.
• Search and Create a Resume buttons placed in a prominent place with white space to attract the eye and draw visitors to take action.
• Two Highlight Areas for Job Fairs and Veterans attract attention without being the page’s main focus.
• Navigation Bar appears polished and jazzy, not technical and sterile.
• Reorganization of home page elements into sections that make sense.
• Consistent Branding for USAJOBS and Studentjobs.

Building a Better Looking Job Search

“In the old site’s search page, the biggest problem was that the specific search options in the right-hand bar were rarely seen or used,” explained Bergeron. The new design introduces search tabs that are consistent with the new job announcement tabbed display, highlighted in the November MGS InBrief. Click here to read about the new tabbed job announcement display. The tab concept will also be used in the upcoming USAJOBS Job Builder, due later this year.

The USAJOBS team tracked visitor search patterns to determine the order of featured search tabs. “We are passionate about delivering a simply great experience to job seekers and recruiters,” said Dan DeMaioNewton, USAJOBS Program Manager for Monster Government Solutions. “To deliver a great experience requires taking data from job seeker and recruiter feedback, USAJOBS support and Web utilization, and transforming it into business intelligence.”

The new USAJOBS search page includes the Featured Job, Featured Employer and Jobs in Demand sections to improve visibility to job seekers. These features had appeared only on the USAJOBS home page and are consistently in the top 50 pages viewed by job seekers. However, many job seekers bookmarked the USAJOBS search page and never viewed the home page. It makes sense to include these elements in close proximity to where the actual search is conducted.

Key Elements of the New Search Page Design

• Tabbed Search makes for a better seeker experience.
• New Information icon consolidates hyperlinks that had been on every item
• Better Organization by breaking out sections subtly with background treatments
• Integration of Featured Job, Featured Employer and Jobs In Demand integrates site functionality placing it where job seekers would expect.

Introducing the USAJOBS and Studentjobs.gov Site Maps

The new USAJOBS design also introduces a site map into the online experience to get visitors where they want to be quickly. “You go to a Web site with a mission,” said Bergeron. “If you don’t see what you want on a home page in 30 seconds, you look for a site map. It needs to be there.”

“Navigation shows up frequently as the area that will deliver the biggest gain in customer satisfaction,” Bergeron continued. “One of the easiest ways to improve navigation is to include a well-organized site map focused on the job seeker experience.”

The Road Ahead

The redesigned USAJOBS and Studentjobs.gov sites are part of a master architecture plan to ensure that the federal government is a recognized leader in online recruiting. With recent releases of spell check for job seekers and recruiters, integration with all government agency applicant tracking systems and a strong engine for continuous improvement, the USAJOBS sites already have demonstrated industry leadership.

For more information about the new USAJOBS and Studentjobs.gov design, please contact Dan DeMaioNewton, who is also the Monster Government Solutions Director of Professional Services, at dan.demaionewton@monster.com.