Why user experience is everything

In this guest post from Tim Parker, MD of our NORA Partner yu:talent, Tim explains why the user experience is crucial in all forms of technology, and especially for jobseekers and recruiters in today’s marketplace.

I began my recruitment career in 1998 in a small industrial recruitment branch.  I was branch administrator and our tech set up consisted of card box with client details, a fax for sending CVs and a PC for inputting the payroll once a week.

Our jobs board was that in a literal sense – is was a board on the wall with vacancy details printed on card.  Well, eventually they were printed. When we first opened they were still all hand written.

In the fifteen years of my recruitment career thereafter, I saw huge changes across the industry.  Without doubt, the biggest driver of change has been technology. To be more specific still, the internet has been the driving force behind the most significant changes.

I have also observed a pattern in these waves of change.  Each time a landmark change in tech occurs there seems to be a large degree of speculation that X will spell the end of the recruiter.  So far this speculation has been unfounded.  True, the nature of the recruiter’s role will change, but this change will continue to be a slow evolution.

I believe this is because of the relationship between people and technology.  They are inextricably linked, especially given that recruitment is a people business.  As much as we reach for greater and greater automation, we do so with the objective of smoothing our human interaction with technology.

I recently read this article on the TED website (http://ideas.ted.com/2014/11/04/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ ) which resonated with me greatly.  The relationship we have with our technology, when and how we deploy it, and how frequently we immerse ourselves in it I believe will become a greater area of concern as we continue to push the boundaries of our technological advancement.

We must create balance in our use of technology.  We may require our own sense of ownership in controlling our personal use, but as tech providers we have an obligation towards how our technology makes people feel.

At yu:talent, we believe that technology should adapt to the needs of the user, not the other way round.

Many people already talk of the importance of the user experience but we believe the emphasis will become greater and greater.  How able we feel we can interact with the technology we use is equally as important as what the technology can do.  Its capability is obsolete if it is rendered unusable in the eyes of its target audience.

That is why our number one objective in designing yu:talent was to create a CRM system recruiters would love.

That is furthermore why we are delighted to be the lead sponsor of the 2014 NORA awards.  Nominations have not been made via an arbitrary panel. Every business shortlisted has been voted for directly by their users.  Every nominee has achieved recognition for the user experience they have created, which in itself is a great accolade.

We wish all of you the very best of luck and look forward to what promises to be a fantastic evening.