Enhancing Sound Transit's appeal to jobseekers and attracting top talent to the agency.
DURATION
Jun 2025 - Aug 2025
ROLE
Web Design Intern
TEAM
1 PM, 1 Researcher, 1 Designer
WHY REDESIGN THE JOBS PAGE?
"People don't think working in transportation is cool. The public doesn't really know what jobs we offer, either."
I first consulted with Sound Transit's Program Manager for Outreach to learn more about Sound Transit recruitment and the current perception of the jobs page. Long paragraphs of text, broken links, and outdated visuals buried important information about working for the agency, whilst also offering limited information about the agency's application and interview process.
The consequences of "good enough".
As Sound Transit undergoes one of the largest expansions in the country, the agency needs to attract and retain a committed, transit-passionate workforce. Jobseekers who stumble upon Sound Transit's page may fail to see alignment between their skills and agency openings, or discount themselves before applying, resulting in competent candidates never applying for ST's positions.
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
I first evaluated career sites at companies in other industries.
To gain inspiration for redesigns, I took note of visual style / imagery, information architecture, and copy under benefits, culture and values, and application FAQ sections.
Spotify
Lively use of color + short form videos
Expedia
Career Exploration cards
Nike
Sticky bar provides seamless navigation
WEB ANALYTICS
Along with ST's Digital Specialist, I scraped quantitative data about the Jobs page.
From Google Analytics, I was able to get a sense of mobile/desktop usage, click-through rate, and particular links candidates clicked on the most.
INSIGHTS
Desktop and mobile users were split 51/49, roughly even.
1
Jobs section was visited the most, with minimal traffic in other sections such as Benefits and Culture.
2
Candidates expressed the most interest in rail and trade careers with King County Metro, which was the most clicked link on the site.
3
FIELD RESEARCH
By connecting with candidates at career fairs, I was able to gain a more qualitative understanding of the problem.
My conversations with candidates naturally revealed the values that job seekers prioritize most when looking through workplaces, including transparency about application processes, a healthy workplace culture, and employee benefits. It also validated an assumption my manager had made: candidates are unaware that Sound Transit hires corporate jobs and apprenticeships.
SURVEYS
Finally, I surveyed 15 current employees at the agency to attempt to understand what the Jobs page should highlight about their workplace.
The survey included quantitative rating questions, content ranking questions, and free-response questions allowing for deeper reflection and insights.
INSIGHTS
Employees ranked Why work at ST & Types of Jobs as the most important information on the site.
1
11/15 employees had used the soundtransit.org website to prepare for their application and/or interviews.
2
Long chunks of text made the page feel overwhelming, with more visuals / multimedia elements desired - "Some parts look very text heavy and hard to grasp the main points at a glance."
3
REDESIGN V1
For my first redesign attempt, I focused on breaking up heavy text with visual elements and introducing an FAQ section.
1
Introducing career cards to draw attention to the different roles and backgrounds Sound Transit hires
2
Including an Application FAQ section to clarify the interview and selection process to candidates
3
Introducing a sticky navigation bar to allow users to jump between sections without having to leave the page
USER VALIDATION
Version 1 was tested with 8 users in the WA state area who had been job seeking within the last year.
Tests were conducted on Userlytics, combining free exploration of the prototype with more specific task-oriented activities.
INSIGHTS
The cards for job categories were helpful, but took up lengthy scroll space on mobile devices.
1
Users appreciated the sticky bar as an orienting element on the page.
2
The internships page felt generic and not tailored to young applicants.
3
ITERATING
Following usability testing, I made several changes, communicating insights and recommendations to my HR manager, digital manager, and developer team.
#1
Rethinking the use of career cards to be more general and mobile-friendly.
By condensing 13 career cards into 3 more general categories (corporate, apprenticeships, driver/trades), the user is able to more efficiently parse the range of jobs we offer without scrolling through 13 cards on mobile devices.
#2
Aligning navigation changes with Digital Team capabilities.
While the sticky navigation bar was preferred by job seekers as a convenient, all on one page solution, the development team had little time to implement a new component. As a compromise, I proposed using an anchor link component that still improves the navigational experience without burdening developers.
Less relevant information (E-Verify and Employment Verification) were moved to the bottom of the page, leaving more room at the top for Jobs-related information.
#3
Separating job and internship related information, tailoring content to different audiences.
Separating the jobs and internships page allowed for tailored copy, imagery, and Application FAQ information for different audiences (interns vs full time job seekers).
FINAL DESIGNS
Final redesigns were presented both Digital and HR teams. The project has been split into 2 phases, with the first phase (content updates) underway.
Jobs
Improved navigation, engaging visuals, and a clear application FAQ entices candidates to apply.
Internships
Visuals, messaging, and application FAQ tailored for an early career audience.
Mobile-friendly access
Anchor link navigation, accordions, and shorter more impactful sections support mobile use.
JOBS
INTERNSHIPS
REFLECTION
Things I would've done differently.
Working within the constraints of the dev team, existing design system, and needs of job seekers taught me a lot about the importance of clear communication to different stakeholders and sharpened my ability to make decisions based upon tradeoffs. That being said, there were a few things I would've explored further or approached differently given more time.
🎥 Incorporate short form video content
In order to appeal to a younger demographic, short form content and videos would be a great addition to the site, particularly for the Internships page.
🔍 Advocate with a systems lens
When pitching the sticky navigation bar, I could have built a stronger case by showing how the component could benefit other content-dense pages across soundtransit.org. This would have been more persuasive to the development team and show consideration for their efforts vs. user impact.
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