Sparrow
Roles:
UI/UX Design, Product Management
Duration:
4 Months (Jun 2023 – Sep 2023)
Tools:
Figma, Notion, Google Suite
Teams:
Business Operations
Machine Learning (AI Coach)
Sparrow Recruiting
Machine Learning and Business Operations
Summer 2023 Product Intern
As a Product intern with the Machine Learning and BusOps team, I worked on internal tools to fast track employee recruiting experience and efficiency. I also worked on the Coach AI, streamlining communication and integration between the product and engineering teams.
My experience here was truly a transformative one, emphasizing seamless collaboration and cross-functional teamwork during a 16-month period where I worked on various projects. I spent the first 8-weeks as a product owner for the automated recruiting internal tool where I conducted comprehensive Research through Freelance Developers, established recruiting pipelines and created detailed wireframes.
Context
🔮 Overview
Sparrow’s Machine Learning team strives to create a precise and golf-accurate AI analysis tool from scratch. With the core AI being trained on over 2 million+ datapoints, a sub-branch was made with the existing foundation; AI Coach. In the product team of Coach, we developed product specs and verbiage to be added into the machine learning database. My 8-week project in the BusOps team, was to design and develop an automated recruiting internal tool that would accelerate the company’s progression to a high-growth phase. I had to research, design, recruit and manage the development of the product from 0 to 1. I also had to think about the scalability of my design to be used by the whole company in the future.
🧑🔧 Stakeholders
Throughout my internship, I constantly communicated with my mentors, peers and stakeholders to update them on my progress, and seek constructive feedback. I frequently checked in with the CEO Joe Chin, Head of UX Brooke Beason and Product Manager Hunter Liebermann to receive creative feedback from critiques as well as update them on my progress through daily standups. I also had the opportunity to work alongside the Business Operations team, with Product Manager Intern Tanisha Srivatsa, and Software Engineer Nina Ramos.
Problem
One of the best recruiting practices that have yielded the best candidates, is when our CEO starts calling candidates instead of using agencies or online application forms. However, we wanted to automate this process. By compiling a list of candidates into a csv file, we can dial each number. If it is declined or unanswered, we would send a prerecorded voicemail from the CEO himself. This would make the voicemail seem personalized with minimal effort.
Ideation
Internal Tools
👀 Research and Product Requirements
Our starting point was figuring out the constraints and product requirements of the recruiting tool, finding solutions through existing tools, and exploring ideas. We researched various mass reach-out examples such as automated text messaging/calling through Twillio to gain a basis for our design and functionality.
We conducted Research and Development of our ideas through consultation with lead software engineers, recruiting freelance Android developers and personal hardware testing. Through these tests and reports, it was revealed that Android programming did not allow single-phone audio stream mixing. We pivoted to the two-phone, two-app solution
Design
2 App Approach
💪 Leader and Follower
The Leader version of the app would perform most of the necessary functionality such as selecting candidates, mass text messaging, etc; acting as the main control flow. The follower version of the app would sync up with the leader to play a prerecorded voice message to the input audio stream of the leader phone once its recording a voicemail.
Design
Feedback
👨🎨 Initial App Wireframe
After finishing up our initial wireframe draft with the adapted functionality, we decided to consult our in-house UI/UX Designer for a critique on accessibility, functionality and overall design. I decided to add some functionality that would support its seamless usability such as a filter, file upload option and signifiers regarding the connectedness of the leader and follower.
Design
Collaboration
👥 Cross-functional Collaboration
After finishing up our initial wireframe draft with the adapted functionality, we decided to consult our in-house UI/UX Designer for a critique on accessibility, functionality and overall design. I decided to add some functionality that would support its seamless usability such as a filter, file upload option and signifiers regarding the connectedness of the leader and follower.
Outcome
🙌 Recruiting
To launch our product into development, we needed to find an Android developer suitable for this project and the overall team. We created a 4-stage interview process and eventually, after interviewing 100+ candidates, found our golden star.
**We spent weeks practicing our pitch and the entire process to become full-fledged recruiters. I also had to understand the answers to the questions themselves by spending our spare time studying
Outcome
Development
🤖 CC App
CC, or CEO Calling, was then launched into the development cycle by our Android Engineer, Nina Ramos. She determined that she was self-sufficient on her own and only needed the help of the UI/UX Designer and CEO to consult. Thus, my co-product lead and I’s role in this project was over.
Takeaways
🌎 Projects All Around
This project allowed me to engage in comprehensive R&D and meticulously craft wireframes in Figma to guide the engineering team which made me understand the value of iterative development and user-centric design. I sought as many edge cases as I could find considering the app functionality through which I was able to understand backend logic to build an efficient internal tool for recruitment.
My other projects, which involved collaborating on the product specifications for the Sparrow AI coaching feature had taught me the essence of seamless integration and cross-functional cooperation. My involvement in preparing the Sparrow Phone Stands In-App Purchasing feature for release through A/B testing also was a testament to the transformative power of data-driven decision-making.
🍀 Growth
In retrospect, my time at Sparrow has illuminated the intricate tapestry of product design and management, where collaboration, strategy, iterative development, and data-driven decision-making unite. Aside from learning a lot about product, I also had the opportunity to develop my soft skills in leadership, communication and accountability, Being proactive and a product owner, I learned to think ahead, express concerns and solve problems early on.
I would also like to give special thanks to the CEO Joe Chin, and Head of UX for always giving reliable feedback, amazing guidance and unending support and encouragement. Their desire to see interns like me improve is something that I will always appreciate and look for in future work environments!