PRESCREEN (BY XING) · PRODUCT DESIGN LEAD & RESEARCHER · 2021 – 2022
Redesigning the Job Ad Template
Experience at Prescreen
Role & Scope
Product Design Lead & Researcher (End-to-End Design, Research, Design System Component Creation, and Validation)
Cross-Functional Team
1 Product Manager, 5 Software Engineers
Eliminating operational bottlenecks by building a modular WYSIWYG ad designer, reducing creation time by 50% and successfully releasing to over 1,000+ enterprise customers across DACH.
50%
Creation time reduction
1,000+
Enterprise customers at release
90%+
Reduction in job board & ad support complaints
65+
DACH enterprise beta launch partners
TL;DR / Executive Summary
- • The Challenge: Prescreen's monetized core relied on rigid, static HTML code, causing severe CI brand lock-in, client service bottlenecks, and frequent layout breaks on external job boards.
- • The Solution: Led end-to-end design and research for a modular, drag-and-drop WYSIWYG ad builder with real-time multi-device previews and built-in brand guardrails.
- • Strategic Impact: Cut creation time by 50%, scaled to 1,000+ enterprise clients, reduced job board compliance complaints by over 90%, and created the core UX that triggered XING to merge Prescreen into their flagship onlyfy suite.
01: Overview
The Problem & Operational Bottleneck
Job ad creation represents the monetized core of the Prescreen recruiting platform. However, recruiters faced a frustrating, high-friction workflow: starting from a blank, static editor every time, struggling with formatting errors, and publishing job postings that failed to reflect their employer brand.
This workflow created three critical operational bottlenecks for both clients and Prescreen:
- Corporate Identity Lock-in: Enterprise customers were unable to apply custom brand identity, fonts, or colors without manual code intervention.
- Internal Team Bottleneck: Prescreen had to rely on an internal services queue to manually construct custom HTML templates for each client, creating delays and high service overhead.
- Multi-Channel Incompatibility: Static, unvalidated formatting frequently broke layout requirements when cross-posted to external job boards like StepStone and XING.
02: Discovery & Research
Decoupling Content from Static Code
To resolve the bottleneck, I led an intensive discovery process: conducting 15+ in-depth interviews with recruiters across DACH enterprise organizations and 5+ stakeholder interviews across Product, Engineering, and Client Services.
The core architectural breakthrough was decoupling content section blocks (Company Intro, Tasks, Requirements, Benefits, Media) from rigid template HTML. By abstracting job ad sections into modular data structures, we enabled dynamic section toggling, re-ordering, and multi-language support (DE/EN) without breaking layout integrity.
We tested early interaction models through 15+ qualitative validation sessions with recruiters using interactive Adobe XD prototypes, testing layout flexibility, drag-and-drop affordance, and multi-channel preview confidence.
03: Design Process & System
From Static Forms to a Visual Drag-and-Drop Builder
We transformed the creation paradigm from rigid form fields into an intuitive visual WYSIWYG editor. Recruiters were empowered to drag and drop modular components, ranging from basic text blocks and image galleries to multi-column layouts, with real-time visual feedback.
We introduced "Structure Mode," allowing hiring managers to re-arrange content hierarchy instantly, while providing real-time device previews across Desktop, Mobile, and external Job Board formats.
04: Final UI & Smart Components
Template & Workflow Execution
Following initial beta validation, we expanded the system from basic layout blocks to high-converting smart components: 5-column benefit grids, embedded video backgrounds, interactive employer branding callouts, and instant "Apply via WhatsApp" triggers.
The resulting experience gave recruiters absolute creative freedom within brand-approved guardrails, ensuring every published ad was automatically responsive, accessible, and compliant.
05: Outcome & Impact
Monetized Core & Multi-Channel Publishing
The feature was rolled out to a 65+ enterprise beta cohort before releasing to over 1,000+ enterprise customers across the DACH region, delivering immediate measurable operational and business impact:
- Direct Revenue Acceleration: Guaranteed 100% frame-one compliance, driving higher ad posting revenue and faster candidate conversion.
- 90%+ Reduction in Support Tickets: Virtually eliminated external job board display errors across partner boards including StepStone, XING, and Karrier.at.
- Catalyst for Corporate Evolution: The product's massive user adoption and architectural success directly served as the detonator for XING to rebrand and merge Prescreen with XING E-Recruiting into their flagship onlyfy by XING suite.
