client: mighty gig
project: Gen ai resume builder

Resume Builder is a web-based application that helps users create professional and personalized resumes with the help of a generative AI enabled chatbot. Users can interact with the chatbot to provide their basic information, summary, skills, work history, education, etc. The application will generate portions of the resume based on the content provided by the end user. Users can also save, edit, and delete their resumes, as well as preview them as they fill in the information.

This product aims to make resume writing easy, fast, and fun for everyone.

  • background

    My job search has prompted me to explore better products for resume building. I’ve taken this opportunity to experiment with designing applications using natural language processing capabilities of generative AI.

  • the solution

    Leveraging conversational generative AI empowers users with the freedom and flexibility to create personalized resumes. This cutting-edge technology offers insightful feedback on content to help users produce more targeted resumes.

  • my roles

    UX/UI
    Product Design
    Research
    User Testing

Typical resume builders on the market require the user to fill in numerous fields making the process both tedious and stressful.

Many existing products on the market offer an overwhelming range of resume design options. Users are lead to a non-intuitive user interface often requiring the input of text fields individually for each section, causing a cumbersome experience. Customization options for both content and design options are limited leading to an unsatisfactory resumes.

  • my goal

    To find the right balance between customization and ease of use. Offering too much customization might overwhelm users, particularly those who are new to chatbot interfaces.

  • MVP

    • Guided editing

    • Personalization prompts

    • Saved versions

    • Resume preview

    • Download to pdf or doc file

  • benefits

    • Efficiency

    • Adaptability

    • Natural language generation

    • User-friendly

    • Language proficiency



  1. discover and define

  • What was the problem? Many existing solutions struggled to accommodate the diverse needs of job seekers who sought personalized resumes while maintaining a user-friendly experience. The challenge was to find a way to harness the power of Gen AI to address this solution in a new and innovative way.

  • What was the project scope? Seamlessly blend the art of personalization with the convenience of an intuitive interface. The platform would offer a range of customizable templates while leveraging AI-driven insights to guide users in creating engaging, tailored resumes that resonated with their career goals and industry requirements.

  • Who were the end users? Job seekers from diverse backgrounds, ranging from recent graduates to seasoned professionals seeking career change or advancement.

  • What was the hypothesis? AI-driven insights could provide personalized recommendations, suggesting relevant sections, skills, and achievements based on the user's input and career aspirations. This approach aimed to streamline the resume creation process while enabling users to create resumes that were both visually appealing and uniquely tailored to their professional journey.

Key takeaways

Current online resume builders can sometimes be overwhelming with template options, design elements, making it hard to choose what is best.

There are limited customization options resulting in users being unable to create a unique personalized resume that accurately represents their experiences.

Lack of personalized support catering to specific industries and career stages, non-intuitive UI causing frustration and stress.

2. architecture and ux

The platform features a left-hand panel for saved resumes, a dynamic chat area for content input and AI interaction, and a resume preview that populates with user-provided content from the chat.

USER INTERFACE
The front-end interface is designed to be visually appealing, intuitive, and user-friendly. It consists of distinct sections for saved resumes, the chat area, and the resume preview.

CHAT INTERFACE
The chat interface is dynamic, allowing users to engage in natural language conversation with the Gen AI. This is facilitated through an interactive chatbot framework.

BACK-END
The core of the platform will integrate with a chat model such as GPT 3.5 and a text embedding model such as text-embedding-ada-002 to process user inputs, analyzes context, search existing resume content and generate relevant new generative content.

USER MANAGEMENT
The back-end manages user authentication, profiles, and saved resumes. It securely stores user data and preferences.

Initial wireframe

The UX flow will be intuitive and keep the user on one screen when editing their resume.

LEFT-HAND PANEL FOR SAVED RESUMES
The left hand panel displays a list of saved resumes, allowing users to manage and switch between different resume versions. Users can create new resumes or edit existing ones, with each resume represented as clickable item in the panel.

CHAT AREA IN THE MIDDLE
Users engage with the chatbot to provide input, ask questions, and receive feedback. The chatbot guides users through the resume-building process, asking about their skills, experiences, education, and achievements.

RESUME PREVIEW WITH AI GENERATED CONTENT
As users interact with the chatbot, the resume preview area dynamically populates with the AI generated content based on their input. The preview displays real time updates, allowing users to see how their resume is shaping up. Users can toggle between different sections via conversation using the chatbot.

2. prototype: designing the initial task flow

landing page
customize your resume using conversational AI
selecting a resume design

3. user testing

I conducted user testing sessions on the design mocks to get a sense of what was working and what wasn't.

After the initial flow was created, I tested the screens to see what was working and what could use improvements.

FIRST LOOK AT THE UI
Our user would like to see more direction on what kind of resume design to choose, for example a creative vs. business layout.

MORE DIRECTION FOR FIRST TIMERS
The first suggestion was to add a “beginner’s mode” option to the UI, which is typically what we see on dashboards. I saw this as a chance to dive deeper into the AI capabilities of this product. In my second iteration I played around with the prompt feature, using it to ask users whether this is the first time writing a resume or if they've written a resume in the past.

CLEARER ICONS ON THE LEFT SIDE PANEL
The icons related to saved resumes lacked clarity in indicating that they corresponded to the ongoing chat window's resume. Having an icon that represented the design chosen could bridge this gap and also link to the live,
real-time filling of the resume on the right-hand side.

4. second iteration after user testing

Landing page - no change.
Icon represents the resume on the right side and a prompt asking if the user is new.
The user has clicked the send button resulting in the name and title to be filled in on the resume preview.
Selecting a resume design - adding categories to choose from.
The length of the text input can result in the resume having 2 pages indicated on the right side panel.

  • project summary

    The integration of conversational generative AI with the resume-building process showcases the product's innovation and commitment to staying ahead of the curve in the field of resume creation tools.

    • Efficiency: Users can create compelling resumes more efficiently, minimizing the time and effort traditionally required.

    • Personalization: The chatbot interaction facilitates a human conversational experience for more accurate resumes.

    • Flexibility: Users can easily tailor their resumes and save multiple versions to better target specific industries or roles.

  • Design principles

    • Visual cues: Chat icons and separation of the user and chatbot content.

    • Conversational flow: The interface is designed to mimic natural human conversations, considering logic, timing, and an overall coherent flow.

    • Real time updates: A resume preview allows the user to see their progress in real time.

    • Easy exit or pause: The user is able to come back to a resume in progress by accessing the conversation related to that resume.

    • Saving to various file types: The user can download the resume as a pdf or doc file at any time giving them the option to further customize the design, layout, and content if desired.