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From May to September 2022, I joined the UX/UI Design Course at Cubos Academy, where I deepened my understanding of UX and UI processes and applied them in a real project — starting with research, followed by high-fidelity prototyping, and concluding with usability testing.

We followed the Double Diamond framework, a Design Thinking methodology structured around four phases: Discover, Define, Develop, and Deliver.

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Our prompt was to design a project that answered the question:

‍“How can we bring more diversity and inclusion to the tech industry?”

Desk Research

Since the topic was broad and multifaceted, we began with desk research to collect key data about the market, workforce demographics, and the benefits of diversity and inclusion (D&I).

“There’s a shortage of tech talent.”
ACATE (Santa Catarina Technology Association)

“Companies focused on diversity see profit increases between 5% and 20%. Diversity enhances innovation, processes, and product development, creating healthier organizational environments.”
‍ILO (International Labour Organization)

“Only 20% of tech and innovation roles are filled by women.”
‍IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics)

“HR leads over 56% of existing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) projects, and 98% of professionals reaffirm its relevance.”
Gupy (HR of the Future report)

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Based on these insights, we narrowed our focus to make the research more specific and actionable.

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Our refined design challenge became:

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CSD Matrix

After identifying the problem, we created a CSD Matrix (Certainties, Suppositions, and Doubts) to map what we already knew, what we assumed, and what we needed to validate.

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This exercise guided our next steps — defining objectives, hypotheses, and research methods to understand our target audience and later define our persona.

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Quantitative Research

We shared a Google Forms survey targeting tech recruiters. Our goals were to:

• Understand the profile of recruiters and their companies
• Learn how diversity and inclusion are addressed internally
• Explore the recruitment process for tech positions

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We collected 61 responses, revealing the following:

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• 85.2% of respondents identified as women, most aged 18–31 (72.1%)
• 77% of companies use digital recruiting tools — primarily LinkedIn Recruiter (52.9%) and Gupy (47.1%)
• 49.2% of companies have some kind of DEI initiative
• Companies with fewer women in tech roles tend not to have inclusion programs

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Qualitative Research

We also conducted interviews with tech recruiters to better understand:

• How recruiters and companies approach diversity and inclusion for women
• How recruitment processes are structured
• Challenges and potential ways to make hiring more inclusive

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Key insights:

Understanding of DEI
“Diversity is really important for our company.”
“It’s essential for shaping company culture.”
“There’s still a strong perception that tech is a male-dominated field.”

DEI Practices
“We host DEI-focused talks.”
“I’m looking for strategies to attract more women candidates.”

Main discoveries:

• Recruiters struggle to find female tech talent.
• Recruiters lack dedicated spaces to promote opportunities to women.

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Empathy Map

We built an empathy map to synthesize user needs, pains, and motivations based on interview data.

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Persona

From these patterns, we created a persona representing our primary user — a recruiter seeking to hire more women but facing challenges in sourcing and outreach.

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Value Proposition Canvas

This helped us identify what our product should deliver to provide real value, answering questions such as:

• What is the product?
• Which features matter most?
• How is it different from competitors?
• What problem are we solving?

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Recruta Elas is a digital platform for managing job postings exclusively aimed at promoting diversity and inclusion of women in tech.

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It was designed for tech recruiters who want to attract more women candidates and reduce the following pain points:

• Difficulty finding female tech talent
• Lack of dedicated job platforms for women
• No existing women-focused talent pools

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Core features:

• Job postings for women
• Candidate filters and talent database
• Interview scheduling
• Job sharing on social media
• Dashboard for monitoring progress
• Custom workflows for hiring processes
• Messaging and feedback system for candidates

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Competitive Analysis (Benchmarking)

We analyzed competitors’ flows, features, and visual identity to identify opportunities for differentiation.

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Prioritization

We used the MoSCoW method to prioritize MVP features, focusing on must-haves while keeping the roadmap clear and feasible.

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Task Flows & User Flows

To guide product development, we mapped user journeys — focusing on the Golden Path, the most common successful flow.

Main flows included:

• Account creation
• Posting a job

We then detailed user flows to cover all possible navigation paths, both full and simplified versions.

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Wireframes

We created 24 low-fidelity wireframes to validate structure, information hierarchy, and navigation before moving to high-fidelity design.

Branding

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Recruta Elas is a platform that helps women enter the tech industry through accessible, intuitive tools.

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Visual Identity

• The { } symbol references coding and technology
• The heart inside the brackets represents inclusion and diversity
• Blue evokes technology, while purple and pink gradients reinforce diversity

Tone of Voice
Inclusive • Warm • Empathetic
All communication was designed around inclusive marketing principles and gender-neutral language.

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Style Guide

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We developed a Style Guide to ensure consistency across the interface, including:

• Logo
• Typography
• Color palette
• Grid and spacing
• Shadows and elevation
• Core components
• Iconography

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Interactive Prototype

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Our MVP was designed for desktop/web — since recruiters typically work from computers — but future iterations will include a mobile version.

We created 35 high-fidelity screens, covering the Golden Path.

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The prototype allows recruiters to:

• Create an account
• Complete their profile
• Post and manage job openings

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The platform includes two environments:

• Recruiters: to post and manage job listings
• Candidates: where women can apply for open positions

For this project, we focused on the recruiter side but plan to expand to the candidate experience in future phases.

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Usability Testing

We conducted unmoderated usability testing using Maze, with 14 participants (11 completed all tasks).

Tasks:

1. Create an account
2. Log in and complete profile
3. Create and share a job posting

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Key Findings

Task 1 (Account creation)

Users got confused by unclear radio button labels. After revising the UX writing, clarity improved significantly.

Task 2 (Profile completion)

Requiring a photo upload caused friction — users prioritized text fields instead. We removed the mandatory photo upload.

Task 3 (Posting a job)

Successful task completion rate: 91.7% — no major changes needed.

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By the end, Recruta Elas became a viable and meaningful platform — helping both women entering tech and recruiters seeking diverse, qualified candidates.

This project taught me the importance of deeply exploring the problem space.
It’s easy to get caught up in interface aesthetics, but understanding users, context, and real pain points is what drives great product experiences and lasting impact.

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Project by: Team UXverso (Ana Raupp, Natália Gonsalves, Rhayza Avelino, Sinara Farias, and Viviane Ambrosio)
Mentorship: Gabriela Ozório and Wesley Simões

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Thank you! 💜

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