Foundational User Flows
Overview
Idealist serves millions of job seekers and thousands of organizations posting jobs, internships, events, and volunteer opportunities. The original onboarding experience was spread across multiple flows with unclear entry points, heavy upfront requirements, and very little connection to early value.
The updated onboarding system gives both job seekers and organizations a clear, predictable path into the platform. Users can now sign up, set preferences, complete profiles, and publish postings with fewer steps and better guidance, reducing friction across the entire first mile of the Idealist experience.
Solution
I designed a simplified onboarding system that supports both sides of Idealist’s marketplace while reducing complexity across the platform.
Core UX foundations included:
A reorganized header that creates intuitive starting points for job seekers and organizations.
A new notification system that highlights essential updates and reduces noise.
A guided sign-up and profile flow with optional steps, allowing job seekers to see value early and return to complete their profiles over time.
Progressive disclosure for organizations, reducing the amount of information needed upfront to publish a listing.
A one-screen checkout that explains credits and pricing clearly and removes unnecessary steps.
Results
The new onboarding system reduced friction for both job seekers and administrators, leading to:
126% increase in new user signups
161% increase in applicants per job
42% increase in Recommended Resumes adoption
68% admin retention rate
~55% faster checkout completion
Fewer abandoned org setups and fewer support tickets
These improvements strengthened activation across the platform and created a more intuitive foundation for future Idealist features.
