01 — Overview
Role
Lead Product Designer
Platform
Mobile Browser (Web App)
Duration
End-to-end, launched January 2026
02 — Context
of the Philippine workforce in elementary occupations
of workers are wage and salary earners — the primary audience
employed Filipinos as of November 2025 at 95.6% employment rate
KonekBuhay is a recruitment platform built specifically for Filipino blue-collar workers — the drivers, construction workers, warehouse staff, and tradespeople who keep the economy moving, yet are still hired through fragmented, outdated systems. As the lead product designer, I led the end-to-end design of Smart Resume — KonekBuhay's worker-facing product that enables applicants to build a digital profile, upload requirements, and apply for jobs, all from a mobile browser.
My Role
Beyond visual design, my responsibilities included defining the sign-up flow scope with the engineering team, prioritizing features against a tight launch timeline, and making platform decisions — such as choosing mobile browser over native app — that had direct product strategy implications.
03 — Problem
This is an enormous, underserved segment where the right digital tool could make a meaningful difference. Many organizations still rely on fragmented, manual recruiting methods, stalling both productivity and worker opportunity.
04 — Research
No access to a desktop computer
Most blue-collar workers rely exclusively on mobile phones for internet access, making desktop-first platforms completely unusable for their job search.
Repetitive document submission
Workers repeatedly upload the same requirements — SSS, NBI clearance, birth certificate — for every separate application, wasting significant time and data.
No visibility into application status
After submitting, applicants are left with no information about where they stand. Not knowing is one of the most cited frustrations in the job search process.
Intimidating resume creation
Many blue-collar workers have low confidence around digital tools and formal resume writing, causing them to abandon applications before completing them.
Slow and unreliable connectivity
Workers applying between shifts or in transit rely on slow 3G connections. Data-heavy interfaces cause pages to fail to load entirely.
Fragmented, unverified hiring processes
Workers submit through multiple disconnected channels — paper forms, text messages, walk-ins — with no guarantee that verified employers ever see their applications.
05 — Design Process
Design Principles
Frictionless by default
Every field had to earn its place. If we could not justify asking for something at sign-up, we cut it or deferred it to later in the experience. No optional fields presented as required.
Performance-conscious
Designed for slow 3G connections and entry-level Android devices — minimal assets, no heavy animations, screens that load fast even on the cheapest hardware available.
Confidence-building
Many blue-collar workers have low confidence around digital tools and resumes. The product needed to feel approachable and guided — not intimidating or bureaucratic.
The sign-up funnel was stripped to only what was absolutely necessary to create an account. Non-essential fields were deferred to the profile-building stage, ensuring users reach the product's value before they hit friction. Drop-off at the entry point is the single largest risk for this audience.
No app store download required. This removed a significant barrier for users unfamiliar with app installations or with limited device storage. A mobile browser link can be shared via text or Facebook Messenger — the channels workers already use daily.
Workers upload SSS, NBI clearance, birth certificate, and other documents once — and they are reused across every application automatically. Eliminating repetitive data entry was one of the highest-impact changes we could make for this audience.
Built directly into the UI — not an email, not a notification that might be missed. Workers can see at any point where each of their applications stands, addressing one of the most cited frustrations in the job search process: not knowing what happens after you submit.
After the initial launch, we iterated on the sign-in flow to support Facebook account login. Facebook is deeply embedded in everyday Filipino life — offering it as an authentication method reduced the cognitive load of account creation and improved return visit rates.
The platform includes an AI layer that helps workers present themselves professionally without needing design or writing experience. Due to contractual confidentiality, the specifics of the AI implementation are not disclosed in this public case study — but the full contribution is available for discussion in an interview context.
07 — Measurement
registered users in just over a year since launch
Organic, word-of-mouth growth
application completion rate, directly attributable to the simplified sign-up and application flows
Versus industry average of ~20-30%
active recruiters nationwide using the Candidate Tracking System on the employer side
Verified employers, actively hiring
The 50-70% completion rate is not a vanity metric. It is the direct result of cutting the sign-up flow to 2-3 steps, optimizing for slow connections, and deferring non-essential fields. Hundreds of Smart Resume users have found jobs through the platform. Real people. Real work.
08 — Reflection
Good UX for this audience is not about building something clever.
Good UX for this audience is not about building something clever. It is about removing every possible reason for someone to give up. The blue-collar workers using Smart Resume often had one shot: a borrowed phone, a patchy signal, a few minutes between shifts. The design had to work within those constraints, not despite them. With 20,000 users in just over a year and a completion rate that validates the approach, I believe it did. This project reinforced something I think about in every brief: the most important design decisions are usually subtractive. Not what you add — but what you have the discipline to remove. If I had more time, I would have pushed for a round of usability testing specifically with first-time smartphone users — the audience most at risk of dropping off even with a simplified flow.