MY ROLE
lead boards product designer
TEAM
1 designer
1 PM
1 BA
1 QA
4 engineers
TIMELINE
2023-2024
impact
Key features and workflows built
efficiency savings, what took 1 week takes 3 days
mobile app built
design culture built through user-centered design improving customer experience
overview
Compass is an HR platform used by more than 1M+ U.S. military personnel
I joined the startup to establish a user-centered design practice in an engineering-led organization, introducing research, usability testing, and design standards while designing new B2B SaaS experiences across web and mobile.
Note: company name not disclosed and names are changed for confidentiality
USER PROBLEM
The military allocates funding for service members’ career development. Review boards are assembled to decide placements. Their current process was fragmented and hard to manage.
BUSINESS PROBLEM
As new features were added to legacy systems, complexity grew and user experience suffered. Teams weren’t sharing resources, creating redundant work.
Introducing user-centered design through research and validation
Working in a true Agile environment, I partnered closely with customers to uncover problems before defining solutions. I also introduced a more structured user research and usability testing process, validating concepts and user flows early so the team could make informed design decisions before development.
Simplifying military board application reviews
One challenge was redesigning the resume builder for military board applications. Administrators had to review resumes containing up to 20 years of experience, much of it irrelevant to a specific board.
Through customer workshops and usability testing, I designed a guided experience that generated standardized, board-specific resumes, making applications easier to complete and significantly faster for administrators to review.
CUSTOMER QUOTE
"Finding the right information takes longer than reviewing the candidate."
The standard military resume was dense, difficult to scan, and visually outdated. Although it wasn't part of the original requirements, I advocated for redesigning the resume to improve readability and make key information easier to find.
Usability testing showed the redesign reduced information-finding time by 55%, proving the improvements went beyond aesthetics and significantly improved wayfinding.
The solution introduced new design system components, including a scalable checkbox for organizing resume content and a dynamic PDF preview that updated in real time as administrators customized resumes.
The solution included:
• Scannability
• Resume customization
• Live PDF preview
• Advanced filtering for limiting history
TRADE-OFF
To meet the upcoming board deadline, we prioritized core functionality over polishing the PDF viewer, with UI refinements planned for a later release.
Designing for every scenario
Since every resume was different, I created layout rules that automatically adapted as sections were added or removed. I partnered closely with engineers to document approximately 95% of edge cases, making implementation faster and more consistent.
The resume builder saved an estimated 5 to 10 minutes per candidate review
This feature delivered immediate value for the upcoming board.
Though the resume builder delivered value, it also exposed a larger issue: we were improving individual features without addressing the overall review workflow, which was getting more complicated and bloated as features were added.
I encouraged the team to step back and rethink the end-to-end experience, focusing on the root problem rather than patchwork solutions.
Advocating for research at an Air Force base
As the boards experience grew more complex, I advocated for stepping back instead of continuing to add features. To better understand this highly technical workflow, I proposed conducting on-site research with our customer to uncover the root causes behind the growing complexity and tech debt.
After presenting a structured research plan to product leadership and customer stakeholders, our team traveled to Randolph Air Force Base to observe the process firsthand. Working alongside a Product Manager and Business Analyst, we mapped the end-to-end service blueprint, uncovering pain points across the entire workflow and identifying opportunities to simplify the experience rather than continuing to patch individual features.
Building trust through collaboration
We spent a week on site with customers, observing their workflows and collaborating throughout the process. By the end of the week, they were bringing their own ideas to the table, sketching solutions alongside me and co-creating the future experience. That level of trust led to stronger ideas and ensured the final solutions were grounded in real user needs.
Key takeaways
FRAGMENTATION
Processes driven across spreadsheets, notes,
and verbal discussion.
High cognitive load
Users had to digest and piece together info from many different sources, jumping back and forth.
Poor visibility
Lack of visibility of candidate info for key players.
Success metrics
An important part of my process is defining what success means ahead of time. I worked with the team to define key metrics:
• 30%+ faster candidate reviews
50%+ faster access to key information
90%+ task completion during usability testing
Increased user confidence and reduced cognitive load
Validating the core experience
After the on-site research, I translated our findings into wireframes and validated them with customers before moving into visual design. We focused on the core workflows, including viewing candidate data, reviewing programs, and comparing applicants.
A key design challenge was balancing flexibility with simplicity. While customers wanted full control, I reduced cognitive load by surfacing the right information at the right time without sacrificing the functionality they needed.
Board overview screen
A key way we reduced cognitive load was by introducing a board overview that surfaced the most important information upfront, helping administrators navigate complex reviews more efficiently.
A role-based experience from end to end
Research revealed that each participant in the board process had different needs. I designed separate experiences for Members, Scorers, and Administrators, reducing cognitive load by surfacing the right information at the right stage of the workflow.
Expanding to mobile
A few months after the MVP launch, I designed the native Compass mobile app for iOS and Android, enabling board members to review candidates and submit scores from anywhere. Translating a dense, enterprise desktop experience into an intuitive mobile app required simplifying interactions while preserving the functionality users relied on during live board sessions.
DARK MODE PILOT
As we continued to evolve the platform, we also piloted dark mode for users who spent hours reviewing candidates. 74% of customers preferred dark mode, validating the feature and paving the way for dark mode support across the design system.
Candidate comparison
Another key workflow was enabling administrators to compare candidates side by side, including scores, program preferences, career goals, and assessment results, making evaluations faster and more informed.
AI-ASSISTED REVIEWS
To streamline candidate reviews, I designed AI-generated summaries that surfaced the most relevant information at a glance. For these high-stakes decisions, AI acted as a synthesis tool, not a decision-maker, helping reduce cognitive load while keeping humans in control.
outcomes
learnings
Developing a great rapport with the customer is invaluable to making great experiences
What I’d do differently: advocate for more legacy UI cleanup
© 2026 Chelsea Algea