Interview

Try your hand at 5 Degrés with a joint inter-practice project

12/06/2023

Interview with Solène - the launch of the 5Discovery project from a point of view Product Management

The 5Discovery project is an internal project at 5 DEGRES in which each Practice / each employee can get involved. It responds to a clearly identified problem within Human Resources: How can we improve the conversion rate between the number of interviews conducted and the number of offers accepted by candidates?

Based on this problem, we realized that our recruitment process had to evolve to convince our candidates to join the adventure.

So the solution we've come up with, and which is currently under development, is a web-based product. More precisely, we're talking about a "hidden" site, shared with candidates after their initial contact with 5 DEGRES.

Solène, Consultant Product Owner / Agile Coach and Product Manager on the subject, tells us more in this interview 100% dedicated to the project.

How did you identify this problem with the team?

We used the double-diamond method to design the product. As far as the problem was concerned, it was the first phase of the diamond that enabled us to clearly identify it: THE PROBLEM. It is divided into two stages:

First divergence stage to explore potential problems and frustrations encountered by users: we conducted interviews with Human Resources and Sales functions, as well as with potential 5 DEGREES candidates.
Second step: convergence on a clearly identified problem.

How did you know that the "hidden" site was the right solution for the identified problem?

Based on the problem identified, the consultants from the Product Design and Product Management practices carried out a solution ideation phase (the second phase of the double-diamond method: THE SOLUTION), thanks in particular to the user interviews carried out, which enabled us to identify a list of ideas. This list of ideas led us to the solution: the "hidden" site.

The ideas were then transcribed into user stories and classified using the MoSCoW method. The next user stories will be classified using the RICE method, so that the practices can try out this methodology and compare it with the method previously used.

Once theuser story backlog had been validated and prioritized, the Product Management practice, in collaboration with Human Resources, created a first landing page. More concretely, this is a web page explaining the project and the solution to be developed. A questionnaire was linked to this landing page to gather feedback on the solution, and offer those who wished to do so the opportunity to fill in their e-mail address to be kept informed of the launch of the solution, or totake part as beta testers.

This landing page will soon be shared with candidates in the 5 DEGRÉS recruitment process. In this way, we'll be able to identify the number of candidates who have logged on to the site, the number who have completed the questionnaire and the number who have entered their e-mail address, and compare them with the total number of candidates who have received the link. These figures will give us an idea of whether or not the proposed solution appeals to candidates.

What are the main features of 5Discovery features?

The main purpose of the "hidden" site is to provide information on 5 DEGREES to candidates. The major functionalities are therefore in the transmission of information:

Employee presentation by Practice (photo, career path at 5 DEGRES, free description...)
Sharing of articles written by employees (event feedback, internal projects, blog articles, etc.)
Highlight practical information about the branch: virtual tour of the offices, local tips (restaurants, accessibility...)
Recap' of current and upcoming events at the agency (FrenchProduit events, sporting events, afterworks, annual parties...).

Have you identified any KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to measure the success of this product?

Yes, we have identified several KPIs that will be analyzed once the site is in production:

The number of responses received to HR requests
The number of CVs received by distribution channel (website, ad response, etc.).
Candidate acceptance rate following recruitment interviews
Retention rate at the end of the trial period
Retention rate at N+1

These KPIs were surveyed before the site's launch in order to compare them before and after launch.

What are the key success factors for 5Discovery?

Beyond the KPIs, we are aware that the success of this project also depends on two essential aspects:

Employee commitment to the solution. It's vital that employees take ownership of the site, bringing it to life by publishing articles, reacting to other employees' posts, updating events, etc.
Adding value to the recruitment process without making it more cumbersome. We can measure this aspect using the ratio "number of candidates who received the link to the hidden site VS. number of candidates who connect to the hidden site" and a satisfaction questionnaire.

How did you organize yourselves to move forward project?

Each consultant is free to work on this project during his or her time between contracts.

For the launch of the delivery phase, employees from the Product Development, Product Mangement and Product Design practices were available to work together on this project.

Aware that progress is only possible when consultants are working together, we have chosen to use well-known tools and frameworks:

The project is based on the SCRUM framework of the Agile methodology. Sprints last two weeks, and we perform agile ceremonies (daily, sprint planning, review, retro) as well as refinements.
Jira is used for US and sprint management.
Tuleap is used for CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery).

What resources have you used to help you launch this product? launch of this product?

The double diamond method, based on the principles of divergence and convergence. The first diamond is used to identify a problem: we first diverge to identify the issues (exploratory research, user interviews, market research, etc.), then converge on a single issue (target workshops, surveys, etc.). The second diamond identifies a solution: we diverge by exploring all possible solutions, then converge on a single solution through prototype testing, for example.

Delphine Ruaro's " Building an MVP in 10 steps " podcast for the Product Squad podcast. We drew on the experience of Delphine Ruaro, formerly PM at Zopa, to validate the idea via a landing page.

The method MoSCoW Prioritize user stories according to the following criteria:
- Must-have: features that are ESSENTIAL, non-negotiable and mandatory for the product (for legal, safety or commercial reasons).
- Should have: important features that are not vital but which bring significant value to the product.
- Could have: nice features but not essential to the product's success
- Won't have: features not a priority for the product, does not generate enough product value to date

The method RICE User stories can be ranked using a points score:
- Reach: number of people the feature will reach in a given timeframe
- Impact: measure the impact of the functionality (quantitatively or qualitatively)

3 = massive impact

2 = high impact

1 = medium impact

0.5 = low impact

0.25 = minimum impact

Confidence : indice de confiance, à quel point de confiance avons-nous réaliser les hypothèses R&I (intuition ou grâce à de la data?). C’est un % (> 80% confiance élevée, < 50% priorités sont ailleurs)
Effort: complexity of achieving the goal (amount of work)

=> RICE score = (R*I*C)/E

What does the future hold of this project?

Here, we have detailed the major functionalities of the MVP(Minimum Vialable Product). After launching this MVP and analyzing the KPIs, we plan to extend and iterate the solution so that it can also address the sister issue of sales teams: How to improve the rate of positive responses from prospects, so that they become 5 DEGREES customers?

As soon as this "hidden" site goes into production, we'll be using tools such as Hotjar to collect data on user sessions (duration of sessions, pages visited...). This information will enable us to plan new functionalities and improve existing ones.