Refer Hire · HR / Recruitment Tech
Refer Hire —
Peer-to-Peer
Hiring Network
Designing a referral-driven hiring platform that lets professionals build targeted networks — and earn referral bonuses — without the noise of generic job boards.
One platform, three frustrated user types — and a referral model no one could find.
Job seekers wanted insider connections. Hiring managers wanted quality candidates they could trust. Recruiters needed pipeline visibility. The existing design served none of them well — and a generic job-board UX was hiding the one feature that made Refer Hire different: peer-validated referrals.
Too broad to be useful
Existing platforms like LinkedIn are too broad — users couldn't connect specifically with people inside target companies, making warm referrals nearly impossible to arrange.
Low referral quality
No structured way to vouch for a candidate or track referral outcomes meant referrals were little better than cold applications — trust and accountability were missing.
Overwhelming navigation
Navigation was dense and overwhelming — first-time users didn't know where to start, leading to drop-off before they had sent a single referral or application.
No personalisation
Job recommendations were generic, not based on the user's actual network or career goals. The feed felt irrelevant and users stopped returning to check it.
Three personas, one UI
Job seekers, hiring managers, and recruiters were being served by the same undifferentiated interface — each persona's core tasks were buried under the other two's clutter.
Unclear value proposition
Without a clear onboarding path, users didn't understand what made Refer Hire different from LinkedIn or Hirist, and churned before experiencing the referral-bonus model.
Four phases. Three personas. One referral-first platform.
We kept Rohit's team involved at every stage — from mapping competitive gaps to validating the three-persona flows with real users before a single pixel of UI was finalised.
Stakeholder workshops & competitor analysis
- Mapped Rohit's vision for a referral-first hiring platform against existing products
- Deep competitor teardown of LinkedIn and Hirist — feature, UX, and positioning gaps
- Identified the core opportunity: a platform focused purely on referrals within specific companies, not broad networking
- Defined success metrics: referral volume, time-to-first-referral, and engagement retention
Three-persona research
- Interviewed Saakshi (job seeker) — frustration: finding the right company insiders willing to refer
- Interviewed Selvi (hiring manager) — frustration: screening candidates arriving via referrals without context
- Interviewed Harsh (recruiter) — frustration: managing referral pipelines and deadline tracking across roles
- Designed three distinct flows from the start — no shared-UI compromises
Information architecture & UX
- Built clear navigation for three modes: networking, job search, and referral tracking
- Streamlined onboarding flow — first referral completable in under 3 minutes
- Designed AI-powered recommendation framework surfacing jobs within the user's real network
- Validated architecture with task-completion testing across all three personas
UI design & prototype
- Clean, professional interface reflecting the trusted-network nature of the product
- Mobile and desktop responsive layouts for all four core screens
- High-fidelity prototype: user discovery, job listings, referral tracking, and profile
- Interactive states, micro-interactions, and developer handoff documentation
Seven artefacts that gave Refer Hire its own identity.
Mobile app prototype (high-fidelity)
Four core screens — user discovery, job listings, referral tracking, and profile — delivered as an interactive, developer-ready prototype.
Three role-specific user flows
Separate, tailored flows for job seekers, hiring managers, and recruiters — each surfacing only the tasks and data relevant to that persona.
Information architecture documentation
Full sitemap and navigation model with rationale, ensuring future feature additions land in the right place without re-creating the density problem.
Onboarding flow — first referral in under 3 minutes
Progressive onboarding that surfaces value before asking for effort — users reach their first referral action without completing a lengthy profile setup.
AI-powered job recommendation framework
Recommendation logic designed around the user's actual network connections and career goals, not generic keyword matching or recency.
Referral tracking with real-time analytics
Dashboard showing referral status, outcome history, and bonus earnings — giving all three personas visibility into the pipeline that matters to them.
Responsive design for mobile and desktop
All screens designed and specified for both viewport contexts, with component states documented for engineering implementation.
A referral platform users actually return to.
By designing three distinct flows from the ground up — rather than bolting persona-specific features onto a shared UI — we gave each user type a product that felt purpose-built for them. The referral model, once buried, became the platform's centrepiece.
The sub-3-minute onboarding path, combined with AI-powered network-specific recommendations, gave new users a reason to stay — and a clear understanding of what made Refer Hire different from every other job board they'd already tried.
Reported by the client after launch — driven by clearer onboarding and a more intuitive referral flow.
Job seekers, hiring managers, and recruiters each got a separate experience built around their actual tasks — not a shared compromise.
Peer-validated, network-specific connections replaced cold applications — raising trust and improving hiring outcomes for all three personas.
"Unqode's innovative design solutions have greatly improved Refer Hire's user experience, setting it apart from the competition. The platform now feels purpose-built for referrals — not just another job board."
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