Department of Public Safety & Security Hiring Microsite
Persona-driven redesign for a public safety institution centered on clarity, trust, and applicant confidence.
Type
Product Design
Role
Designer
Team
4 UX Designers
Timeline
2 Months
The University of Michigan’s Department of Public Safety & Security (DPSS) needed a hiring experience that felt transparent, approachable, and credible to first-time applicants. Many candidates were unsure whether they were qualified, what the roles actually involved, or what to expect from the hiring process, leading to hesitation and drop-off before applying.
As an UX Designer on this project, I redesigned DPSS’s hiring microsite to reduce uncertainty and build applicant confidence through clarifying role expectations, simplifying the website's user journey, and consolidating information to reduce cognitive load.
Empathize
To understand DPSS recruitment challenges, I interviewed stakeholders to understand pain points that could be addressed through a website re-design.
DPSS Applicants described anxiety, uncertainty, and feeling intimidated compared to other campus jobs. Many needed clarity about the hiring steps, and a sense of human connection to the department.
Define
Key insights revealed that applicants weren’t uninterested in DPSS, they just struggled to trust a process that felt confusing and impersonal.
I synthesized these emotions into personas that represented hesitant but qualified candidates. This reframed the problem: DPSS needed greater transparency and trust, not just flashy recruitment materials.
Ideate
Collaborating with stakeholders, I mapped ways to make the interface as intuitive and easy to navigate as possible; I referenced Hick's Law and reduced the number of stimuli presented to the user through prioritizing a step-by-step process over information clutter & overload, and designed features centered on:
Clear hiring timelines and expectations (using graphics to show the hiring cycle)
Call-outs for support resources and FAQs
Imagery that supports DPSS' community-centered branding
Prototype
University of Michigan branding guidelines were strictly followed during the curation of the microsite.
I created a simple design system to guide coherence of fonts, headers, and colors; in addition, I design a series of components to streamline asset-sharing between designers.
I focused on condensing 10+ pages of repetitive, text-heavy content into high-level, concise modules that goes straight to the point for applicants.
The resulting homepage organizes information by prioritizing applicant needs. My new rearrangement follows the order of:
DPSS Benefits — Hiring Process — Testimonies — FAQ
Final Product & Reflection
Our team delivered polished high-fidelity prototypes, wireframes, and user journeys to DPSS stakeholders. The interface put clarity, structure, and approachability front-and-center. The platform now positions DPSS as open, professional, and genuinely invested in student success.
I contributed through researching and defining three personas, building all low-fidelity wireframes, creating the home page high-fidelity screen, and leading a pitch to the clients. This project is now being developed, and has led me to a long-term internship with DPSS.
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