Wiggli Employer Branding: Helping companies tell their story and candidates choose theirs

Context: Why this project mattered

The Opportunity

Wiggli already had a large base of active candidates searching for jobs, but companies only had a job description to introduce themselves before the interview process. For many candidates, that wasn't enough to make an informed decision. They wanted to understand what it was like to work at a company before deciding whether to apply, so they often left Wiggli to look for more information elsewhere.

My task was to keep candidates engaged within Wiggli while giving companies a dedicated place to tell their story and present their employer brand.

The Problem

There was no space to learn about a company's identity or culture beyond what was in a single job posting:

 • Candidates didn't have enough information before applying. 
 • Companies had no place to present their culture, values, or work environment. 
 • Candidates regularly left Wiggli to continue their research elsewhere. 

Note:
To make this case study easier to follow, I'll refer to two fictional personas throughout the project: Stephanie, representing the company, and Sara, representing the candidate. These personas are used for explanatory purposes only and are not based on formal user research.

Discovery: Understanding what both sides needed

Because the project moved quickly, there wasn't time for a formal research phase. Instead, I worked closely with the founders, all of whom came from recruitment backgrounds, and regularly discussed ideas with our Product Owner, who previously worked as a recruiter at Gentis.

I also reviewed employer branding features on platforms like Workable, Glassdoor, and Indeed to understand how they approached company branding and where candidates still relied on external sources for additional company information.

One topic came up in almost every conversation. Recruiters felt they were losing candidates because a job description alone couldn't explain what it was like to work at their company. At the same time, candidates often left Wiggli to find that information before deciding whether to apply.

Key themes

 • Companies needed a dedicated place to present their culture and employer brand. 
 • Candidates wanted enough information to make informed decisions before applying. 
 • Employer branding and job applications felt like two separate experiences. 

Those discussions helped define what we wanted to build, and together with the competitive review, they shaped the direction of the first release. But they also highlighted time and complexity constraints.

Project scope

The initial vision was a fully customizable employer branding platform where companies could create and manage their own profiles. One of the main challenges was balancing that level of flexibility with the timeline for the first release. To address this, I suggested narrowing the scope to an employer branding landing page and a reusable company profile. Instead of designing a full CRM, I focused on reusable content sections that solved the immediate need while creating a foundation for future customization.

Solution: Connecting company stories with candidate decisions

We decided to make employer branding part of the candidate journey instead of treating it as a separate feature. Building on that direction, I designed an experience where Sara could discover companies, learn about their culture, explore open roles, and apply without leaving Wiggli.

 • Discover companies hiring on Wiggli. 
 • Learn about their culture and work environment. 
 • Explore open positions. 
 • Apply without leaving the platform. 

Finding the right opportunity

I designed the job browsing experience so Sara could filter openings by company, role, industry, and location.

Rather than separating companies from their job listings, we decided to connect both experiences so Sara could move naturally between discovering a company and exploring its available roles.

Finding the right company

I designed a dedicated company directory so Sara could discover employers before searching for a specific role.

This supports candidates who start by asking, "Where would I like to work?" rather than, "Which job should I apply for?"

Telling the company's story

The company profile gives Stephanie a dedicated place to introduce her company beyond a job description while answering many of the questions Sara previously had to research elsewhere.

Each profile includes:

 • Company overview  
 • Culture and values  
 • Employee stories and media  
 • Open positions  
 • Hiring process  
 • Locations and departments  
 • Website and social media links  

I considered allowing every company to fully customize its profile layout, but that would have increased development time and made the experience inconsistent. Instead, I built the interface using reusable components and designed flexible sections, such as company cards, job cards, and content widgets, that gave Stephanie room to tailor her company's presence while keeping the platform easy to maintain and allowing for future customization without a full redesign.

Keeping the hiring process connected

Applications continue through Wiggli's existing ATS, allowing recruiters to manage candidates, interviews, notes, and feedback using the workflow they were already familiar with.

Connecting the new experience to the existing ATS meant we could improve Sara's experience without changing the recruiters' day-to-day process.

Design approach: Exploring, refining, and iterating

Throughout the project, my focus was to balance storytelling, usability, and the constraints of the first release.

A) Wireframing:

I created several wireframes to test different ways of presenting company information and job opportunities. Some focused more on storytelling, while others gave more visibility to open roles.

Reviewing these ideas with the founders and HR team helped us simplify the structure, focus on the information candidates cared about most, and narrow the scope for the first release.

B) UI Design and Prototyping:

My goal was to give every company enough flexibility to express its identity while keeping the overall experience familiar across the platform.

I designed the experience with mobile and desktop in mind, creating responsive layouts that adapted to different screen sizes. I also built interactive Figma prototypes and mapped the complete journey from discovering a company to submitting an application. Walking through these prototypes with the team helped us improve the navigation and overall flow before development started.

C) Team work and collaboration

I worked closely with stakeholders throughout the project and partnered with engineers to bring the designs to life.

Every proposed feature was reviewed with the HR team, weighing the business's needs against the user experience, technical feasibility, and the project timeline before moving into development.

Results: What changed

For Stephanie (the company representative)

 • She now has a dedicated place to demonstrate what it's like to work at her company. 
 • She can give candidates more context before they apply. 

For Sara (the candidate)

 • She can discover companies before deciding where to apply. 
 • She can learn more about a company without immediately leaving Wiggli. 
 • She has more information to decide whether a role is the right fit. 

During internal reviews, the team felt the new experience addressed one of the biggest gaps in the platform.

"This will finally give our clients a way to show their employer brand and give candidates the full picture before they apply. Helping everybody make better choices"Wiggli CEO

Another stakeholder shared:

"It keeps our candidates on the platform instead of searching elsewhere."

Final thoughts

Reflecting on the project:

Looking back, this project reinforced something I already believed: the first version doesn't need to solve everything.

We originally wanted a fully customizable employer branding platform. Scoping down let us launch sooner, and that reusable foundation solved the immediate need while keeping future improvements manageable.

It also reminded me that good design decisions don't always come from a formal research process. Working closely with people who understood recruiters, candidates, and the hiring process gave me continuous feedback throughout the project and helped shape the product as it evolved.

What could go next:

Once the first version design was done, it was clear where the product could go next. Companies will need more freedom to shape their story; rearranging sections, adding their own content, making the profile feel like theirs instead of a fixed template.

I also keep thinking about direct messaging. Sometimes a candidate just needs to ask one question before applying. Letting them reach out inside Wiggli would turn browsing into an actual conversation.