As the Multimedia Designer for Indeed Assessments, I’ve been responsible for creating images, animations, and streaming audio in skill tests that allow over 166 million jobseekers annually to demonstrate their skills to employers. It’s a unique role, and I’ve worked closely with 20 IO Psychologists and subject matter experts to design over 1200 illustrations and motion graphics that provide information that is critical to passing each test.

Subsequently, I localized more than 4500 illustrations for 293 skill tests across 22 international locales and 12 languages. I also coordinated with accessibility experts to implement WCAG 2.1 improvements for all multimedia content in our library, testing images for coherence for multiple forms of colorblindness and creating HTML tables and descriptions to work with a variety of combinations of screen readers and operating systems. I also worked to ensure that multimedia content for skill tests upholds Indeed’s values of inclusiveness and representation of the diversity of our jobseekers. Finally, I periodically ran audits of our image library to update content to our UX team’s current design guidelines and worked with our Engineering team to optimize file sizes to ensure the fastest loading times possible.

My work for IA spans many different styles, depending on the subject matter of each skill test. Below are several examples of finished work, followed by an overview of the development process for a few projects.

Motion Graphics

I created the following video, which is designed to be used internally to help train our content validity experts on how to use our tools in the test development process.

Technical Illustrations

When assessment authors requested images of machinery, gauges, and industrial equipment, I was able to quickly determine whether the best approach would be a 3D model or a 2D illustration (or a combination of both).

My workflow for a single image could include multiple applications, including Maya, Photoshop, and Illustrator.

Since these images usually represent real world equipment, I based their design on reference images for realism rather than following Indeed’s internal design guidance for branding and marketing.

Flow Diagrams and Infographics

Several skill tests ask jobseekers to determine the correct course through flow diagrams, or answer questions related to an infographic.

Bearing in mind that most of our users are viewing these images on a mobile device, I worked with assessment scientists to balance content with legibility on a small screen.

Art Direction

Indeed has its own internal guidance for branding and graphic design, but most of our skill tests are designed to represent other businesses. My work involved developing art direction guidelines for numerous fictional companies – sometimes many different companies with multiple products within a single image!

As part of our mobile friendly focus, sometimes these images were further refined to be more legible on smaller screens. I worked with stakeholders to determine the correct balance between realism and clarity. The above image worked well on desktop screens, but we simplified it for mobile:

Localization

Indeed Assessments have been localized to 22 international locales. I developed templates to streamline the localization process and then coordinated with assessment scientists and international subject matter experts to develop plans of action for each quarter’s localization processes. I managed a fully-remote team of contractors to rapidly revise our images. Below, you can see the base image that was developed for the US market.

Next, as part of the localization for international, the image was revised in each market to feature market-appropriate content, revising languages, currency symbols, punctuation styles, etc.

Architectural Visualization

Some tests are designed to feature real-world locations, like retail spaces, construction sites, and homes. For projects like that, I drew upon my experience in architectural visualization and built 3D models of the featured locations.

This test focuses on the skills necessary to design retail displays, including merchandise, branding, color-coordination, lighting, and the overall arrangement of everything from entire sections of floor space to individual shelves and racks. After building the 3D image, I worked with the assessment authors to overlay call-outs that correspond to each item’s response options.

Illustration

I have a background in fine arts training and I love opportunities to draw. Depending on the particular project, it might be more appropriate to use stock photography, to create illustrations from scratch, or even to base original illustrations on stock photos.

Some projects require the authentic specificity of real-world items like identification cards, but also benefit from the universality of illustrated portraits. Here’s a good example of an image like that:

Indeed’s jobseekers come from all walks of life. Inclusiveness is one of Indeed’s core values, and we want all jobseekers to feel that they are represented in our content. I keep this commitment at top of mind when creating images that represent people.

Process

The development and production process of building this library of 200 assessments has been very rapid, with multiple assessments being developed at once. I coordinate with our assessment authors to balance the workload and keep everything moving swiftly while maintaining a high standard of quality. Each author has their own preferred methods of creating design documents. My role as a visual designer is to learn each stakeholder’s personal language of design and communicate with them in their way, working to bring their vision to life.

The assessment authors and subject matter experts (SME) provide me with text descriptions, hand-drawn sketches, photographs and examples of real world items to incorporate into the illustrations. I consider the content and propose any of several approaches to create the image – a 3D render, a diagram, a hand-drawn image, or whatever is necessary to most clearly convey critical information to our jobseekers.

Internal Projects

In addition to my public-facing work with Indeed Assessments, I am always looking for fun opportunities to create artwork internally to mark our team’s milestones. Below, you can see an assortment of illustrations I created for our various sprints, and sticker designs to celebrate our accomplishments: