NextTier- CRM portal
STS Consulting is a premium executive search firm dedicated to connect clients with best fit candidates. While interning at NextTie as the product Design Intern, I designed an end-to-end responsive CRM website with human-centered design principles and ML-powered features that increased user retention by 18.9%. I built a scalable Figma design system encompassing components, typography, iconography, and grids, which improved engineering implementation accuracy by 24.1%. Through iterative design processes and leadership review sessions, I helped clarify MVP versus long-term strategies to accelerate decision-making, and defined and launched 3 MVP features that drove monetization and raised user acquisition by 11.5%.
Impact
Problem
Headhunters manage complex, multi-touch candidate relationships across disconnected platforms (WeChat, LinkedIn, CRM, Excel), leading to incomplete communication records, manual data synchronization, and collaboration blind spots that risk duplicate outreach and missed follow-ups.
Final Design
AI-Powered Internal Search Tool
When headhunters need to reach out to candidates or find matches, an AI assistant instantly drafts personalized messages, searches the internal database for best-fit candidates based on skills and relationship history, and suggests conversation starters tailored to previous interactions.
Candidate Resource Book
When headhunters need to identify top talent, the Candidate Resource Book allows them to upload, organize, and instantly find best-fit candidates. Using smart filters and AI-powered matching, it highlights profiles based on skills, experience, and past interactions—streamlining the search process and turning every outreach into a warm, informed connection.
Reflections
Adpability
Quickly adapt to shifting directions and tight turnarounds, often reworking designs on short notice. I rapidly learned new user research tools, applied insights in real time, and confidently presented refined concepts to the team under pressure.
Culture Sensitivity in Design
This is a Chinese executive search firm operating in a uniquely Chinese business ecosystem. Cultural sensitivity isn't just "nice to have" — it's critical to product adoption and effectiveness. Constantly reminding myself to design in the Chinese ecosystem and reflect on what the users actually need is important as I design and make changes.