EquiHired

/ RSA Competition Entry App Concept

A trustworthy, equity focused job
searching app aimed at disabled individuals who need the accommodation of flexible at home working in order to sustain employment.

This entry is for the 2022 RSA Student Design Awards under the Hybrid Home brief. I created this alongside Rossilyn Baker. 

Some disabled people had been impacted positively by lockdowns, as they allowed them to fulfil full time employment whilst in the comfort and accessibility of their home. The problem is lockdowns are lifting; meaning these people may no longer be allowed to work from home. This would mean losing the agency and livelihood they had gained. (Bramwell, K. (2021) ‘Working from Home has Helped Me Keep a Full-Time Job’, BBC News.)

Our proposed intervention is an app aimed at disabled people which would allow them to find new employment opportunities that accommodate working from home either full or part time. Our app differs from filters on job searching sites a it is dedicated to working from home rather than “remote” working.

We started investigating the issue by finding articles and sources to back up our claim that disabled people had easier access to employment in lockdowns. We then conducted a survey of disabled individuals we personally knew, and online groups of people suffering from chronic conditions such as fibromyalgia, to gain insight into what their experiences in workplaces were like, and whether or not they would prefer to work from home.

The logos are only to be represented in white on either solid or gradient backgrounds.

Our fonts, Coolvetica and Karla, were chosen for their friendly but still professional and legible appearance.

We wanted our design to look clean, bright and inviting. We chose to use saturated blues and greens for their positive, calming influence and fluid gradients.

Throughout the design process we sought feedback from our peers and our target audience of disabled job seekers. This proved to be invaluable, as it led us to asking important questions such as whether or not having your disability and accessibility needs displayed on your profile could lead to subconscious discrimination from employers. The app mockup was created in Adobe XD.