Revamping & iterating an existing product for a new user audience
High Alpha x Pillar
High Alpha is a venture studio that embeds with startups for 3–6 months to lead product and design.
Pillar builds interview software for unbiased hiring decisions. Based in Indianapolis with a distributed team of under 50, it worked closely with us through its CEO and about 10 other employees.
My Position
Product Designer
Team
Ethan Grove, JP Pritzel & Pillar Team
Tools
Figma, FigJam
Timeline
~3 months
Challenge
UX/UI overhaul including rebrand
Improve the Luma product for new user personas during a rebrand — without constraining new ideas. The aim was a friendlier product with a foundation strong enough for a fast-changing business.
- 1Reflect the new brand and user personas across the platform
- 2Make the platform easy to use and understand to drive engagement
- 3Improve and innovate on existing UI and UX flows
Kickoff
Starting with the new user personas
Before designing, the team paired with the CEO — and sometimes the Head of Customer Service — to learn what each new customer segment needed.
- 1
Defining what is first to work on
A fully built platform offered plenty to start on. Grouping product offerings logically exposed information architecture gaps — some to fill now, some to anticipate.
Insights
Core features worked; the flows around them didn't
- 1
Design system needed updating
The design system was limited but functional; the rebrand meant revamping every component. The team experimented with more intuitive components and flows, mixing in brand elements to see what worked.
- 2
Functionality mostly there, but flows were not
Recording interviews and leaving basic highlights worked, but surfacing that information afterward was hard, and IA gaps skipped for go-to-market reasons remained.
- 3
Most used vs. most important pages
Users spent most of their time watching highlights on the interview page, but finding a specific interview or highlight was a chore and comparing candidates meant juggling tabs — leaving many user-built workarounds to replace.
Discovery
Three personas, each with different goals
- 1
Most used vs. most important actions
The team mapped the key actions that lead each persona to their "aha moment" — so users find value naturally and the product sticks.
- 2
What can a user do vs. what can a user see
Hiring Managers, Interviewers, and Recruiters each have different goals. With the CEO and stakeholders, the team defined high-level permissions and the key actions each needed.
Reframe
The product was built for the wrong user
"...how might we help interviewers and recruiters provide unbiased opinions to assist hiring managers in making better decisions?"
After Luma launched, it became clear it had been built for the wrong user. It assumed the hiring manager, as final decision-maker — but hiring managers juggle other duties and delegate most of this work when they can. The result was low usage and a poor perception of the product.
The redesign refocused existing functionality and flows on interviewers and recruiters, who give the decision-maker perspective.
Strategy
Rebrand, simplify, and design for each persona
- 1
Updating to the new brand
Updated the style guide and built new components, carrying brand voice and tone into UX copy and UI.
- 2
Simplifying flows
Cut unnecessary actions so users could focus on what mattered.
- 3
Designing with empathy
Every screen was designed for the persona using it, with edge cases thought through.
Redesign
Easier feedback, clearer candidates, and new analytics
- 1
Highlighting key moments with ease
Gathering feedback during interviews had to be effortless. Building on the existing Zoom integration, the team redesigned creating highlights, grading questions, and taking notes mid-interview.
- 2
Providing top candidates front and center
The redesigned roles page surfaces the top two candidates by interview score, easing option paralysis for hiring managers choosing between a few finalists.
- 3
Reducing friction on creating & sharing highlights
Post-interview highlights worked but needed an upgrade: users can now grab parts of the transcript or leave timestamped feedback while rewatching.
- 4
Analytics & innovation
With the core platform redesigned and rebranded, the team turned to innovation — analytics, dashboards, and anything else that could lead to better hires.
Launch
Shipped piece by piece to avoid disruption
The team shipped in the smallest chunks possible — page by page, feature by feature, or flow by flow, depending on complexity and usage — polishing visuals and details during development. Users saw gradual updates instead of one overwhelming change.
Impact
Validated by an acquisition three years later
The redesign improved the experience for purchasers and the interview process as a whole, though the agency-style engagement ended before usage could be instrumented and compared.
The clearest validation came three years later: in 2025, Employ acquired Pillar and carried this 2022 redesign and rebrand into its hiring suite rather than starting over. Still being the foundation worth acquiring three years on is its own kind of proof.
Acquired
Pillar was acquired by Employ following this engagement