Alvalabs: building candidates assessment service

Alva Labs is a talent assessment platform helping companies make data-driven, bias-free hiring decisions. Its psychometric and logic tests are used by thousands of candidates each month, with results influencing hiring decisions across startups and large enterprises alike.

The challenge was to create an experience that is equally delightful for two very different audiences:
—Candidates — who often feel anxious and judged, and need a smooth, reassuring experience to perform at their best;
—Recruiters & Hiring Managers — who need clear, actionable insights fast, so they can shortlist and decide confidently;

Company: Alvalabs
Year: 2019–2021

Discovery, Research, Sketching, Ideation, Design system, Visual design, Prototyping, A/B testing, Documetation

In 2019, I joined Alva Labs — then an early-stage startup — as the 11th team member and the second designer. I came onboard right as the platform entered its first active phase, beginning to serve real customers.

From day one, I partnered closely with product managers, data scientists, and psychologists to shape Alva’s core product experiences. I designed core product experiences across candidate assessments, result visualization, and comparison tools to improve hiring decision workflows.

I had 3 main design focuses back then: candidate assessments (redesigning the UI to feel clear, supportive, and reduce test anxiety); recruiter dashboards & comparison tools (enabling hiring teams to make faster, more confident decisions) & design system (delivering a responsive, accessible system that unified the product and enabled scalability).

I collaborated daily with developers, sales, support, and stakeholders — driving design refinements, ensuring dev-ready handoffs, and keeping feedback loops tight via Slack and in-person sessions. This close collaboration helped us transform early ideas into a scalable, market-ready platform.

By the time I left, Alvalabs reduced candidate drop-off rate during tests (measured post-launch) & faster recruiter decisions thanks to simplified dashboards. Alvalabs had secured investments, expanded its client base, and integrated with major clients like TeamTailor. Today, Alva stands as a robust service offering a wide range of tools for candidate assessment and I’m proud to have been part of laying its foundation.

What I had learned through my Alva’s time that in hiring, UX isn’t just about usability — it’s about trust & reassurance and data visualization is crucial for recruiters to act quickly and confidently.

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