The Revolution Will be Empathetic 5
Catering to a global workforce also requires designing
assessment tools that can adapt to global audiences.
Empathize with All Users
Balance Consistency and Flexibility
Recruiting and managing a global workforce requires striking the right
balance between consistency and flexibility. This consideration can
include making sure that an assessment is accessible to a broad swath
of the population, including those who may have challenges such as
color blindness or dyslexia. Designs that rely on high contrast and avoid
problematic color palettes can level the playing field for those candidates.
It's also important to allow people to easily complete assessments via device-specific
interactions, not just clicking with a mouse. Beyond that, great assessment design
avoids presenting any information in a way that's dissociative or distracting
and provides clear guidance on the next steps. It relies on natural
transitions and animations that are not on top of the assessments but
instead embedded in the flow of the actual tasks. That way, they don't
feel like a distracting second layer, but rather they help the candidates
to move through the actual tasks in a pleasant, efficient manner.
Adapt to a Global Audience
It's more than translating words — the design must accommodate the shapes
and order of words or find ways to substitute universal iconography. An
assessment cannot be perfectly designed for every audience, but a good
assessment makes sure everyone who takes it has a good experience.
Cultural adaptation also requires recognizing when certain concepts are not
universal, and therefore not optimal for assessment. For instance, the idea of
Christmas is not relevant to everyone's culture. And New Year's Day is a different
date in different parts of the world. Colors can have different meanings, as well.
