Moonlight has completed its first beta testing round (dubbed “beta one”) of its Neo-based freelance workforce platform. Beta one began in September 2019 and primarily focused on the platform’s profile management tools. Testing took place in the form of a guided experience, which entailed a one-hour user-tailored walkthrough. Beta one marked the first time users had the chance to use the Moonlight platform.

Neo News Today (NNT) recently spoke with Moonlight co-founder and chief architect, Tyler Adams, and UX director, James Weybourne, to gain further insight into the results from beta one.

The user experience was a key focus of beta one testing, which Moonlight has aimed to place at the core of its design. In the early development stages of the Moonlight platform, the team conducted extensive user research and identified an array of 5 unique personas. In beta one, six participants were chosen to represent a spectrum of these unique personas.

The test group consisted of two experienced recruiters, a college graduate, two seasoned professionals, and an experienced hiring manager. The participants were guided through two main workflows. The first was from the perspective of building a profile and entering data into the Moonlight platform (such as, someone building a resume), and conversely, the second was from the perspective of someone who had received a Moonlight profile from another user (such as, a recruiter receiving a job application).

In general, feedback during beta one was noted to be positive and offered insight into how Moonlight can improve its system while minimizing issues that may arise upon the launch of the platform.

“The output of these sessions allows us to refine the structure, language, and flow to improve the user experience, further allowing the users to focus on the task at hand rather than the software itself,” Weybourne said. “Some of the main points [for improvement] included tweaks to the interface, removing mental blocks that impeded tasks, streamlining how information is conveyed (making sure it’s just enough and no more), and tweaking the language to be more sympathetic to our global audience.”

Current priorities and next steps

The Moonlight team is currently addressing much of the feedback collected during beta one for implementation into the next iteration of its platform. Adams commented on how nailing the user experience is key to achieving its business goals.

“We’re trying to cram additional features to the existing “digital profile” concept without a substantial overhead for users…so its critical for us to get the workflow right if we want to deliver something that is competitive in the market.”

In previous NNT coverage, Moonlight had conveyed that it would utilize a spiral method for future beta testing, where each successive round will incorporate more features and include more participants. Based on feedback received in beta one, Moonlight will pivot from its original beta testing schedule. Adams said, “instead of having four betas leading up to a public release, we will most likely only be seeking informal feedback on remaining features from select stakeholders before releasing a product to the community.”

The next round of informal feedback will likely resemble user acceptance testing (UAT) and seek input from approximately 100 users as the platform begins to scale.

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