Alva Labs

• Leading a CSS framework initiative to address accessibility issues across the platform
• Designing onboarding that raised marketplace signup rates from 5% to 25% in four months
• Building AI prototypes exploring how recruiters could define job requirements

Overview

I joined Alva Labs as a Senior Product Designer consultant in August 2024. The Swedish hiring platform uses personality tests, logic assessments, and technical evaluations to assess candidates. My focus was accessibility, marketplace onboarding, and early AI recruitment prototypes.

Problem

An accessibility audit by Access Lab Stockholm identified issues across the interface:

• Insufficient color contrast on interactive elements
• Lack of dark mode support for users with light sensitivity
• Missing focus indicators for keyboard navigation
• Inadequate text alternatives for icons and symbols
• Issues with font sizing and readability
• Small click areas for interactive elements like checkboxes
• Reliance on color alone to identify links
• Lack of proper announcements for screen readers when content changes

Addressing these issues meant looking beyond individual screens. I proposed making accessibility part of the design system's foundation.

Approach

Drawing on my work at Changr and G-Loot, I proposed and led the development of a CSS framework with six priorities:

• Component-first architecture: styling was separated from content, enabling reusable components that stayed consistent throughout the platform.
• Single source of truth: the framework became the reference point for design decisions, bridging design and development.
• Framework agnostic: built to work with any front-end technology, making it versatile as the stack evolved.
• Light and dark modes: every component supported both light and dark modes through CSS variables and sensible defaults.
• Performance focused: modern CSS practices and optimized builds kept components lightweight.
• Accessibility first: ARIA attributes, keyboard navigation, and screen reader support were built into every component from the start.

Much of my work focused on the color system, ensuring contrast in light and dark modes and consistent focus and active states. A clear type hierarchy and larger click areas also helped users with motor limitations.

Marketplace

The Alva Marketplace lets candidates save their assessment results and discover job opportunities matched to their personality and logic profiles.

Working with the Candidate Experience team, I designed onboarding to increase marketplace signups while protecting an assessment completion rate already above 91%. The flow prompted candidates at three moments:

• After completing assessments, when the value is clearest
• When viewing job listings that match their profile
• When returning to the platform after their first assessment

This 'wizard' flow increased marketplace signup rates from 5% to 25% over four months, October 2024 to February 2025.

AI prototypes

I used the new CSS framework to build prototypes exploring how AI could help talent acquisition managers with:

• Defining job requirements through conversation
• Refining details in a structured builder
• Collaborating with teammates on role definitions
• Using predictive data to improve candidate matching

These prototypes explored how conversation and structured editing could work together in recruitment, while giving me a way to test the CSS framework with a new type of interface.

Reflection

My work at Alva Labs spanned reusable components, candidate journeys, and new product concepts. The common thread was turning an idea into something the team could build, test, and improve.