Designing an AI-Based Resume Screening Tool
Pawan Kumar
Introduction: The Hiring Dilemma Imagine this: You’re an HR recruiter at Accenture, tasked with finding the perfect UX Designer in Bangalore. Your inbox is flooded with hundreds of resumes, each brimming with skills, experiences, and portfolios. Manually reviewing every application is time-consuming and exhausting. You try to filter resumes by keywords, but what if a great candidate uses different terminology? You shortlist a few based on experience, but how do you know if they truly fit the role? Now, enter AI-driven resume screening—a feature integrated into Accenture’s internal hiring platform. It analyzes resumes, assigns a matching score, and highlights the best fits based on job requirements. Sounds like a dream, right? But how do we design this tool to be truly effective? How do we ensure recruiters can trust AI decisions, navigate resumes effortlessly, and make informed hiring choices? To solve this, I applied Jesse James Garrett’s Five Planes of UX—a structured approach to building an intuitive and efficient hiring experience.
Designing an AI-Based Resume Screening Tool Using the Five Planes of UX
Breaking Down the Five Planes for an AI Resume Screening Tool
1. Strategy Plane: Defining the Purpose and Goals
Every great UX design starts with understanding the why—why are we building this tool?
👉 User Needs:
Recruiters need an efficient way to review, compare, and shortlist resumes without manually scanning hundreds of applications.
👉 Business Goals:
Reduce hiring time and recruiter workload.
Improve hiring accuracy by surfacing best-fit candidates.
Enhance transparency in AI-driven decisions to build trust.
🚀 Validation:
Research from hiring platforms like LinkedIn and Indeed shows that AI-based resume screening can reduce hiring time by up to 70%.
A report by the Harvard Business Review found that 40% of recruiters struggle with bias and inconsistency in manual resume screening. AI can help standardize evaluations.
🔹 Why Strategy Matters:
Without a clear strategy, we might build features that don’t align with real problems. A recruiter doesn’t need fancy animations—they need a functional tool that helps them make hiring decisions faster and better.
2. Scope Plane: Defining the Features and Capabilities
Once we know the purpose, we need to define what this tool will and won’t do.
✅ Must-Have Features:
Resume Scoring System – AI assigns a match score (0-100%) based on skills, experience, and keywords.
Resume List View – Displays all applicants with names, scores, and key highlights.
Filtering & Sorting – HR can sort resumes by score, skills, or years of experience.
Drill-Down Resume Details – Clicking on a resume reveals education, past roles, and skill match breakdown.
Comparison Feature – Recruiters can compare multiple resumes side by side.
Shortlist & Reject Actions – One-click actions to move candidates forward.
🚫 What We Won’t Include (Yet):
AI-powered interview scheduling (out of scope for now).
Automated hiring decisions (recruiters should always have the final say).
🔹 Why Scope Matters:
A lack of scope definition leads to feature creep—adding unnecessary functionality that bloats the system and confuses users. By keeping our focus, we ensure the core user needs are met first.
3. Structure Plane: Organizing the Experience
Now that we know what to build, we need to decide how everything connects.
📌 User Flow:
1️⃣ HR logs into the hiring portal.
2️⃣ The dashboard displays all UX Designer applications with AI-generated scores.
3️⃣ HR can filter, sort, and compare resumes.
4️⃣ Clicking on a resume opens the detailed resume view with AI justification.
5️⃣ HR can shortlist, reject, or compare candidates side by side.
6️⃣ Shortlisted candidates move to the next hiring stage (phone interview).
🔹 Why Structure Matters:
Without a clear hierarchy, the tool could feel chaotic. Recruiters need a structured way to navigate resumes—moving smoothly from a broad overview to detailed analysis without confusion.
4. Skeleton Plane: Designing the Interface Layout
Here, we translate structure into actual UI elements.
🎨 Wireframe Elements:
Sidebar Navigation: Quick access to job postings and shortlisted candidates.
Resume List Table:
Columns: Name, AI Score, Experience, Key Skills.
Sortable & Filterable.
Detailed Resume View:
Tabs for experience, education, and portfolio links.
AI justification for the score (e.g., “Matched 5 out of 7 required skills”).
Action Buttons:
Shortlist ✅
Reject ❌
Compare 📊
🔹 Why Skeleton Matters:
Even if the AI does a great job, poor UI design can ruin the experience. A recruiter should immediately know what to do—no learning curve, no second-guessing.
5. Surface Plane: Creating a Visually Appealing and Accessible UI
Finally, I bring everything together with visual design.
🌈 Design Decisions:
Color-Coded Scores:
Green (80-100%) – Strong Match ✅
Yellow (50-79%) – Moderate Match ⚠️
Red (0-49%) – Weak Match ❌
Consistent Typography: Readable sans-serif fonts.
Minimalist UI: No clutter—only essential information is shown.
Dark & Light Mode: Accessibility for all users.
🔹 Why Surface Matters:
A cluttered or poorly designed UI can reduce trust in the AI scores. A clean, professional look enhances credibility and ensures HR teams feel in control.
Final Thoughts: Why the Five Planes of UX Work Best for This Problem
By following Garrett’s Five Planes, we ensure:
✔ Strategy aligns with real user needs → No unnecessary features.
✔ Scope is well-defined → No feature creep, only core functionalities.
✔ Structure provides logical navigation → Users find what they need quickly.
✔ Skeleton ensures usability → Intuitive UI with clear actions.
✔ Surface delivers a polished, professional look → Builds trust and confidence.
What do you think? Would this AI-driven hiring tool make your job easier?
