Hudson Self-Service: Empowering Recruitment Teams Through Scalable Content Creation

How a self-service design approach transformed Hudson’s marketing operations, empowering recruiters, reducing ad hoc design requests by 50% and freeing marketing resources, and maintaining brand integrity across all APAC offices.

Project Overview

Hudson, a leading recruitment agency operating across the Asia-Pacific region, faced challenges with high volumes of ad hoc marketing requests and inconsistent branding. Recruitment consultants, struggling with long turnaround times for design assets, often created off-brand materials, leading to a lack of brand integrity.

To address this, I led the procurement and implementation of WeBrand, an online self-service content creation platform. The goal was to enable recruiters to independently produce marketing materials while maintaining brand consistency.

As a Brand, Service & UX Designer, I worked with key stakeholders to:

• Develop a self-service model for marketing content creation.

• Implement WeBrand for content production and brand compliance.

• Create a SharePoint resource hub with training and brand assets.

SITUATION

Setting the Stage

Context & Business Goal

The Marketing Team at Hudson was overwhelmed with spontaneous, non-strategic design requests from recruiters across multiple offices in the Asia-Pacific region. 

Key challenges included:

• Bottlenecks in marketing requests, leading to delays in delivering assets.

• Recruiters 'going rogue', creating off-brand, inconsistent content.

• Marketing resources being consumed by tactical, low-value tasks, reducing their focus on strategic initiatives.

Problem Statement

The lack of a structured content creation process resulted in inefficiencies and inconsistent branding across Hudson’s marketing materials. 

A solution was needed to:

• Enable recruitment consultants to create compliant, professional materials.

• Reduce the volume of ad hoc requests, freeing marketing resources for strategic work.

• Ensure brand integrity while providing greater autonomy to recruitment teams.

Target Users

• Recruitment Consultants – Creating job advertisements, event materials, and social media content.

• Marketing Team – Managing branding, templates, and compliance.

• Operations & Management – Ensuring compliance across all marketing materials.

User Needs:

• Fast, accessible design tools to create branded materials.

• Pre-approved templates to maintain consistency.

• Training & guidance to ensure ease of use and compliance.

TASK

My Responsibilities & Objectives

Role & Objectives

As Lead Service & Brand Designer, I was responsible for:

• Consulting with recruitment and operations teams to define pain points and requirements.

• Sourcing and procuring a self-service content creation platform.

• Developing a scalable brand management system for consistent marketing materials.

• Creating training materials and establishing a SharePoint hub for guidance and support.

• Ensuring successful adoption through user onboarding and testing.

Constraints & Challenges

• Budget limitations required finding a cost-effective solution.

• User adoption concerns meant that the tool needed to be highly intuitive.

• Ensuring compliance across different regional offices required a centralised governance model.

ACTION

The UX/UI and Branding Process

Research & Discovery

Stakeholder Workshops & User Research

• Interviewed recruitment consultants, marketing team members, and operations staff to define needs.

• Identified common pain points, including long turnaround times and lack of autonomy in content creation.

• Assessed budget, technical constraints, and platform requirements.

Evaluating Solutions

• Researched and compared various content creation tools.

• Selected WeBrand for its customisable templates, brand control features, and ease of use.

Ideation & Implementation

Key UX/UI & Service Improvements:

• Branded Templates – Created pre-approved templates to ensure consistency across all marketing materials.

• User-Friendly Platform – Implemented WeBrand, allowing recruiters to create compliant content independently.

• Resource Hub – Developed a SharePoint portal housing guidelines, assets, and training materials.

• Training & Support – Delivered onboarding sessions and self-service training modules.

Implementation Roadmap:

• Phase 1 – Defined user workflows and tested WeBrand with a pilot group.

• Phase 2 – Developed the brand asset library and content templates.

• Phase 3 – Launched the SharePoint hub and self-service training programme.

• Phase 4 – Monitored adoption and iterated based on user feedback.

Design Testing & Iteration

[summarise the rounds of research and methods used]

Key Adjustments Based on User Feedback:

• Simplified Template Selection – Users preferred a clearer categorisation of templates for job postings, event promotions, and social media content.

• Improved Training Resources – Added video tutorials for better engagement.

• Optimised SharePoint Hub – Introduced a searchable knowledge base to improve usability.

RESULT 

Measuring the Impact

Impact

• User-centred design led to high adoption rates.

• Marketing team efficiency improved, allowing them to focus on strategic initiatives.

• Brand consistency was maintained across all regional offices.

Success metrics:

• 50% reduction in ad hoc design requests, freeing marketing resources.

• Increased brand consistency, ensuring on-brand materials across all APAC offices.

• Higher user adoption, with recruiters actively using the platform for content creation.