Designing Messaging for Designers & Recruiters — Driving High-Signal Conversations for Hiring, Mentorship & Guidance
Product design & Strategy
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Responsive web
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1 Month
My role
Owned the end-to-end design of messaging — from identifying user problems to designing intent-driven flows and shipping the experience.
Context — About Wall of Portfolios
Wall of Portfolios is a curated platform where designers showcase high-quality, structured portfolios, and recruiters discover top design talent.
Unlike traditional portfolio platforms, Wall of Portfolios focuses on:
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Portfolio Inspiration
A place to explore high-quality portfolios and real case studies
✨
Curated Design Talent
A curated platform featuring top designers across companies
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Hiring-first discovery
Helping recruiters discover relevant design talent faster
Problems we faced.
When I spoke with featured designers, recruiters were reaching out to them externally after finding their portfolios on WOP. Designers were getting appreciation but had no way to continue the conversation on the platform. The problem wasn't discovery — it was that discovery had no natural next step.
What we observed:
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Recruiters searching manually
Finding designers on LinkedIn to reach out
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Designers looking for feedback
But don’t know how to connect
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No structured system at place
For referrals or mentorship
Building a messaging feature felt obvious - but it wasn't enough
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No Context “Hi”, “Hello”
Receiver doesn’t know why they’re being contacted
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No Clarity
No background or purpose, Hard to decide whether to respond
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Sender Struggle
Can’t express intent clearly, Hesitation leads to poor or no messages
Design Goals for Contextual Messaging
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Reduce friction to start conversations
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Enable context-rich, meaningful messages
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Help users express intent clearly
Reducing friction to start conversations
Starting a conversation is the hardest part, so instead of a blank input, we guide users with clear intent upfront.
Users can choose predefined intents like feedback, hiring, mentorship, or appreciation to begin. This removes ambiguity and helps conversations start with purpose, not confusion.
Enabling context-rich, meaningful messages
Users often struggle to introduce themselves and communicate intent clearly.
We enabled pre-filled, context-rich messages that include who they are and why they’re reaching out. This helps every conversation start with clarity, making messages more meaningful and actionable.
Make Intent Visible Upfront
Users often receive messages without understanding why someone is reaching out.
We made intent explicit through labels and guidelines, helping users communicate purpose clearly.
This ensures every conversation starts with clarity, not ambiguity.
Educating users to express intent
We introduced simple guidelines and prompts to educate users on being contextual, clear, and respectful. This helps improve message quality, leading to more thoughtful conversations and higher response rates.
Impact
Messaging transformed Wall of Portfolios from discovery → real opportunities.
🚀 Recruiters and designers from top product companies reached out to talent on the platform
💼 Designers Landed interviews and joined fast-growing startups in India
💬 90% of messages received replies, indicating high-quality conversations
📊 +2% increase in DAU in 1month, driven by messaging engagement