Hiring platformCyberr Technical Tests

Technical Tests at Cyberr: from claimed skills to proven ones

Role: Sole Product Designer
Scope: User Research, Competitive Analysis, UI/UX Design, Usability Testing
Team: Product Manager, Machine Learning engineers, Frontend engineers
Users: Cybersecurity candidates (junior to senior) and hiring clients: recruiters, hiring managers, technical leads

Long Story Short

The What

Hands-On Skill Tests Inside a Cybersecurity Hiring Platform

Cyberr already verified identities and certifications. I designed the layer that was missing: practical tests built with Airbus that let candidates prove what they can do, and give clients a way to act on that proof inside the projects they are hiring for.

The Why

A Test Sits Between Two People Who Want Opposite Things

Candidates want to look strong and fear a bad result following them. Clients want the truth fast and fear a result that means nothing. Lean too far toward clients and candidates don’t start; lean too far toward candidates and clients stop trusting the result. The first spec leaned strict: one attempt, results synced to the profile, no feedback.

The How

What Research Helped Me Do

Interviews with 6 candidates and 5 clients, plus two rounds of usability tests, turned the strict spec around. All three senior candidates would rather have no result than a weak public one, and 4 of 5 clients said they trust comparison, not a single number. Research scripts

What Was the Design Direction

Private by default, shared by intent. Results stay with the candidate until they publish them, with a retake to lower the stakes. A visible waiting state covers the hand-off to the Airbus environment. For clients, tests start from the project shortlist and end in a question-by-question comparison.

Mobile test screen in the “Waiting for results” state

The Why Not

No Public Scores by Default, No Hidden Weak Results, No Single Number

Public by default would have pushed the most experienced people out and left a leaderboard full of beginners. Auto-hiding weak results felt safe, but clients would see only good scores and trust none of them. A ranked list by score reduced people to the one number clients said they didn’t believe.

Leaderboard with league tabs, podium, the user’s pinned row and a progress card to the next league

The Biggest Shift

From a score you have to trust to a comparison you can act on.

Before redesign

Skills were self-reported. Clients trusted CVs or ran their own screening outside Cyberr, and a strong candidate looked the same on paper as an average one.

After redesign

Clients send one test to their shortlist in three steps and see every candidate on the same questions, pass or fail, with Book a meeting right in the header. Candidates decide when their own results become public.

Client view comparing three candidates question by question with pass and fail marks

Business Value

Turned an Airbus partnership into a product line and gave Cyberr a layer of trust general job boards don’t have. Exact numbers are under NDA.

Trust layers

Identity, certifications and now practical skills, all verified on one platform.

Client demand

5 of 5

Clients wanted to test the shortlist they already had, so Send test lives inside the project.