Case 4 : Virtual New Hire Onboarding

Reimagining onboarding when the campus went home.

A fast digital version of Meta's in-person new-hire experience, culture, connection, and clarity when logistics alone weren't enough.

Virtual New Hire Onboarding was a rapid digital reimagining of Meta's in-person onboarding production, the curated experience that initiated new hires into the world, culture, and connection of Facebook.

The Problem

After Covid hit and everyone was relegated to working from home, the business was largely focused on immediate logistical support. It quickly became apparent that in some areas, coverage alone was not the right goal. One of these was new hire onboarding.

Overall satisfaction was at an all-time low compared to in-person onboarding. Years of curated experience had been reduced to a handful of video calls and a to-do list of articles and videos.

Framing Needs: A New Hire's Hierarchy

New hire needs hierarchy

To understand and communicate the priority of a new hire's needs, I leveraged Maslow's Hierarchy, abstracted to the context of onboarding at a new company.

Operational Knowledge

The baseline must-have. For new hires, it was simply the knowledge needed to operate within Facebook, tools, processes, access.

Clarity

After having knowledge, the question becomes how, where, and when to apply it. Progress visibility and clear next steps.

Connection

Loud and clear from new hire feedback: the desire for more connection to fellow employees and to Facebook culture.

"Esteem" mapped to feedback and recognition efforts, and "Self-actualization" related to career growth programs. Neither was relevant at the new hire moment of the lifecycle.

The Approach

Based on the priority of needs, I mapped a strategic experience journey ensuring all needs were acknowledged throughout onboarding. Each "chapter" called out specific mechanics that fulfilled each need.

Strategic experience journey map

Detailed onboarding flow with chapter breakdowns

The Experience

The following demo shows the experience I designed, a pragmatic approach of what could be built in one quarter while addressing the core needs of new hires onboarding virtually. The moment: when a new hire first initiates their onboarding experience after receiving their new laptop.

The three primary needs, Knowledge, Clarity, and Connection, were the main focus for this initial version.

(Skip to 1:24 in the video above for when the product design experience starts.)