Web work platform WorkFu launches

Billed by its creators as the “social platform at the heart of your working life”, WorkFu has now launched. Designed to be appropriate for both talent hunters and also those looking for opportunities, the site goes beyond merely enabling you to list experience and skills. Integration with social networks and a personal bookshelf provide additional insight to users with profiles, and while co-founder Mike Kus told .net he has respect for LinkedIn, he believes such a site “can be done better, cooler, faster and made more relevant,” hence WorkFu.

We spoke to Kus about the site, how the team focussed on usability and elegance, and plans for the future of WorkFu.

.net: What are the important ways in which WorkFu differs from other work-placement sites?
Kus: We see ourselves as an 'opportunity network'. We allow users to build a beautiful profile using the data that already exists on them from other networks they use. We then match them to opportunities that are relevant, rated by 'FuScore'. FuScore is a combination of a user's relevance to an opportunity and their Twitter connections in relation to the opportunity poster. This removes the need to search – users instantly see opportunities relevant to them.

In the same way opportunity seekers view opportunities displayed in order of FuScore, opportunity posters view all applicants. While you wait for applicants, WorkFu will give you instant talent suggestions ordered by relevance and allow you to approach these users through our powerful messaging system.

.net: How did visual and UX design impact on WorkFu?
Kus: We worked hard to make WorkFu as easy to use as possible. Simplicity is at the heart of our thinking when it comes to UX. We don't want users to have to think. We've thought about the design and interaction very hard and introduced features to WorkFu, then ripped them back out again because we didn't feel they were easy enough to use. Having a great user experience on WorkFu is also another way of distinguishing ourselves from the competition.

.net: What's changed since we last spoke about WorkFu, and what are your post-launch plans?
Kus: On this release we open up 'Opportunities'. From today, users will be able to view the WorkFu opportunities relevant to them, ordered by FuScore. They'll be able to apply with one click and manage/track their applications within WorkFu. We've also designed an amazing admin area, which, I think, will be especially useful to opportunity posters. Managing a lot of opportunities with a lot of applicants is super easy!

We have a ton of plans for the future. The basics are now in place but are just foundations on which to build. I can't specifically divulge what features we'll be bringing in next, but we'll be further enhancing profiles, building a WorkFu API and increasing the connectivity between users.