Matchmaking that stays scalable
Stichting Techniek Bedrijven brings STEM students and companies together around career events. The existing platform was stuck on outdated technology, declining registrations, and a sign-up process that put students off. We renewed matching logic, user experience, and administration in one trajectory.
Client
- Industry
- Education & recruitment
- Location
- Delft
Team
Stichting Techniek Bedrijven brings together about 1500 STEM students and about 50 companies every year for career events and in-house days. Around registration and just before the annual preparation it is always busiest.
The situation
A platform under pressure technically and substantively
The number of registrations for the annual event at STB was declining. The platform was outdated. And not only that: the matching algorithm urgently needed an update, maintenance kept getting more complicated, and the look no longer fitted the target audience.
That system processes more than registrations alone. It links students to companies via a model that combines weighted competencies, preferences, and profile traits, which makes the platform substantively valuable, but at the same time vulnerable to technical limits and unclearness in the registration process.
The question behind the question
More registrations and better matches
The brief began with a new design and a smarter matching algorithm. We also needed to investigate what helps students complete registration and how to improve matches for both students and companies.
User research showed that orientation mainly happens on mobile, while registration is more of a desktop thing. Students drop off if the process takes too long or asks for irrelevant steps. The technical renewal therefore had to go together with a shorter, more flexible registration route and a look that fits the target audience.
Approach
Matching logic, UX, and manageability in one trajectory
We tackled the platform from two sides at once. Technically we modernized the foundation: a TypeScript Glossary · In briefbackendThe backend is the part of an application that processes data, applies business rules and communicates with other systems on the server. Users usually access it through a frontend or API.Read more Glossary · In briefAPIAn API is a defined way for software to exchange data or call functions in other software without needing to know how that software works internally.Read more, a React Glossary · In brieffrontendThe frontend is the part of a website or application that users see and operate, such as pages, buttons, forms and interactive screens.Read more, and a decoupled Python matching engine that talks to the rest via a Glossary · In briefmessage queueA message queue temporarily stores messages until another software component processes them. The sender does not have to wait for the recipient to finish.Read more. The optimization model went into Python with linear programming via PuLP, so the matching stays transparent and traceable.
The registration process got equal attention in the meantime. Because orientation often happens on mobile and registration more on desktop, it became a Glossary · In briefresponsive designResponsive design is an approach in which a website or web application adapts its layout and controls to the available screen space and device.Read more. With a Glossary · In briefheadless CMSA headless CMS is a content management system that makes content available through an API without determining how it is presented to visitors.Read more, STB can now adjust content and event information quickly.
What we add
Explainable matching based on data The algorithm links students and companies based on weighted criteria, without becoming a black box.
A faster registration process The route from orientation to registration has become shorter and simpler, so fewer people drop off along the way.
Administration that moves with events With a headless CMS and a scalable architecture STB can publish faster and handle peak load better.
Quality and continuity
Built for peak load and analysis
With a platform for events the load is never flat. Just before a deadline it suddenly has to process huge numbers at once, often around that one big annual moment, while matches must stay correct and content management must not stall. We pulled the matching engine apart and put a message queue in between, so that computation stays separate from the fast frontend.
The renewed Glossary · In briefdatabaseA database is a structured collection of data that software can store, retrieve and modify. A database management system controls access to that data.Read more and application structure gave STB overview of analyses, email marketing, and spotting bottlenecks, and with that more grip on the whole process, from first orientation to event delivery. That also worked when an edition had to go digital at the last moment: 26 companies and 250 students took part.
Result
A more accessible platform with better flow
Registration has sped up enormously. Previously you spent half an hour; now you are through within five minutes. Students only need to take relevant steps; other parts they skip or finish later. Drop-off is therefore lower.
Still on the roadmap are the iDEAL integration, plus an admin environment for companies and automated mailings. STB has gained more than user satisfaction: a technical foundation that scales for matching, content management, and further ongoing development.
Transparent collaboration is essential when developing a technically complicated platform.
Olivier Eising — Product Owner bij Stichting Techniek Bedrijven
Key takeaways
On a matching platform, registration conversion plays as big a role as technical solidity: shorter routes and flexible steps weigh heavier than a new visual identity alone.
Linear programming with PuLP makes complex matching logic explainable, instead of a black box you cannot defend toward students and companies.
A headless CMS and service-oriented architecture help a volunteer organization publish quickly and absorb peak load.
Transparent discussion of trade-offs is as important on such a technically complex platform as solid code.
OUR WORK
