A Black UX Labs product

Hire for skill,
not identity.

HelpfulHand strips bias from your hiring pipeline. Evaluate candidates on what they can do — then decide who to meet.

Designed for teams hiring at Google Amazon Meta Microsoft Apple Deloitte JPMorgan Chase Nike Salesforce IBM
0%
Fewer callbacks for résumés with ethnic-sounding names.
Bertrand & Mullainathan, 2004
0×
More likely to get an interview when evaluated on skills alone.
Skill-blind hiring meta-analysis
0%
Of hiring managers want to reduce bias but don't know how.
HR Brew, 2024
0k+
UX professionals in the Black UX Labs community.
Black UX Labs network
The problem · 01

Bias doesn't
need intent.

Three forces filter senior talent out before their work is ever reviewed. None of them require a bad actor — and that's exactly why they're hard to fix.

01 — Filter

Names get filtered.

Résumés with ethnic-sounding names get 36% fewer callbacks. The filter happens before your work is even seen.

02 — Pedigree

Pedigree beats performance.

Hiring managers over-index on school names and company logos. Ten years of great work loses to a Stanford degree.

03 — Mirror

"Culture fit" is a mirror.

When teams hire for "culture fit," they hire people who look, sound, and think like them. Every time.

How it works · 02

One interaction.
Zero bias.

Three steps. The candidate stays anonymous until you've decided their work is worth a conversation.

01

Candidates build skill profiles.

Work samples, skills, experience. No names, no photos, no schools.

Build profile
Name
Photo
School
Skills
ResearchFigmaa11y
Work
02

You evaluate the work.

Browse anonymized candidates. Filter by skill, experience, and match score.

4 candidates
#124794%
#089289%
#034191%
#071886%
03

You choose who to meet.

Request an introduction. The candidate is revealed only after you've decided their work is worth a conversation.

The reveal
Candidate #1247 94%
M
Maya Richardson Senior Product Designer
Sent
Live demo · 03

See it
yourself.

Browse anonymized profiles. When you find a match, request an introduction — and watch the candidate reveal themselves. Try any "Request Introduction" button below.

helpfulhand.app / candidates / senior product designer
Live · 4 candidates
4 results
Sorted by · Match score (high → low)
Use cases · 04

Built for every
hiring seat.

Four primary audiences. HelpfulHand speaks to both sides of the hiring table without picking one.

→ Hiring Managers

Evaluate before you know the name.

Make the shortlist about the work. See output before identity, then decide who to meet.

Try as hiring manager
94%
91%
89%
86%
→ Recruiters

A skill-first source pipeline.

Send better candidates to hiring managers, faster. Less filtering, more matching.

See sourcing flow
94
91
89
86
82
→ HR Leaders

Operationalize the DEI promise.

A tool that changes behavior, not just policy. Anonymization, audit trails, real outcomes.

See the audit view
→ DEI Teams

Measure bias reduction live.

Track how anonymization changes who gets interviewed — week over week.

See impact metrics
+38%
Testimonials · 05

What hiring teams
are saying.

Concept testimonials — clearly marked. Real quotes drop in once the first cohort runs.

★ Concept · prototype content
"
We interviewed three candidates we would have filtered out. One of them is now our design lead.
VP of Design · Series C fintech · (concept)
Ecosystem · 06

One builds the leader.
The other fixes the system.

HelpfulHand sits inside the Black UX Labs ecosystem — built alongside Design For Impact, our coaching program for senior UX professionals of color.

Coaching · DFI

Design For Impact

Builds the leader.

A cohort-based coaching program preparing senior UX professionals of color for leadership. Mentorship, sponsorship, executive presence.

Hiring tool · You are here

HelpfulHand

Fixes the system.

A hiring tool that removes the bias blocking them from getting there. The system DFI graduates run into, redesigned.

One builds the person. The other fixes the system.
FAQ · 07

Questions,
answered.

The mechanics of anonymization, the moment of reveal, and what candidates control.

How does anonymization work? +
Candidates create profiles with skills, experience levels, and work samples. All identifying information — name, photo, school names, company names — is stripped before employers see the profile. Company names are replaced with industry descriptors (e.g. "Series B fintech" instead of a brand name).
Can candidates choose what to anonymize? +
Yes. Candidates control their anonymization settings. Some choose to show company names but hide their personal identity; some hide both. The default strips everything.
When does the reveal happen? +
Only when an employer clicks "Request Introduction." The candidate is notified and can accept or decline before any information is shared.
Is this only for UX roles? +
The prototype focuses on UX and design hiring, where Black UX Labs has its strongest network. The anonymization framework works for any knowledge-work role and will expand from there.
What about portfolio pieces that show company work? +
Work samples are displayed without company branding or attribution. Candidates upload anonymized versions of their case studies, with proprietary marks and names removed.
Get started · 08

The best hire you'll
ever make is the one
you almost filtered out.

A Black UX Labs product