Case Study · Talent Operations · 2025–2026

LOCKED
IN.

How a recruiter who lived the problem built the tool to solve it — and why "Booked" had to evolve into something sharper.

10–20
Min saved per interview
2
Personas. One tool.
6
Workflow tasks automated
0
Vendors. No contracts.
The Problem

SCHEDULING IS A FULL-TIME JOB. THAT'S THE PROBLEM.

"I've managed coordinators who spend so much time scheduling that they can't work on anything else. Manual processes don't just slow you down — they own your entire day."

Ari Benezra, Builder

Recruiting coordination is one of the most time-intensive roles in talent — and most of that time is spent on logistics, not people work. Calendar checking. Invite building. Chasing availability. Attaching documents. Sending confirmations. For every interview.

In small environments especially, coordinators wear every hat. When scheduling consumes their day, everything else — candidate experience improvements, process projects, data work — gets pushed. The backlog grows. The coordinator burns out. The team moves slower than it should.

And here's the kicker: the tools to fix this either don't exist at the right price point, or they're so overbuilt they take longer to configure than the problem they solve.

Manual workflows own the day

Calendar checking, invite drafting, document attaching — done by hand, for every interview, every week. There's no time left for anything else.

No visibility for leadership

Without a dashboard or reporting layer, hiring volume is invisible. Leadership can't see coordinator workload until someone raises their hand.

Enterprise tools are overbuilt

GoodTime is built for org-wide deployment and priced accordingly. Most teams need 20% of what it does and can't justify the spend.

Recruiters and coordinators share the wrong tools

Most scheduling tools treat every user the same. But recruiters and coordinators have fundamentally different jobs in the scheduling workflow.

The Evolution

FROM BOOKED TO LOCKED IN.

The tool didn't start with this name or this scope. It started with a simpler question: what's the minimum viable version of this that actually saves time?

Version 1 · Early 2025
Booked
A single-flow intake form replacing ad hoc scheduling. One persona. Four steps. Coordinator dashboard with Today, This Week, All Upcoming views. Automated email confirmation templates. Department and recruiter reporting.
UX Review · 2026
The feedback
A UX researcher and coordinator walked through the flow. Clear finding: recruiters and coordinators are doing fundamentally different work. The single-flow model was asking coordinators to act like recruiters and vice versa. The tool needed personas.
Version 2 · 2026
Locked In.
Full persona split. Recruiter gets a clean 3-step submission flow. Coordinator gets a power view: Jira-style ticket queue, availability parsing, per-interview scheduling, dual calendar previews, email confirmation, dashboard, reports, and a historic archive. And a name that actually means something.

The name change mattered too. "Booked" worked — but it didn't say anything. It sounded like a hotel app. "Locked In." is what a recruiter says when an interview is confirmed. It's the moment the work is done. That's what the tool is for.

The evolution wasn't just a rebrand. It was a recognition that a tool built for everyone is built for no one — and that real operational improvement comes from designing specifically for how each role actually works.

What changed
BeforeSingle linear form for all users
AfterRecruiter + Coordinator split personas
BeforeOne interview per submission
AfterLoop/panel support — multiple interviews per request
BeforeNo queue or ticket system
AfterJira-style ticket queue with filters + reschedule flow
The Solution

COORDINATOR-OWNED. FROM DAY ONE.

The core insight: scheduling coordination is a distinct job. It deserves a dedicated tool — one the coordinator actually runs, not one IT configures for them. Locked In. is built for a non-technical coordinator to own completely. Templates, stages, team setup, branding — all manageable without touching code.

"The coordinator doesn't need a developer. They need a tool that respects how they already work."

Ari Benezra, Builder
R
Recruiter
Simple intake. Submit and move on.
1
Candidate & Availability — Enter candidate info and paste their availability email. The tool parses it.
2
Build Interviews — Add one or more interviews. Name each one. Loops, panels, multi-stage onsites in a single request.
3
Review & Submit — Confirm everything, submit to the coordinator queue. Done.
C
Coordinator
Power view. This is your tool.
1
Queue — Filterable ticket cards. All, Pending, Scheduled. Click to open.
2
Ticket Detail — Candidate info, availability, date/time picker per interview, dual calendar previews.
3
Confirm & Send — Preview the confirmation email, send invites. Ticket moves to Scheduled.
4
Dashboard + Reports + Historic — All interviews, reporting by role and recruiter, auto-archiving.
The Roadmap

TWO PHASES. ONE DIRECTION.

Locked In. is built with a clear trajectory. Phase 1 gives the coordinator the right tool. Phase 2 elevates what the coordinator does entirely.

Phase 1 — Now
The Coordinator-Owned Tool

A non-technical coordinator can set up, configure, and run Locked In. for their entire team. No code. No IT department. No vendor onboarding.

Recruiters submit. The coordinator executes. Every step — templates, stages, team setup, branding — is theirs to own and adjust.

Ticket queue + reschedule flow
Customizable email templates
Team-configurable — no code needed
Dashboard, reports, historic archive
Dual calendar previews
Phase 2 — Roadmap
The AI Coordinator

The recruiter submits. AI handles the rest — availability parsing, time selection, invite creation, confirmation emails, rescheduling.

The coordinator role gets elevated. Less logistics. More candidate experience, process improvement, and strategic work.

AI-powered availability parsing
Intelligent time recommendations
Auto-generated confirmation emails
Google Calendar + ATS integration
Coordinator elevated, not replaced

"We built the tool. Then we built what elevates the person using it."

Impact

TIME SAVINGS PER INTERVIEW

Every step that used to require manual effort is replaced by a structured workflow. Time the coordinator gets back becomes time spent on work that actually matters.

TaskBeforeWith Locked In.Saved
Building & sending calendar invite~10 minAuto-generated~10 min
Attaching interview documentsPer interviewBuilt into form~5 min
Drafting confirmation email~5 minTemplate preview + send~5 min
Coordinating availability~15 min back/forthDate + time picker~10 min
Weekly leadership reportNo process1-click report~30 min/wk
Rescheduling a confirmed interviewStart over manuallyReschedule flow~15 min
How It Works

BUILT FOR TA TEAMS THAT WANT TO OWN THEIR STACK, NOT DEPEND ON ONE.

Self-Serve

Deploy yourself

Technical TA leads who want full control. Fork it, configure it, run it. Documentation included.

Managed

We set it up

We implement and configure for your team. Your coordinator is up and running — no IT department needed.

Enterprise

White-label + ATS

Full customization, ATS integration, dedicated support. Built around how your org actually works.

SEE IT IN ACTION

Locked In. is live and pilot-ready. Try the full recruiter → coordinator → scheduled flow in the demo.

View Live Demo ↗ ← Back to portfolio
The bottom line

THE FOUNDATION
IS ALREADY BUILT.

Just a TA team that finally owns its infrastructure.

10–20 min
Saved per interview
2
Personas, 1 tool