An app and web platform that helps students and workers establish fulfilling and stable career paths through mentorship.


Collaborators: Wes Rivell & Yue Leng

My Roles:
• Project Management
• User Research
• Concept Development
• User Testing
• UX/UI Design

 

Challenge

Amidst the automation and rapid re-skilling requirements for skilled labor, the future of workforce development in the context of education is being reimagined. The time and financial investment into traditional education pathways is not accessible for everyone. Given these factors, how might we help students and workers find alternative ways of establishing meaningful and stable career paths?

Opportunity

On Track is a mobile app and web-based digital platform for finding and connecting with career mentors and provides curated resources for professional development.

How It Works

Connecting with a mentor:

After the users sign up with their email info or with their LinkedIn account, they can access a directory of available mentors that can be filtered based on industry, location, and years of experience. Each mentee can have up to three mentors at a time and initiate the process through introducing themselves through the app’s messaging system.

 
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App Resources and Review Process:

The app also features tips and guides for professional development in different categories, such as Networking, Career Planning, and Negotiation. The content is curated and there is the option for the user to turn on the conversation tracker option so that the app can better aggregate customized resources. The user also receives daily tips, and at the end of each month, both mentors and mentees are required to review each other and decide if they want to continue the relationship moving forward.

 
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User Journey Map

 
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Ad Campaign

Making mentorship accessible for anyone, anytime, anywhere.

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Design Process

 
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User Research & Insights

Interview Overview:

We interviewed 15 people total, from various professional backgrounds. Some of the interviewees were recent graduates with bachelors and graduate degrees. Others were self-taught in their profession or pursuing faster non-degree routes to enter a new career path. Of the 15, we also interview 6 career development experts, ranging from researchers on the subject matter to professionals working in professional development for formerly incarcerated and homeless folks.

 
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Synthesis Frameworks:

To better frame our research, we created a spectrum between traditional and non-traditional forms of education based on our interviewees’ backgrounds. We identified traditional education as “as teacher-centered delivery of instruction to classes of students who are the receivers of information” and uses the diploma and standardized testing system as metrics of success.

From our user and expert interviews and in-depth secondary research, we held the hypothesis that there is a soft skills gap that is not fulfilled by any existing education system but can be supplemented with mentorship.

 
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Main Insights:

  1. Learning soft skills can feel like a game of chance.

  2. Building a network is mainly about having a sense of community—not just getting a job.

  3. There is a sense of social anxiety for the individual when it comes to digital networking.

How Might We:

1. Give students and workers more control over learning soft skills?

2. We help students and workers build a network that more about community than job-acquisition? 

 
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Why Digital Mentorship?

• Accessibility
• Cost effective
• Convenience of use

We believe that everyone should have access to mentorship and professional development.

 
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Prototyping & User Testing

Over the course of 2 weeks, we did 3 rounds of prototyping and two rounds of user testing with 12 participants.

Wireframes

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Next Steps

  1. Design desktop version of the app.

  2. Develop more compelling motivations for mentors to actively participate in the program.

 

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