Connectic
Role
Product Designer
Team
Me
(Primary Designer)
Jung Joo Song
(Mentor)
Timeline
May - Dec 2022
(7 months)
Skills
User Research
UX Design
Web Design
Project Management
Tools Used
Figma
Google Analytics
WordPress
JAN 2023 UPDATE
2023 Indigo Design Awards Recipient
Category: Freelancer
Gold Winner in Apps
Silver Winner in Mobile App
OVERVIEW
Connectic was designed with early career professionals in mind who often struggle to find the right guidance and support needed to jumpstart and navigate their careers.
Due to challenges such as limited access to mentors, scheduling difficulties, and a lack of personalized advice tailored to their specific goals, many individuals post-college are often left to figure out their career paths independently. Connectic addresses these concerns by increasing access to quality mentorship opportunities.
01
Understanding the Target Users
THE PROBLEM SPACE
According to Forbes, "76% of people think mentors are important, but only 37% have one."
To bridge this gap, I focused on 3 areas of concern where users may experience potential pain points when searching for a mentoring partner.
Focus Area 1: During the search process itself. How do mentors and mentees typically find each other?
Focus Area 2: During the initial outreach and engagement process. Once a suitable match has been found, what then?
Focus Area 3: General communication patterns. What is the most effective way to connect?
SECONDARY RESEARCH
Results from a competitive analysis then revealed that low no-show rates, video-based matching, and comprehensive profiles were the key influencers of good user experience.
I conducted an analysis of three social networking platforms—LinkedIn's Career Advice Feature, Shapr, and Lunchclub—to assess the current market landscape and identify potential differentiators. Each platform is cost-free and primarily oriented toward connecting individuals, with a common emphasis on mentorship.
According to reviews, no-shows were a top factor that impacted user experience
My takeaway: Keep accountability in mind when ideating for Connectic
Platforms that matched users via chat vs. via video call saw less engagement
My takeaway: Experiment with the most efficient way to connect people together
Titles and companies alone don't provide much insight about a person
My takeaway: Comprehensive profiles can be helpful to gauge initial commonalities
PRIMARY RESEARCH
After interviewing 7 mentors and mentees, I learned that while there is mutual interest in mentoring relationships, challenges emerged during the outreaching and matching phases which hindered actual connections.
As I believed that the success of my mentorship app design hinged on a balanced focus on both the mentor and mentee user types, I found it important to interview both groups to understand their mentorship experiences, processes, concerns, and product expectations. My findings provided valuable insights that served as a launching pad for the ideation stage.
Insight #1: Finding Commonality
Participants value personal relatability on top of professional guidance in mentorships. Mentees in particular want someone who they can "vibe" with.
[How Might We] create an open platform that encourages people to discover and connect authentically?
Insight #2: Understand the Need & Ask
When reviewing requests, mentors value the specificity in the ask, in order to assess whether they can help and if it's worth their time.
[How Might We] provide mentors with the right tools needed to engage with mentee requests?
Insight #3: Ease of Scheduling
Participants engage in a lot of back and forth with scheduling until mutual availability is found. Scheduling is more dependent on mentors as they're the busier professional.
[How Might We] automate the scheduling process to streamline availability opportunities?
Insight #4: Breaking the Invisible Barrier
Mentees feel anxious when reaching out to strangers for help. However, this uncertainty is reduced if there are indicators that the person is willing to help.
[How Might We] relieve some of the stress that mentees feel when searching for a mentor?
02
Solution Ideation
BRAINSTORMING USER FLOWS
My research insights inspired three core areas for user flow ideation, addressing user needs that focused on inclusivity, authenticity, availability, and compatibility indicators.
In order to craft an intuitive and accessible matching process that facilitated mentor-mentee connectivity, I realized that it's important to find a way to deliver essential evaluative information for both user groups. This primarily meant areas of similarities for the mentee, and potential alignment for the mentor.
The Onboarding Process
Inclusivity: While users are prompted to add their university, this step is optional for those who went the less traditional path
Mentor Search and Booking Process
Authenticity: Profiles allow mentors to include both professional experiences and personal interests to add a touch of authentic connection
Availability: Mentors provide their availability to allow easy scheduling for mentees
Meeting Confirmation Process
Compatibility Indicators: Mentees are required to submit meeting agendas and topics of interest, to allow mentors to assess mutual fit
At a high level, I also took business needs into consideration and thought of a two-tier pricing & a referral system as possible opportunities to make a profit from the app.
It is not currently showcased in Connectic as a Minimum Viable Product, but given future opportunity for expansion, I would have incorporated:
1) Two tier pricing with free & premium
2) Referral system in place to grow user base through word of mouth
SKETCHING & WIREFRAMING
With the structure of the app in place, I went through multiple iterations of sketching and ideation to create an intuitive layout for my screens.
I made an early sketch prototype and used guerrilla testing to gather feedback, before iterating again and transforming my sketches into wireframes.
03
Brand Attributes
UI & BRANDING
"Connectic" is derived from "connect + authentic." As such, I focused the brand attributes of Connectic to be welcoming, trusted, and authentic.
"Connectic" is derived from "connect + authentic." I chose this name to empower strong mentoring relationships and designed the logo to reflect the app's mission.
04
Testing & Refinements
USABILITY TESTING
There were 3 major improvements in my design after 2 rounds of usability testing to gather firsthand feedback from users and potential usability issues.
Usability testing was conducted with 10 participants split between the mentor and mentee user types of Connectic. My area of concern prior to testing was the layout of the search and filter process, and this was confirmed to be true during testing.
FINAL MOCKUPS & PROTOTYPE
Want to test out the Connectic app yourself?
*Note: For the best experience, please view the Figma prototype on a laptop device instead of mobile.
There are two prototype user flows, one for mentees and one for mentors.
The Mentee Prototype user flow:
Go through the mentee onboarding process
Search and filter for a mentor
Book a mentor meeting
Join the mentoring meeting
The Mentor Prototype user flow:
Go through the mentor onboarding process
Action on pending mentee meeting requests
Join the mentoring meeting
The full Figma work file is linked below to view the entire project process.
CONCLUSION
3 things that I learned and/or would do differently next time…
Usability testing was conducted with 10 participants split between the mentor and mentee user types of Connectic. My area of concern prior to testing was the layout of the search and filter process, and this was confirmed to be true during testing.
Every mistake is not a mistake, it's just an opportunity to be better - As this was my first-ever UX project, the entire UX process was a learning journey throughout, which meant there were mistakes from UI to the more foundational UX issues in Connectic in the early stages. However, I'm thankful to have constantly asked for feedback from my mentor and peers, resulting in so much improvement and being able to push my designs to the best of my ability.
If I had more time, I would conduct further UX testing - This is to ensure that in the "Join Meeting" process, the Zoom platform integration is the best move for Connectic, compared to a platform-specific video-conferencing feature.
Ideate as much as possible and be open to feedback - Sometimes it's easy to really like the early ideas that come to mind, but early doesn't mean it's the best one for the user. I learned that doing cycles of diverging and converging routines to generate a variety of ideas while focusing on the core needs is the best way to find the right solution.
SAAS DESIGN
JAMSNext
Refreshing the job applicant experience for a recruitment software start-up
WEB DESIGN
CIFWI
Homepage revamp for a mental health non-profit organization based in Philadelphia
OTHER | FREELANCE
Miscellaneous
A gallery of other side projects I've worked on in the past, including freelance client work and design sprints.