I tackled a seven-day design challenge for the role of User Experience Design Intern. Here is my design process in creating an end-to-end experience that is both seamless and intuitive for students to find quality mentorships.
Click here to see the prototype.
Prompt
Your school wants to strengthen the community by encouraging experienced students to connect with new students and help them adjust to campus life. Design an experience that allows mentors and mentees to discover each other.
Solution
Create an app that allows students to efficiently and effectively find mentees and mentors through common interests.
Timeline
7 days
Responsibilities
Research, Ideate, Iterate, Usability Testing
Skills
User interviews & testing, Contextual inquiry, Heuristic evaluation, Wireframing, Rapid prototyping, User experience design, User experience research, Problem-solving, Communication and presentation
I began conducting user interviews in order to identify the needs of mentors and mentees. I asked three users who were all students at UC San Diego and are involved in different types of organizations that have strong mentorship programs. I asked about their process of finding their mentor and mentee and identified their pain points.
Not only do students want to have quality mentorships, but quality relationships with one another as well. Students want to create lasting friendships on campus with their mentors and mentees. By identifying their pain points, I was able to craft solutions that solved the users’ needs.
I chose to design an app where student mentors and mentees are able to create profiles, consisting of their professional and personal information so that students are able to choose others based on their skills and/or common interests. By creating and browsing through student profiles for potential mentees and mentors, it saves them a lot of time with the information displayed on hand. From there on, users can choose whether or not to reach out to other students for mentorship.
I was inspired by the dating apps, Tinder and Bumble, which are able to connect people based on the user’s preferences to create meaningful relationships.
Tinder and Bumble both utilize the sign-up process to have users fill out important information about themselves. The information will be used and shared to create better matches with other users.
Part of the main experience of both apps is that they are able to dismiss or connect with a user using the swiping action. Users are also able to read more information about them by swiping up, which can help users determine whether or not they want to chat with them.
Both apps helped me craft the experience for my app, Link. Link helps students connect with each other to create quality mentorships.
I began the design process by sketching initial wireframes, outlining key user flows such as account creation, uploading personal photos, entering basic information, and setting preferences. The wireframes also depicted the main interface for browsing potential connections, as well as the messaging experience, providing a clear view of how users would interact with the platform throughout their journey.
After finalizing the user flow, I went on to define the style guide for the app.
After exploring color schemes using Canva and Colormind, I selected this palette to create a balance between a fun and professional environment for students. Blue, often associated with professionalism, is used in a lighter tone here to evoke a more approachable and personable atmosphere, complemented by the clean and neutral presence of white.
I used the 8pt grid system for icons, typography, and layout of my app. My visual design system was inspired by Vitsky’s Medium article.
I designed and iterated the hi-fidelity wireframes on Sketch.
First Steps: Creating an Account
Both mentors and mentees will be asked of the necessary information for their accounts to be created.
How does one become a mentor or mentee?
Students can specify whether they are looking for a mentor or a mentee, which influences the profiles shown on the home page. For example, selecting "mentor" will display only mentors.
Next Steps: Adding Basic Information
By entering basic information, the app refines search results, helping students connect based on shared interests and experiences, streamlining the matching process.
Final Steps: Linking with Others
Users can view detailed profiles and, if they find a suitable mentor or mentee, they can send a message to initiate a connection and plan to meet.
Add your info and find students like you
Students can add their info to create a better experience for connecting with potential links. The app can help find others who share common interests and experiences. The information provides a first-hand impression of who they are.
Undivided attention to each potential link
Profiles besides the first are intentionally blurred and locked so users can only view one profile at a time. The next profile can be unlocked and revealed when the user takes action to either dismiss or connect first.
Connect or dismiss a potential link with intent
No swiping action, but rather, action buttons are intentionally placed at the bottom so users can carefully read potential links’ profiles before taking action. This causes less room for action errors.
Tapping the message button will have a chat bubble appear, so users are encouraged to make the first move instantly.
Chat with and see who's trying to connect with you
Users can view their unread messages with other potential links. They can also view their potential link’s profile right then and there to get a better understanding of who they are and what they’re looking for.
After my final iterations, I sent five users the Invision link of my prototype to see what they thought about it. The common themes they thought about the app were:
Designing a new experience for students to find quality mentorships over the past week was both challenging and rewarding. While I’m proud of the final prototype, there are areas for improvement moving forward:
A huge thank you to Chaitanya and Lucy for reviewing my designs and being incredible stakeholders who pushed me to reach my full potential! I’m also grateful to Alex, Jyphenie, and Valerie for taking the time to be interviewed. Special thanks to Kenta and Marlon for representing my product. And to my friends, thank you for helping me stay grounded during the design challenge.
Last but not least, thank you, Bumble and Tinder, for allowing me to put in my profile bio, “I’m not looking for anything or anyone, I’m only here for research purposes.”