optiMize is a University of Michigan organization that provides mentorship, funding, and specialized programming for student leaders to launch their social innovation projects and companies. Through optiMize, student entrepreneurs receive guided support from peers and industry experts to turn their ideas into reality. optiMize Connect is a platform dedicated to facilitating connections between mentors and mentees.
Objective: “Optimize is looking for a platform that allows their student entrepreneurs to connect with faculty mentors, look at a directory of available projects, connect with other students and projects, check out educational content and events, and track the progress of their work.“
My Role: Main UI Designer, Interaction Co-Lead
Methods: C&C Analysis, Screener Survey, User Interview, Affinity Mapping, Persona, Journey Map User Flows, MSCW Chart, Design Studio, Sketching, Wireframing, Prototyping & Iteration, Usability Testing
Tools: Figma, Procreate, Notion, Google Suite
My Team: UX Writer, UX Researcher, 2 Product Designers
Duration: 2-Week Sprint
Understanding the Need
To gain a better understanding of the motivations and methods behind seeking mentorship, we created a survey that targeted both mentors and mentees. With 54 responses received, we obtained valuable quantitative and qualitative insights.
Interview
We reached out to and conducted interviews with 12 individuals who had previously responded to our screener survey. The interviews were guided by the following framework:
Across 12 interviews...
67% want a mentor who is empathetic and compassionate
75% need structure for a mentoring relationship to thrive
65% want clear communication
100% seek mentorship to grow in their career, technical skills, or soft skills
Market Research
Our team conducted market research involving six companies, comprising two direct competitors known for their mentoring platforms and four comparative social networking platforms. This research aimed to gain insights into the available features and functionalities across these platforms.
Persona
Problem
The Student Leader needs clear communication, empathy, and a structured mentoring relationship so that they can strengthen their entrepreneurial and leadership skills and have a successful product launch.
Solution
optiMize Connect is a platform that connects eager mentees to experienced mentors. It encourages structured and transparent communication in order to create strong and productive relationships.
Ideation
To address these issues, we have come up with several questions to ask ourselves during the ideation phase.
How might we...
- establish trust and empathy between mentor and mentee?
- encourage clear communications and expectations?
- promote structure in the mentoring relationship?
- stimulate entrepreneurship and innovation?
Must, Should, Could, Won't
User Flow
Design Studio
My team decided it was best to conduct a design studio to brainstorm how the platform would look.
Synthesizing Our Ideas
After completing the design studio session, we proceeded to work on our initial wireframes. Due to extended time spent on research and ideation, conflicting ideas caused a time constraint for my team. To streamline the process, I took the initiative to dedicate the entire weekend to sketching and designing wireframes, incorporating insights from the design studio and the MSCW chart. On Monday, we collectively reviewed the wireframes and made necessary adjustments.
Mid-Fidelity Usability Testing
Our initial prototype needed usability testing in order to observe and iterate our prototype, making it easier for people to use and identify changes to improve user performance.
Mid-Fidelity Iterations
Navigation Bar
The term, “Explore” under the navigation bar was not clear-- users had trouble beginning the search for a new mentor. We changed the term to “People” to make it more familiar and clear, helping with the learnability of the platform.
Homepage
Following our usability testing, we believed that we needed to reduce the number of options on the homepage. We wanted to give users visual rest to reduce visual clutter.
Design Systems
Solving for the Problem Statement
During the prototyping phase, we reevaluated our problem statement and recognized the importance of addressing the lack of structure in mentoring relationships, a significant user need. To tackle this issue, we integrated a flow that replicates the post-meeting experience for our persona, the Student Leader. This enables them to submit a formal mentorship request, clearly defining their goals and expectations. The mentor reviews the request and tailors their mentoring style based on the Student Leader's answers.
2nd Round of Usability Testing
From our second round of usability tests, with 3 brand new users, we mainly learned “People” still isn’t right. We need a new term but needed more research to continue. We also ironed out the readability of the website.
High-Fidelity Prototype
Next Steps
To address the lingering hesitations regarding the "People" category in the header, we will perform a card sort to determine the most appropriate category. Additionally, we will begin working on the mentor side of the platform, leveraging the insightful data obtained from user interviews to develop the user flow. Then, we will proceed with wireframe design, testing, and iterations.
