Guidr Mentorship Experience
Removing obstacles for students to search for and connect with mentors.
Context
Mentorship is crucial for personal and professional growth. Guidr bridges the gap between those seeking guidance and those offering mentorship across various fields. It provides personalized connections based on mutual interests, challenges, and goals while ensuring safety and effective communication.
I managed the entire design process for this product, handling everything from user research and product strategy to interaction design, visual design, and branding.
Role
Product Designer
Timeline
Mar - July 2024
Tools
Figma & Figjam
Adobe Illustrator
SUMMARY
Quickly and reliably find mentors that match your interests.
This project was divided into two parts: one for mentees and the other for mentors. This case study focuses on the mentees, aiming to simplify the search and connection process with mentors. The project was developed with transparency and exploration in mind to create a product that users will adopt over existing alternatives.
IDEA SYNTHESIS
It all started when I began to attend various career development panels…
Among the valuable advice given, a recurring question stood out in each panel: "What was the most significant challenge you faced early in your career, and how did you overcome it?" The answer that kept repeating was…
THE PROBLEM
Many incomplete solutions make it harder for students to find their community.
There are many partial solutions available, but they create barriers for those seeking mentors. Each has its own pros and cons, which add to the difficulty and frustration of finding the right mentor.
LinkedIn Connections
A professional networking platform that connects individuals with wide-ranging industry contacts.
Pros
Wide network
Professional profiles
Cons
Difficult to find specific mentorship
Generic advice
University Platforms
Official channels provided by educational institutions to support student needs.
Pros
Official and reliable
Cons
Limited information
Difficult navigation
Search functionality
Mentorship Programs
Structured initiatives designed to provide goal-oriented guidance.
Pros
Structured and goal-oriented
Cons
Limited availability
Lack of personalization
PRODUCT GOAL
Making mentorship connections easier!
The goal is to create a platform that makes it easy for users to find and connect with mentors who match their interests and needs, acting as a central resource for personalized mentorship.
USER RESEARCH
User Interview sessions, affinity mapping and finding insights.
We conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with a diverse sample of 12 potential users, including students and professionals from various academic and career backgrounds. These interviews, conducted via video calls, were structured to explore their experiences, needs, and preferences related to mentorship. After the interviews, we created an affinity map to identify common themes and patterns.
Based on the interviews, we identified several recurring themes and needs:
Personalized Guidance: Users want mentors who match their specific academic and career interests.
Flexible Communication: Users prefer various communication options like video calls, messaging, and in-person meetings.
Safety and Trust: Users need safe and reliable mentorship connections to avoid scams.
Skill Development: Users seek mentorship that offers practical advice and project collaboration to bridge academic and real-world skills.
Community and Networking: Users desire a community to connect with peers and mentors who share their goals.
Construting "How might we…" sentences based on insights
To guide our design process, we used insights from the affinity mapping to create How Might We (HMW) questions. These questions help frame the design challenges and explore potential solutions by turning user needs into opportunities for innovation:
HMW
create a personalized mentorship matching system that aligns mentors and mentees based on their academic and personal interests, career goals, and preferred communication methods?
HMW
provide resources and guidance for users to overcome common obstacles, such as navigating internships, career planning, and adapting to new environments, while also offering tailored advice for specific challenges like research proposal writing or understanding digital marketing trends?
HMW
incorporate tools and features that support skill development, such as project collaboration, feedback mechanisms, and access to exclusive workshops or talks by industry leaders?
HMW
build a community within the platform that encourages open dialogue, collaborative learning, and shared experiences, particularly for users with specific interests like sustainability or technology?
Crafting an Intuitive User Experience
While designing the main user flow, I focused on making the experience straightforward and accessible, especially for first-time users. By adhering to specific product constraints, I was able to maintain a clear and user-friendly approach
The app is
For connecting users with mentors who share their goals.
Ensuring secure and trustworthy interactions.
Offering flexible communication with minimal time commitment.
The app is not
A general networking or job search tool.
Dictating specific career or academic choices.
Requiring extensive planning or preparation.
Wire framing
Start with creating a visual representations of the solution.
The initial wireframes were created to outline the basic structure and user flow of the app. These early-stage designs underwent numerous iterations to refine the layout and enhance usability.
Visual DESIGN IDEATION
Crafting the Ideal experience
Content feels crowded
Icons + Content Layout
Layout of the Onboarding Questions
Initially, the design only included text options with one-line captions. However, it became clear that adding icons to indicate mentor and mentee roles would make the layout much more intuitive and easily understandable.
Interaction DESIGN IDEATION
Helping make smoother conversations
To facilitate easier interactions, the chatbox screen features an AI-powered conversation starter. This design helps users overcome the challenge of initiating conversations by providing personalized prompts based on their profiles and interests.
Final Protypes
Take a look at the full prototype.
You can check out the whole Hi-Fi prototype of the app in Figma by clicking the button below.
👋🏼
Thank you for reading this case study.
Your interest and feedback are appreciated!
Raj Ostawal
Product Designer
If you like what you see,
let's work together
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