The user can decide which path to follow according to his starting point
Academic
Building a new and exciting way to find your next career
Background
The site helps people choose their career path and find a place to study
Challenge
Provide relevant tools and reliable information in order to find the best suitable choice for them
Role
This was the final project during my UX studies . I was the soul UX designer through the whole process
CONTEXT
The problem
When I’ll grow up
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” is a question I bet you where asked a thousand times before. This is one of the most difficult & complex decisions in an adult’s life, which often taken more than once in a lifetime.
So how do you know you’re making the right choice? How the hack are you suppose to make a decision in such a dynamic reality , with endless possibilities and an infinity of information?
Can we make it easier? Can we help you search and decide what & where to study?
The Design Process
RESEARCH
User research
What do you need?
In order to get to know my potential users & their needs, I’ve conducted dozens of surveys and interviews. The users varied in age and in life status, some at the beginning of their career journey, and some looking for a pivot
I wanted to get a better understanding of their needs, learn how they are looking for information today, what are the main parameters in their decision making, and where lays their pain points
The data analysis emphasized the current problems & limitations and helped me frame the problem I need to attend to
Some Q&A's
Q1: Do you know what you want to study?
Almost half of the participants don’t know what they want to study or still debating
Q2: How do you search for institutes or professional schools today?
The most common ways participants search today are through google, social networks or word of mouth
Q3: What are the main criteria’s in your decision making?
The main factors that come under consideration when deciding a career path are interest, salary and fitting to personal skills
Interviewees' quotes
What do people say?
Pain points
01
Infinite information
How will I handle all this information? Is it reliable bias? So many possibilities, how can I decide which choice is the most suitable for me?
02
Finding a match
How can I find a profession to fit my skills? How can I be sure I have good chances to be successful in this occupation?
03
Time consuming
My Time is precious and limited, how can I focus my search? I spend a lot of time on this research and still can’t find what I’m looking for
04
The human factor
It’s so hard to take a decision, I wish there was someone I could consult with, someone who is already in the field. I have so many questions about the day-to-day professional life
Competitive Research
What's out there?
During my study I found that there are numerous sites providing information about academic degrees, institutes and professional courses. After a brief review I could spot the similarity of most of them – in structure, features and services provided.
The purpose of the site is unclear, and it seems like most of them encourage the users to leave personal details in order to get access to useful features such as comparison options, referral and connection with institutes.
Final analysis
Key insights
With a better understanding of the users' needs and pain points, I came up with several ideas for special features to help users achieve their goals
01
Matching system
Provide a matching system which suggests the best matches based on the user’s skills & preferences. Each pick includes detailed information and match percentage
02
Advanced search
Provide advanced search capabilities which can help the user focus his search and save precious time
03
Comparison option
Provide an option to compare between several choices based on different parameters
04
Communication tools
Provide connection tools in order to get consultation and impressions from graduates and professionals
IDEATE
Personas
Defining the users
The user research and the interviews I conducted led me to create a user persona that I used in making my next design decisions. I decided to focus on 2 personas – one which is at the beginning of their professional journey and the other more settled & experienced looking for a career change
Following the user flow
Based on several scenarios, I mapped different user flows to ensure the structure works and makes sense from the user's perspective.
The following user flow shows the decisions and actions the user has to make when searching for the best suitable institution to study in
Information architecture
Defining the hierarchy
After deciding how the site should behave and what features I should include, I created the site’s information architecture, which visualizes how the content is organized
DESIGN
Wireframes
Visualizing the solution
Having verified the structure flow, and after sketching low-fidelity screens on paper - I finally started visualizing the solution!
I created low-fidelity wireframes for the site’s screens, to clarify and specify the layout of each screen.
Onboarding
The landing page clarifies & guides the user what kind of information and services he can get, offering 2 paths according to the pre-defined flows – go through the matching wizard or go straight to the advanced search
Matching Wizard
In order to find the right match I prepared a short & playful wizard, which gathers personal details and learns the user’s strengths and interests. According to this information the system offers the best suitable choices
Dashboard
Based on the user’s choice along with the early user research & analysis I built a dashboard summarizing useful information to help the user make a decision. he can find detail about: matching percentage, degree description, graduates grading, FAQ, salary rate & promotion possibilities, relevant institutions and chat options
Detailed dashboard to help the user make a decision
Advanced Search tools
The search page proposes 3 different ways to search – input predictive search, mega-menu, or a detailed search based on a few basic parameters. Upon search Detailed list results is shown with advanced sort & filter options
various search options
search results with sort & filter options
Comparison Option
One of the key insights from the user research was the lack of a comparison option to help make a decision.
I chose to solve this problem within the results page – enabling the user to pick up to 3 choices to compare between. A pop-up screen shows a comparison based on various parameters
Picking up a few results to compare between
Pop-up allowing to compare based on different parameters
Referral to the institute site for more details & contact
Course details page
After deciding which professional path he is interested in, the user can refer to the relevant course page to get more details.
Furthermore, there is an option to leave personal details to get back to, or start a chat with a graduate using chat module
Providing detailed information on the course
Form within the page to leave contact details
Chat Module
The user research brought up a couple of pain points concerning the credibility of the information on the net as well as the need to consult with a course graduate.
In order to resolve the issue I decided to offer the users an option to chat with course graduates and hear about their experience
Chat module embedded in the dashboard page – option for multiple chats
Chat module embedded in course page – chat online with a graduate
Notifications & Pop-Ups
In order to create a smooth & seamless user experience I used a set of notifications and pop-ups screens. These screens can help the user learn how to navigate through the system and use its different tools & search options
Dashboard
The user can subscribe in order to store his personal info for future use
Pop-up window with a short subscription form
Search results
A pop-up notification to inform the user there is an option to compare between search results
A strip notification counting the user picks and enables him to refer to the a comparison page
Course details
A pop-up notification to inform the user the was stored successfully and representative will get back to him soon
My Prototype
Take a minute to experience the final design!
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