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My Role

UX Researcher, UX Designer, UI Designer, Branding & Identity

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Tools

Sketch, Figma, Invision, Balsamiq, Maze, Usability Hub, Draw.io

Design Phases & Deliverables

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Discovery

User Surveys, User Research, Competitive Analysis & Strategy

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Information Architecture

User Personas & Flows, Site Map, Low­-Fi Wireframes & Testing

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Visual Design

Logo Design, Style Guides, High­-Fi Wireframes & Testing

Summary

Everyone wants to become an entertainer, athlete, win the lottery, make money through social media, or some other outlier career. Unfortunately, the stats show the vast majority of us will have to join the workforce. Demand for high skilled labor and talent across many industries continues to get harder and more challenging. It will only continue to get more difficult as the population grows, automation continues, and people live longer and retire later in their lives.

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Problem

Companies are seeking talented individuals that are ready with the right skills to take on challenging high skilled jobs. It can be a difficult and daunting task to navigate the treacherous job market. It takes a combination of luck, hard work and persistance to land your dream job or career.

There are so many paths an individual can take to find a meaningful job or career. Do you need a degree? Should you take a boot camp? What are the costs going to be? Sometimes that path to a meaningful and fulfilling career can take a very long time or never happen at all. You will have to go from job to job and try to figure out what works best for you and your lifestyle.

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Solution

Bullmrkte is a platform for students and job seekers to help guide them and motivate them to find meaningfull careers. Our platform provides industry insights and trends, career roadmaps, goal tracking for free. For paid services you can connect with an industry mentor, accountability coach, or career services to help with resumes and cover letters.

Take charge of your life and career with Bullmrkte, because no matter what type of market the economy is in, you must think like a bull for your career.


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Process




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Discovery Phase

The Process of our design began with understanding the market and our potential end-users. We conducted User Surveys and Competitive Analysis to ensure our solution will satisfy our stakeholders and justify our solution. Below are some of the results from our interviews and surveys.

Survey Results

80% of professionals surveyed did not know what they wanted to do with their careers in high school or college

60% of professionals surveyed have careers that do not align with their college degree

Fitness is the most popular app in the accountability/coaching space, so that leaves room for growth in the career accountability/coaching space

When asked about payment options, 50% of users surveyed would like free services from a coaching/accountability app

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Key Takeaways from User Surveys & User Research

vpn_key There is a marketplace for a platform that helps students with career roadmaps, mentorships, and accountability coaching

vpn_key 60% of professionals are in careers that do not align with their college degree

vpn_key The app must provide some type of free service in order to attract users

Competitive Analysis

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Key Takeaways from Competitive Analysis


For our competitive research, we decided to focus on three goal setting and habit tracking apps that help people accomplish their goals. Bullmrkte is a platform to help students focus on their career goals.

Coach.me has brand recognition and a free habit tracker that comes with the app. The typical coaching starts off at $14.99/week.

Stickk makes you sign a contract that if you do not meet your goals you have to pay a monetary penalty to a non-profit.

Beeminder is similar to Stickk makes you sign a contract that if you do not meet your goals you have to pay a monetary penalty to a non-profit.

Competitive Summary: Comparing all the competitors we felt we had to differentiate ourselves. Bullmrkte will focus on the niche market of career roadmaps and a mentor network. We will provide free services such as career roadmaps, goal setting, and industry trends and insights to gain customers.

vpn_key Focus on career roadmaps and mentorships

vpn_key Offer free services such as goal tracking, career services

vpn_key Provide industry insights on the top jobs and skills needed for the current market

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Key Takeaways from the Discovery phase

Our user surveys and interviews suggested that most professionals were eager to try out a platform that catered to helping students and adult learners figure out their careers. After conducting a thorough competitive analysis we discovered that we needed to differentiate our platform.

vpn_key Surveyors really liked the option of mentorship to reach out to a professional in a particular field

vpn_key Paid services would include Mentorship, Career Services, and Accountability coaching

vpn_key Free services would include goal tracking, career roadmaps, and industry trends analysis



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Information Architecture

  • John
  • Age: 19
  • Occupation: Student

  • Bio: John is a student at George Mason University and he is majoring in Accounting. He is a member of the basketball team and is very excited about his future.

  • Motivation: John is a driven individual and wants the best career possible for his future. He was told Accounting has good job prospects right out of college and is a good degree to pursue.

  • Goals: John wants to make sure Accounting is the best major for him and not waste time on a degree that will not make him happy in the future. His goals are to have a successful career in the future that will provide him a livable income. John always had a passion for technology bus is not sure if there is a future for him in the technology world.

  • Frustrations: John is not sure if Accounting will be the most fulfilling career in the future and is only majoring in it because his father has a successful career as an Accountant and the job prospects are good. John wants to look at other options but does not know where to start or who to go to for advice.
  • Stacey
  • Age: 26
  • Occupation: Full-Stack Developer

  • Bio: Stacey was a graduate of Harvard and majored in Computer Science. She currently works for a major government contracting firm as a Full-Stack Developer. She has always had a passion for technology.

  • Motivation: Stacey always wanted to be a teacher, but she knew the pay was not the best. She has a passion to help younger students out with their career.

  • Goals: Stacey wants to help mentor students for the future of the tech industry and if she can make some extra money that would be a bonus. Her goals are to help students figure out their talents early on and save time on finding their true passions in life so that they can have a satisfying career.

  • Frustrations: Stacey has no idea where to start in her search for a platform to help students. She also does not have time to find students to mentor. If only there was a platform that could allow her to coach mentor students for the future of tech.


User Stories



User Stories



User Flows





User Flows



Site Map





Low-Fi Prototypes



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Low-Fi Testing

Low-Fi testing was conducted with both in-person and remote users. Users were instructed to accomplish the following tasks:

1) Onboarding for new users

2) Selecting "Career Roadmaps" and navigate to "Tech", and then "Front-End Web Development". Select a mentor and go to the payment portal to pay for a one-time session.

3) Selecting "Mentors" and navigate to "Tech", and then "Front-End Web Development". Select a mentor and go to the payment portal to pay for a one-time session.

Feedback

vpn_key Most users were able to navigate the app with relative ease

vpn_key Make sure there is a way to sign on if a user accidently clicks on "new user" and is already a user

vpn_key The onboarding process should be more simplified and not contain to many screens for the user

vpn_key Work on the main dashboard to see what improvements can be made and what content to include



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Branding

For branding, we wanted to focus on the idea that no matter what type of job market you must think like a bull for your career. You must always be bullish for your career or else you will be left behind. Initially, we wanted to use a lot of red throughout the app but after testing, we realized the too much red could be overwhelming for the end-user.

Red Logo

Dark Logo

Light Logo



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Visual Design & Hi-Fi Testing

Hi-Fi testing was conducted with both in-person and remote users. Users were instructed to accomplish the following tasks:

1) Onboarding for new users

2) Selecting "Career Roadmaps" and navigate to "Tech", and then "Front-End Web Development". Select a mentor and go to the payment portal to pay for a one-time session.

3) Selecting "Mentors" and navigate to "Tech", and then "Front-End Web Development". Select a mentor and go to the payment portal to pay for a one-time session.

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Key Factors

vpn_key Participants were satisfied with the website and the idea of the product, but with all great designs, there are many iterations

vpn_key Focus on using less branding colors and more greys and whites for the UI components

vpn_key Use more blue as it is more trusting and calming and red for call to action buttons to improve user performance and satisfaction



Landing Page

The landing page took many iterations to complete as we went through prototype testing and preference testing. We ultimately decided on using less red because it was easier on the eyes for the end user. Too much red can be overwhelming and it is best to use red sparingly as an alert item. We decided to use it as a primary button. We made numerous changes on the landing page including changing the color palette, isometric visuals, adding more CAB's, and pricing options on the landing page

Iteration 1

Iteration 2

Dashboard

The dashboard was revamped and improved so that it has options for users to learn more about the various products Bullmrkte has to offer. Industry Trends takes up less real estate on the website.

Iteration 1

Iteration 2

Payment Screen

For the payment screen, the inner text of the fields was greyed out and two different button styles were used to create a primary and secondary.

Iteration 1

Iteration 2



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Conclusion

What worked?

Focusing on the MVP product of career roadmaps and mentorship opportunities first. All the additional requirements can be added in later. goal setting, accountability coaching, career services, and job trends.

Always try to create something functional as soon as possible and get it tested. Refinements can always be made in later iterations.

What didn’t work?

Using too many branding colors with the UI. Too much red was overwhelming for users eyes.

What I learned?

For the UI its is always best to try to stick with greys and whites with splashes of branding color for CAB buttons or secondary buttons.