Role
Role
UI/UX Designer
UI/UX Designer
Timeline
Timeline
Summer 2024
Summer 2024
Team
Team
1 project manager, 1 design manager, 5 designers
1 project manager, 1 design manager, 5 designers
Tools
Tools
Figma, Figjam, Adobe Illustrator
Figma, Figjam, Adobe Illustrator
Project objective -
Project objective -
Silver Lining Mentoring empowers youth in foster care by providing committed mentoring relationships and essential life skills development.
Silver Lining Mentoring empowers youth in foster care by providing committed mentoring relationships and essential life skills development.
Silver Lining Mentoring (SLM) supports youth who have faced instability and disrupted education by offering mentorship programs that foster lasting bonds. These relationships empower mentees to achieve independence and develop essential life skills.
Silver Lining Mentoring (SLM) supports youth who have faced instability and disrupted education by offering mentorship programs that foster lasting bonds. These relationships empower mentees to achieve independence and develop essential life skills.
about the project
about the project
Silver Lining Mentoring is planning to expanding its reach nationwide through a new e-mentoring program, leveraging technology to enhance mentoring practices and ensure quality, long-term relationships.
Silver Lining Mentoring is planning to expanding its reach nationwide through a new e-mentoring program, leveraging technology to enhance mentoring practices and ensure quality, long-term relationships.
Silver Lining Mentoring (SLM) is launching an e-mentoring program to reach more youth nationwide, using technology to enhance mentoring practices while ensuring quality experiences.
As a product designer, I collaborated with a team of designers, a design manager, and a project manager to create a relationship management app. This app supports mentors and mentees in maintaining and strengthening their 1:1 e-mentoring relationships through an engaging, gamified experience.
Silver Lining Mentoring (SLM) is launching an e-mentoring program to reach more youth nationwide, using technology to enhance mentoring practices while ensuring quality experiences.
As a product designer, I collaborated with a team of designers, a design manager, and a project manager to create a relationship management app. This app supports mentors and mentees in maintaining and strengthening their 1:1 e-mentoring relationships through an engaging, gamified experience.
As a product designer, I collaborated with a team of designers and a project manager to develop a relationship management app. This product aims to strengthens 1:1 e-mentoring relationships by offering mentors and mentees an engaging, gamified platform to connect, grow, and maintain meaningful bonds.
As a product designer, I collaborated with a team of designers and a project manager to develop a relationship management app. This product aims to strengthens 1:1 e-mentoring relationships by offering mentors and mentees an engaging, gamified platform to connect, grow, and maintain meaningful bonds.
Silver Lining Mentoring (SLM) is launching an e-mentoring program to reach more youth nationwide, using technology to enhance mentoring practices while ensuring quality experiences.
As a product designer, I collaborated with a team of designers, a design manager, and a project manager to create a relationship management app. This app supports mentors and mentees in maintaining and strengthening their 1:1 e-mentoring relationships through an engaging, gamified experience.
Silver Lining Mentoring (SLM) is launching an e-mentoring program to reach more youth nationwide, using technology to enhance mentoring practices while ensuring quality experiences.
As a product designer, I collaborated with a team of designers, a design manager, and a project manager to create a relationship management app. This app supports mentors and mentees in maintaining and strengthening their 1:1 e-mentoring relationships through an engaging, gamified experience.
4 key features
4 key features
Timeline, Engage, Community, Profile
Timeline, Engage, Community, Profile
Research -
Research -
Empathizing With Our Users
Empathizing With Our Users
To gain a better understanding of users’ goals and ideas towards e-mentoring, we conducted a multi-faceted qualitative research process, including:
To gain a better understanding of users’ goals and ideas towards e-mentoring, we conducted a multi-faceted qualitative research process, including:
product Audits
product Audits
Evaluated existing systems for strengths, weaknesses and improvement opportunities.
Evaluated existing systems for strengths, weaknesses and improvement opportunities.
Surveys
Surveys
Gathered insights from users to understand their goals and preferences on e-mentoring.
Gathered insights from users to understand their goals and preferences on e-mentoring.
User Interviews
User Interviews
Interviewed staff, mentees, and mentors to understand their experiences & perspectives.
Interviewed staff, mentees, and mentors to understand their experiences & perspectives.
Focus Groups
Focus Groups
Participated in SLM focus group meetings to explore collective ideas on e-mentoring
Participated in SLM focus group meetings to explore collective ideas on e-mentoring
As we reviewed the responses, we organized and mapped the feedback, uncovering key pain point that shaped our product decisions:
As we reviewed the responses, we organized and mapped the feedback, uncovering key pain point that shaped our product decisions:
1
1
Communication between mentor and mentee often weakens over time
Communication between mentor and mentee often weakens over time
It affects mentee growth and challenging the strength of e-mentoring relationships
It affects mentee growth and challenging the strength of e-mentoring relationships
2
2
Mentees seek connection with peers in the foster care system
Mentees seek connection with peers in the foster care system
But they struggle to find a safe, supportive space to share and connect
But they struggle to find a safe, supportive space to share and connect
3
3
SLM staff track mentoring progress manually, which takes a lot of time
SLM staff track mentoring progress manually, which takes a lot of time
It limits their ability to focus on monitoring and supporting mentoring effectively
It limits their ability to focus on monitoring and supporting mentoring effectively
How might we strengthen mentor-mentee communication, foster a supportive community for mentees, and simplify progress tracking for SLM staff to improve e-mentoring relationships?
How might we strengthen mentor-mentee communication, foster a supportive community for mentees, and simplify progress tracking for SLM staff to improve e-mentoring relationships?
Ideation & proposed solutions -
Ideation & proposed solutions -
Establishing Product Requirements
Establishing Product Requirements
Using insights from user research, the team brainstormed 70+ app solutions and, after discussions with stakeholders to determine priorities, we identified 4 key product requirements for development.
Using insights from user research, the team brainstormed 70+ app solutions and, after discussions with stakeholders to determine priorities, we identified 4 key product requirements for development.
Timeline
Timeline
A scrapbook for mentees to track their journey, reflections, milestones, and progress with statistics.
A scrapbook for mentees to track their journey, reflections, milestones, and progress with statistics.
Engage
Engage
A hub for mentor-mentee interactions with kudos messages, a kudos board, and prompts to increase engagement.
A hub for mentor-mentee interactions with kudos messages, a kudos board, and prompts to increase engagement.
Community
Community
A space to connect with other mentees and mentors, share thoughts, and interact on curated topics.
A space to connect with other mentees and mentors, share thoughts, and interact on curated topics.
Profile & Settings
Profile & Settings
View profiles, posts, and send messages or emojis. Manage your settings for a personalized experience.
View profiles, posts, and send messages or emojis. Manage your settings for a personalized experience.
As part of a collaborative team, we divided the sections, and I was responsible for designing the Engage and Profile features.
As part of a collaborative team, we divided the sections, and I was responsible for designing the Engage and Profile features.
Initial IDeas: improving engagement
Initial IDeas: improving engagement
One key pain point identified during research was the challenge mentor and mentee faced in staying connected and maintaining engagement. To address this, I proposed the following initial ideas as potential solutions to help them build stronger bonds and stay more involved with each other.
One key pain point identified during research was the challenge mentor and mentee faced in staying connected and maintaining engagement. To address this, I proposed the following initial ideas as potential solutions to help them build stronger bonds and stay more involved with each other.
Build a stronger connection with your mentor
Engage
Monthly tasks
1 of 4
Share a milestone
Document a memory
Log a journal reflection
9:41
photo of mentor
Prompt from (mentor’s name)
“Share a recent a-ha moment where you learned something new”
Answer Prompt
Temperature Check
Quickly share how you are feeling with your mentor
Down
Relaxed
Up
Stressed
Share with mentor
Answer a prompt and share with your mentor
“Share a recent a-ha moment where you learned something new”
“Share a recent a-ha moment where you learned something new”
“Share a recent a-ha moment where you learned something new”
Create your own prompt
1
Monthly Tasks
Monthly Tasks
A list of tasks highlighting key activities that can be completed to keep the match active and engaged.
A list of tasks highlighting key activities that can be completed to keep the match active and engaged.
2
Milestone Sharing
Milestone Sharing
Mentees can share achieved milestones to celebrate progress and strengthen connections with their mentor.
Mentees can share achieved milestones to celebrate progress and strengthen connections with their mentor.
3
Personalized Prompt
Personalized Prompt
Create and share custom prompts to spark meaningful conversations within the match.
Create and share custom prompts to spark meaningful conversations within the match.
4
Temperature Check
Temperature Check
Share emotional status through quick sliders to help mentors and mentees understand each other better.
Share emotional status through quick sliders to help mentors and mentees understand each other better.
5
Curated Prompts
Curated Prompts
Respond to ready-made prompts to encourage conversations and strengthen connections
Respond to ready-made prompts to encourage conversations and strengthen connections
Initial IDeas: connecting the profile
Initial IDeas: connecting the profile
The Profile feature in this initial concept supports mentorship by helping mentors and mentees understand each other better. It includes milestones to encourage engagement and give mentees a sense of achievement.
The Profile feature in this initial concept supports mentorship by helping mentors and mentees understand each other better. It includes milestones to encourage engagement and give mentees a sense of achievement.
The profile has two views: one for viewing your own profile and another for viewing someone else’s profile, each with distinct features.
The profile has two views: one for viewing your own profile and another for viewing someone else’s profile, each with distinct features.
1
Shared Interest
Shared Interest
Highlights mutual interests to encourage connections and spark engaging conversations.
Highlights mutual interests to encourage connections and spark engaging conversations.
2
Quick Emoji
Quick Emoji
Enables sending quick emoji reactions to express thoughts, making communication fun.
Enables sending quick emoji reactions to express thoughts, making communication fun.
3
Milestones
Milestones
Tracks mentees’ achievements to celebrate progress and motivate more engagement.
Tracks mentees’ achievements to celebrate progress and motivate more engagement.
Narrowing down solutions -
Narrowing down solutions -
After discussions with other designers and aligning features with related pages (Timeline and Community), I refined the design ideas for both sections to ensure cohesion and consistency across the platform.
After discussions with other designers and aligning features with related pages (Timeline and Community), I refined the design ideas for both sections to ensure cohesion and consistency across the platform.
Simplifying the Engage Section
Simplifying the Engage Section
Problem with previous design
Problem with previous design
The Engage page was cluttered with too many features, making it inconsistent and overwhelming for the users.
The Engage page was cluttered with too many features, making it inconsistent and overwhelming for the users.
Some features, such as monthly tasks and milestone sharing, overlapped with other pages, creating redundancy.
Some features, such as monthly tasks and milestone sharing, overlapped with other pages, creating redundancy.
Removed features
Removed features
Monthly Tasks
Monthly Tasks
Removed due to overlap with the Timeline page, which is better for managing tasks and progress.
Removed due to overlap with the Timeline page, which is better for managing tasks and progress.
Milestone Sharing
Milestone Sharing
Moved to the Profile section, where milestones align better with the mentee’s journey.
Moved to the Profile section, where milestones align better with the mentee’s journey.
Temperature Check
Temperature Check
Removed to simplify the Engage section and avoid unnecessary complexity.
Removed to simplify the Engage section and avoid unnecessary complexity.
Updated focus
Updated focus
Prompts
Prompts
Engaging questions designed to spark fun conversations and get to know each other better.
Engaging questions designed to spark fun conversations and get to know each other better.
Kudos Board
Kudos Board
A dedicated space to exchange kudos as a form of gratitude, strengthening connections.
A dedicated space to exchange kudos as a form of gratitude, strengthening connections.
Testing & refinement -
Testing & refinement -
Engage: Addressing Navigation Challenges
Engage: Addressing Navigation Challenges
To validate the design, I conducted user testing in a task-based format. One task that users struggled with was finding past prompts and kudos due to a confusing layout and navigation.
To validate the design, I conducted user testing in a task-based format. One task that users struggled with was finding past prompts and kudos due to a confusing layout and navigation.
To resolve this, I redesigned the layout using a dashboard format to provide clear and distinct flows for prompts and kudos.
To resolve this, I redesigned the layout using a dashboard format to provide clear and distinct flows for prompts and kudos.
Overview of match
Overview of match
Shows key details about the mentor-mentee relationship to highlight the page's purpose.
Shows key details about the mentor-mentee relationship to highlight the page's purpose.
Prompt and Kudos
Prompt and Kudos
Simplified navigation with dedicated buttons for easy access to each feature.
Simplified navigation with dedicated buttons for easy access to each feature.
Shared hobbies
Shared hobbies
Brought back to complement other Engage features and improve engagement.
Brought back to complement other Engage features and improve engagement.
Recent activities
Recent activities
Highlights recent actions and prompts with clear CTAs for easy interaction.
Highlights recent actions and prompts with clear CTAs for easy interaction.
ENGAGE: Improving the Prompt-Selection
ENGAGE: Improving the Prompt-Selection
From testing and internal design critiques, I received feedback that the prompt selection box felt cluttered and hard to navigate.
From testing and internal design critiques, I received feedback that the prompt selection box felt cluttered and hard to navigate.
To address this, I redesigned the prompt selection to display one prompt at a time with a shuffle option for variety, and introduced an AI-powered feature to suggest prompts based on users’ interests, reducing admin workload and helping users find relevant options more easily.
To address this, I redesigned the prompt selection to display one prompt at a time with a shuffle option for variety, and introduced an AI-powered feature to suggest prompts based on users’ interests, reducing admin workload and helping users find relevant options more easily.
PROFILE: Better Integration with Other Pages
PROFILE: Better Integration with Other Pages
The profile page initially felt disconnected from the rest of the app, and user testing revealed that milestones lacked impact and added unnecessary complexity, overlapping with the Timeline page. To address this, I replaced milestones with "My Posts," connecting the profile to the community page and reducing clutter.
The profile page initially felt disconnected from the rest of the app, and user testing revealed that milestones lacked impact and added unnecessary complexity, overlapping with the Timeline page. To address this, I replaced milestones with "My Posts," connecting the profile to the community page and reducing clutter.
This change positions the profile as a centralized hub that provides an overview of the app's features, including Timeline stats, recent user posts from the Community page, user interests, and mentor connections, creating a more cohesive experience.
This change positions the profile as a centralized hub that provides an overview of the app's features, including Timeline stats, recent user posts from the Community page, user interests, and mentor connections, creating a more cohesive experience.
Final product -
Final product -
Pages I designed…
Pages I designed…
Engage
Engage
The Engage page helps mentors and mentees build stronger bonds through shared hobbies, kudos board, and prompts.
The Engage page helps mentors and mentees build stronger bonds through shared hobbies, kudos board, and prompts.
Engage
Engage
Prompt
Prompt
The Prompts section sparks more conversations with thought-provoking questions, helping mentors and mentees connect and share insights.
The Prompts section sparks more conversations with thought-provoking questions, helping mentors and mentees connect and share insights.
Engage
Engage
Kudos Board
Kudos Board
The Kudos Board lets mentors and mentees share appreciation messages, with each user having a personal board to post and view.
The Kudos Board lets mentors and mentees share appreciation messages, with each user having a personal board to post and view.
Engage
Engage
Shared Hobbies
Shared Hobbies
The Shared Hobbies feature helps mentors and mentees discover mutual interests, encouraging connections in an enjoyable way.
The Shared Hobbies feature helps mentors and mentees discover mutual interests, encouraging connections in an enjoyable way.
Profile
Profile
The Profile feature supports mentorship by helping users navigate their journey with an overview of posts, progress, and easily connect with their mentor/mentee.
What's next -
What's next -