Watercooler
Creating A Companion App For LinkedIn To Enhance Interactions Among Professionals
Student Project
New project, new team. This time we were asked to find an existing service and try to either redesign one of their digital touchpoints, or create a new feature from scratch.
We decided LinkedIn would be an interesting platform to work with. The reason behind that was not because any of us believed LinkedIn was inferior, but we saw an opportunity for adding value by introducing an O2O element to the networking platform.
_ Project
Introduction
SCOPE OF PROJECT
Competitive Analysis
User Research
Affinity Analysis
Personas & Scenarios
User flow
Wireframes & Prototype
Usability Tests
CHALLENGE
LinkedIn is a powerful social media platform for professionals, but how can we further push its limits by enhancing their user’s interaction with professionals outside of their network, hence making LinkedIn even a more robust platform than it already is?
OUTCOME
A companion app for LinkedIn which helps to foster local professional communities by connecting like-minded individuals based on location and topic of interests.
The Process
Design
During the design phase, we first brainstormed on what features the app needed based on the goals and motivations of our personas. A user flow was then created to map out the various features in a logical order. We then created wireframes and prototypes which will be used in our usability tests.
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What started out as an unbounded brainstorming session between our team quickly turned into a support-group like discussion on the challenges we faced when they are starting down a new career path. This resonated with all of us as we are just transitioning to UX design, already feeling a little bit overwhelmed with all the things we need to/should/could do just to get a foothold in the field.
One particular thing we all agreed on was how important it was for people to establish a solid network of contacts that they can call upon whenever they need assistance. But for someone like us, who are just starting out, building a network of contacts can be difficult.
After some quick googling and more discussion we decided this would be an interesting idea to explore for our third group project in GA.
The Problem
Research
By this point within the UXDI course, it was clear to us that our best option was to begin the project with user research, yet who should we approach? We made a few hypotheses on who our potentials users may be during our brainstorming sessions, but there was only one way to find out for sure; by talking to them.
Which was exactly what we did next.
Our team divided the bulk of the user research into two parts, a brief survey aimed at gathering quantitative data, and a detailed user interview gather deeper insights. Results were then compiled and analysed using an affinity diagram.
Based on the analysis of our research, three personas were generated to help provide a direction for design.
Ideation
Testing
Testing is essential to the validation of our designs. For this project, we tested our first prototype with individuals who matched the description of our personas. Participants were recruited within the team’s personal network. During the test, they were asked to complete different tasks using the prototype and to answer a few follow up questions.
The results of this test provided us with valuable insights in regards to the strengths and weaknesses of our initial design. We then used these insights to generate a second iteration of the prototype.
