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Hive Web App

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During this project, I led a team of two UX Designers, three UX Researchers, and two Developers to research and develop an e- learning platform for Beela. I have worked on many important projects throughout my career, and this project  was one of those long, dreary projects that took the team through a dim maze of uncertainties. The team started from having no clues, to providing great insights to the client.

Role: Project Lead

Client: Beela
Timeline: April 2022-July 2022

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What is really crucial for me when starting a project is to get very clear on the goals right at the start and then create a plan with milestones. I also like dealing with the most difficult parts of the projects early on—that way in case there are any significant issues.

After meeting with the client and key stakeholders, it became clear to me that the vision for Hive was not clear and it was based on an idea that was pitched by one of the volunteers who is working with Beela. I closely communicated with the client to define the product vision and communicate it to the teams.

Beela is non-profit organization based in Sweden and works beyond the country borders to help women and non-binary people who immigrate to Sweden from countries all over the world and are faced with new obstacles in their career journey. These women usually have difficulty transitioning into the Swedish workforce, networking with other professionals, and finding their own community.

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Here how I led the team through this project's maze.

Overview

SWOT Analysis

The Pivot

User Story Mapping & Acceptance Criteria

I worked closely with the team on user stories to get a clarity on the MVP requirements. 

Hive MVP Features

  • Mentorship program materials- categorized by topic

  • Blogs

  • Articles

  • Podcast

  • Workshops

  • Manage account

  • Events

  • Manage communications with mentors

  • Manage communications with other mentees

Task Flows

You can access task flows here

DESIGN

Branding

You can access brand file here

Internal Kickoff Meeting

Survey Insights

  • 66% of Beela slack community users engage once in a week

  • Beela users get engaged by reading posts and sending Emoji reactions the most

  • Beela Users are most engaged with the events and encouragement channels

  • More than 60% feel comfortable sharing public threads on Slack

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Reasons for engaging

  • Seeking feedback, support, help

  • Desire to provide support

  • Build community

  • Engage with content provided by other users

  • Share and view resources and events

 

Factors that prevent engaging in Slack

  • Casual observer

  • Unsure who is on the channels and who will see the posts

  • Lack confidence and/or don’t know rules

  • Don’t feel they have anything to share

  • Information overload with number of posts

  • Don’t feel they have anything to share

  • Some don’t feel content is relevant

  • Lose track of timing - turn off notifications

  • Need to remain neutral due to position

RESEARCH

User Research

As a product designer, I make user research an integral part of my design process. In this project, various research approaches were used to interact with users to help us tailor the end product to the audience’s needs.  Based on the fact that Slack is the main channel for Beela's client to connect to its services, the UX Research team  conducted a survey to assess the effectiveness of Slack channel and the user needs and pain points while interacting with Beela on Slack.  One-on-one interviews were conducted with six of Beela's clients to get deeper insights. 

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Client Kickoff Meeting

I facilitated the team's meeting with the client and stakeholders. The main goal of the meeting was to get the following question answered:
1. The Target market
2. Target User Group (Group Persona)
3. Current Journey Map of Beela clients 
4. Competitors
5. Success Metrics of product/app

After walking the client through their clients' journey map, the team was able to identify opportunities and set a hypothesis for a proof of concept. Based on the findings, and timeline we set with client, I decided to conduct user research to understand Beela clients' needs beyond the existing website. 

After the kickoff meeting it became clear that Beela's goal is to have an e_learning platform that will support its clients who are enrolled in their mentorship program.

The main goal of the internal kickoff meeting was to educate the project team, develop cohesion and relationships, set expectations, and ensure everyone has a clear understanding of the project so we don’t find ourselves floundering in front of the client during kickoff.

In this meeting, I briefed the team on the pre-kickoff meeting and discussed the agenda of the client kickoff meeting. Questions to client were gathered and grouped on a Miro board.

User Interview Findings

Beela Experience

  • Generally satisfied with Beela offerings and community

  • Expected to have more contact with recruiters

  • Expected more in-person meetups and recruiting events

  • Expected more targeted tech-specific career development services (job pairing, CV and cover letter-writing, interview prep)

  • Learned about Beela by word of mouth

  • Expected to get a chance to mingle with fellow mentees (having the same career path)

  • Believed that the mentoring program, slack channel, podcast, and 24 hours support  were the most important services of Beela

 

Transition into tech -Experience and challenges

  • Looking for jobs where they can transfer existing skills

  • Encouraged to transition by hearing similar career transition stories from friends

  • Unsure if the skills match the companies requirements

  • Entering a new industry without having experience in tech is challenging

  • Schools commitments / having a full-time jobs are barriers

  • Believed that learning Swedish is important, Swedish is not a requirement for tech jobs but hiring managers expects people to know some Swedish

 

Learning Experience

  • Took tech-specific courses

  • Used a variety of in-person, online synchronous, asynchronous learning resources

  • Used both self-paced and timelined courses

  • Used and wanted free learning platforms

  • Most used learning platforms: LinkedIn, Youtube videos, Google course, Coursera, Datacamp courses

  • Looking for courses with the recognizable certificates

  • Participate in realistic project

 

Networking

  • Wanted to connect with people who have similar transition goals

  • Wanted to connect with female role models based in Sweden or Europe

  • Wanted individualized feedback at networking events

  • Would like to attend more workshops specific to tech roles, meetups and more recruiting events

 

Career development

  • Wanted to connect with career coaches and recruiters

  • Used and liked personality job assessment tests to discover good role fit

  • Letter writing / CV writing workshops specific for tech role

 

Ideal Support

  • Have access to career coaches

  • Job specific communities to join for interview preparation and job preparation

  • Recruiters and direct contact with companies

  • Connections with people who have had a similar journey

 

Domain Specific Platforms and Courses Mentioned

  • Free Code Camp

  • Scrimba

  • W3 Schools

  • YouTube

  • Bootcamp

  • Pink Programming

  • Google Courses

  • LinkedInLearning

  • Coursera

  • DataCamp

 

Domain Specific Meetups and Networks Mentioned

  • Uppsala Woman Coding

  • Datatjej group

  • Pink Programming

  • Openlab

  • Stockholm impact hub

  • Hackathons

  • Sup24 - beela collaboration

  • Meetups

  • Facebook events

Competitive Analysis

For our competitive analysis we focused on platforms that were used across many countries and platforms that were specific to Sweden as well. We looked at other websites and applications that provided mentorship, networking, or learning courses.

User Personas

After getting the insights of user research and analyzing Beela's website content. The team agreed that a change in  the direction of end product is needed. The client initial vision was to have a platform where Beela's users can get information about their mentorship program, apply to the program, and connect with tech companies in Sweden. They also wanted to add learning materials that can be only accessed by the mentees. After analyzing their website, we found out that many of the information intended to be added to Hive either already exists or can be added to Beela's current website.  I met again with the client and explained the pivot and how repeating the content or making it solely live in Hive will reduce the engagement of users with both the website and Hive. The new direction for Hive is to have mentorship-related content and to be accessible by mentees.

Luckily, the pivot did not affect the project's timeline and the client agreed to follow through with the pivot.

Based on the research insights, the design team was able to better understand the users for Beela Hive. 

Sitemap & Card Sorting

The team conducted tow rounds of open card sorting with OptimalSort followed by a closed card sorting. 

Open Card Sorting Label

 

  • Learn about the mentorship program

  • Get access to blog articles

  • Get access to the podcast

  • Connect with other mentees

  • Register for workshops

  • Search available jobs in the market

  • Search and follow tech companies

  • Check events in the community

  • Study course materials

  • Keep regular communications with mentors

  • View the study plan set by the mentor

  • Get feedback on course work

  • Request a meeting with the mentor

Hive Sitemap

Low-Fidelity Designs

Onboarding

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For the user onboarding we wanted to keep things simple and show our users what they can expect from enrolling in the mentorship program.

They would have a chance to download a user manual for a more detailed description, view a brief overview of the program, and meet their mentor.

Homepage

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Once they completed their onboarding, the user would be brought to their homepage where they would be able to communicate with their mentor, visit their workspace, and view learning content, and visit the FAQ page.

Learn

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The learning section would be organized by different categories that are offered through the Hive platform.

User would have the ability to sort through these categories or search for specific content.

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