UX DESIGN
UX RESEARCH
WEB & MOBILE
Role
Product Designer,
UX Research Lead
Timeline
7 months
Tools
Figma, Figjam, Qualtrics,
Google Survey
Team
5 UX Designers/Researchers
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The Mentoring Partnership (TMP), a non-profit offering training and educational content for youth mentoring in Pittsburgh, engaged us to enhance their service ecosystem with emerging technology. Our redesign streamlined resource discovery by reducing search steps and improving users' understanding of TMP’s services.
As a UX research lead and product designer:
User interviews with TMP's clients, local mentoring programs, revealed varying levels of awareness about TMP’s services, leading to low attendance at networking events. Clients also reported a "clunky" website experience, affecting sign-ups and engagement with educational content. Website data from google analytics confirmed low traffic to these educational resources.
As a result, TMP's valuable resources are underutilized, with users turning to Google and their networks for information and assistance instead.
Our solution is a redesigned web and mobile search experience for TMP’s website, making it easier for clients to find services, understand TMP’s offerings, and access relevant content for their mentoring programs.
Query suggestions for faster browsing and comprehension of TMP's service offerings.
“Usually when I search, I’m not sure what exactly I need to type... but this feature of suggestion would be useful for me.” Usability Testing Participant
A simplified filtering system optimized for discovery of new and relevant content.
“It’s nice that it searches across the website, and I can get access to all resources at once.” Usability Testing Participant
Highlighting key information for trust and credibility, and providing guided exploration.
“It shows TMP is a well rounded resource [library] for engaging activities and engaging mentors. This is really propelling TMP forward.” Usability Testing Participant
The client's initial project brief was to create new value for TMP's Service Ecosystem through identifying opportunities for improvement and leveraging emerging technology such as AI. Our overall process involved 2 phases: (1) Identifying opportunities to amplify TMP's value and (2) Increase the value + usability of the proposed solution.
At a national mentoring conference where we conducted contextual research, we found that mentoring professionals often seek cost-effective resources to enhance their mentoring practices. TMP provides such resources, so we assessed how well their services meet community needs through user interviews.
In 9 user interviews, 3 long-time clients discovered new services when we mentioned them and 7 described infrequent visits (2-5 x a year) to TMP's website -- despite googling and looking for educational resources weekly to support their mentors.
Additionally, responses to a survey of mentoring programs showed low awareness of their networking opportunities as well (7 out of 14 TMP clients).
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Data from discovery research led us to identify that the biggest source of painpoints was the website search experience.
I created four user archetypes to visualize what users look for and value from TMP.
In user interviews, 4 out of 9 TMP clients also described difficulty with finding specific resources on the site, a seemingly small number but a big issue to dig deeper into. We conducted usability tests on the website and proposed targeting a redesign of the website based on the data we gathered.
📊 Evidence from Usability Testing 📊
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Identified touchpoints on TMP's website for users' searching journey.
A user journey map we used to communicate users' numerous challenges during searching.
We tested various search assistance solutions with mentoring programs and mentors. All 5 participants in round 1 appreciated advanced filtering and resource recommendations for content discovery.
Notably, 12 participants from round 1 and 2 preferred search assistance integrated into the website over AI tools or chatbots, as it felt more natural. Additionally, concerns about technical feasibility and user adoption emerged from the client, so we focused on high-impact ideas that users valued and that could be integrated with existing website services.
We rapidly ideated many solutions to prototype for the first round of testing.
Summary of mid-fidelity prototypes tested with participants in round 1 and 2.
In this stage, we conducted 3 rounds of testing with low to high-fidelity prototype flows in Figma and asked a total of 21 participants to perform tasks and evaluate the UI. We focused on making usability fixes such as creating simple, organized search interfaces to reduce feelings of being overwhelmed when browsing content. We also increased the font size to make viewing options more salient.
📊 Final Prototype Usability Testing Results 📊
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Before and after of revamping website search with query and content suggestions.
Before and after of redesigning search results with more scannability and a simple filtering system.
We consulted with local technical solution architects and designers to develop a phased implementation plan with a detailed timeline for features and UI changes, which we handed off to TMP. I also prepared a client report with my team, outlining the research, UX recommendations, and solution details.
🚩 Challenges with Solution Direction
TMP was initially resistant to big changes in UI of the website, however our research persuaded them to pursue usability fixes and redesigning the website. This was an exercise in effectively communicating design decisions and product directions through research-backed arguments.
By leveraging human-centered(UX) research and design methods, our project had both short-term and long-term impacts on our client, TMP.
Some examples include: