UpSkill
Ever wanted to learn something new but thought that searching for it will take you longer than watching all seasons of Game of Thrones?
Fear not. With UpSkill it’s simple (and yes, you still got to to watch your favourite show!)
The problem
Since young age we’re being asked who we want to be when we grow up.
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Then we’re landing in education system which is more focused on reflecting the current economic needs rather than our interests. Before we figure out what we want to do, we’re already in the soul-sacking 9am-5pm job.
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We tell ourselves that we will change this eventually, but we never get time to try new things, so we don’t know which direction to go. We feel lost and trapped.
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I created this project to learn how might we spark curiosity, experiment, try new things and reverse the destructive lifestyles in a way that’s accessible and simple, matching our busy lives.
In other words, how can we use technology to help us uncover the unique gifts we have and live the life we truly love?
User interviews
The face-to-face interviews highlighted common aspirations
...and common difficulties amongst users
These findings together with further user interviews highlighted key points to consider :
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We, humans, crave social interactions
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It's not only about online learning. The digitalisation of human interactions makes us genuinely excited to make new friends
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We're overwhelmed by the number of options available online
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Our attention span is decreasing. Simplicity is the key
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We often need that extra incentive to start something new
Persona
Curious Claude
Age 35, single
Freelance in a creative industry
Stories & Scenarios
Learning flexibility
Zero Learning flexibility
Learning a skill
Getting a diploma
Work related
Not work related
Behaviours
Loves gadgets (a lot!). Values his time and flexibility. Always curious to learn more. His areas of interest include martial arts, cooking, languages, physics, meditation, sculpture for visual effects. He has lots of ideas but often doesn’t act on them.Video games and olive baguettes are his guilty pleasures.
Goals & Needs
He loves technology and everything that makes his life better. Time is money. He loves smart gadgets and efficient apps. Loves challenges and learning new things. He enjoys sharing his interests with friends but also happy to do things on his own.
His “OMG I can’t believe it exists” dream solution is opposite to google - a simple platform to search for a niche course which reflects his interests and lifestyle.
Understanding
the user
The findings from user interviews have been translated into a list of features which included:
1. Easy share with friends option
2. Save your past and ongoing courses to Saved List
3. A guaranteed free trial of one class with each course booked
4. Rank the course and see ranking
5. LinkedIn integration
6. Search bar (by name of the course and location)
7. Category search
8. Create your own course and tech others
9. Track your progress in My Profile
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Some of the features have been dismissed after running a card sort - users found them 'nice' to have as opposed to 'must' have. These were:
1. Interactive test to narrow the search results
2. Browse by category in image format (replaced with drop down list category)
3. Division between 'fun' courses for enjoyment and 'serious' for work skill (replaced with 'learn' or 'teach' division)
User flow
After successful usability testing wireframes were taken to the UI playground
Conclusions
Working on UpSkill was a great way to remind ourselves that human interactions are at the centre of everything we do.
1. Just because your user can 'google' everything, it doesn't mean that this is what he/she needs
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2. Despite of global digitalisation users value foremost face-to-face interactions
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3. In fact, they value it so much that attending a face-to-face course is considered to be a 'social thing'
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Branding
Typeface
Inter
It's a beautiful day
It's a beautiful day
It's a beautiful day
It's a beautiful day
It's a beautiful day
It's a beautiful day
Colours
Black
Visuals
Made by me. Made with Affinity Photo, Affinity Designer, Procreate, Figma
Tools
User research: Typeform, OpenSort, Whimsical
UI design: Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo, Procreate
UX design: Miro, Figma
Prototyping: Marvel
UX Methods
User interviews, Exploratory Analysis, Usability testing, Evaluation, Affinity Mapping, Feature Comparison Matrix, Competitive Map, Comparative Analysis, Project Proposal, Personas, User Flows, Card Sort, Sketching, Feature Prioritisation Matrix, Pluses and Deltas, Wireframing, Prototyping