GA community Make incredible projects with your colleagues, build your portfolio and inspire others with your stories Rocío Holzer | General Assembly SFUXD 50
GA communityMake incredible projects with your colleagues, build your portfolio and
inspire others with your stories
Rocío Holzer | General Assembly SFUXD 50
Problem statement | The current community "search engine"
Students and alumni of General Assembly (GA) need a way to get experience & build a portfolio because they want to find a good job that
meets their expectations.
Hypothesis | A new "smart" community
We believe that implementing a smart “community search engine” for the worldwide GA Community,
Students and Alumni of General Assembly will be able to collaborate with other colleagues in order to
improve their skills, gain experience and build a portfolio.
We will know this to be true when we see that 30% of the registered users participate in at least one project during the first year, and project average rating is at least 3.5/5.
User Research | Research Plan
Research GoalsMain research goal is to know if the current community search engine is useful and helps the users to find opportunities for building a portfolio. Have they found what they were looking for? What are the main problems users have using it / the reasons for not using it?
Method4 User Interviews
Hypothesis● Most students at GA want to find a related job, but they need experience & portfolio.● Some students would like to find opportunities in other cities.● The current board is not very useful for achieving their objectives.● Many people do not use it because they do not see it useful.● Posts are old, not updated.
User Research | Synthesis
Problems & Pain points● Interesting positions require some years of experience -
which he doesn’t have..
● He needs a portfolio to demonstrate his skills
● Current GA Board: concept is 'good' but needs to be improved in order to be reliable | The 'search' engine is more like a browser!
Goals & Motivations
● Improve skills / Gain experience
● Build a portfolio
● Get a good job
Persona 1: Ben
“You need experience, you need a portfolio. If you have a portfolio you have a chance to get a good job…”
Age28
OccupationStore Manager
Income$40,000
ResidenceSan Francisco Bay Area
EducationCollege Grad
A day in the life…
Ben is a web developer and wants to become an iOS Developer but he is not able to get a job because of his lack of experience.
He is studying iOS Development at General Assembly. His goal is to gain experience and build a portfolio that allows him to show his skills and get a good job.
He lives in San Francisco and shares a little apartment with a housemate. But now, he is thinking of moving with Katie -his girlfriend - as soon as he gets a better job.
He likes to live in SF because he thinks if he has a good idea, this is the place to make it come true.
User Goals● Gain experience● Build a portfolio● Get a good job
Pain Points● Interesting positions require some years of
experience and he still doesn't have it.● He still doesn’t have a portfolio that allows
him to demonstrate his skills
User Flow | Scenario 1: People looking for PROJECTS
Login4. Explore
PROJECTSBrowse | Search | Filter
1. On BoardingFirst time user
Existing user
5. View PROJECT Detail
9. Update team members
6.Ask to join 10. Share the Success Story
When Project is finished
If accepted
2. Register 3. Complete Profile
5.1 View Role details
5.1 View Team Member Profile
7. Receive notification
8. View Requester Profile
BENLOOKING FOR PROJECTS
SARAHPROJECT OWNER
Information Architecture | Hub spoke diagram
List PROJECTS Opportunities
View PROJECT > Ask to join
View PERSON Profile
Manage PROJECT> Add member
Finish a PROJECT> Rate experience> Review people
BEN: Looking for opportunities SARAH: Looking for people
Share the STORY
PROJECT MEMBERS
Prototype | Paper prototype
12
3
4
5
1Change view: People, Projects or Stories
2Find relevant Projects searching by words or phrases
3See Basic information of the highlighted Project and. Tap on the play button to start playing the video . Double tap to access the PROJECT DETAILS
5Change the criteria used to create the current list: Interested in / Latest Added / Near me.
6Scrolling up down the screen by swiping down up
The home screen in the App version lists the PROJECTS opportunities for the user. As a user I want to be able to:
7
4Move to next/ previous Project by swiping left/right
7Easily access main functions or pages:. Home. New project. My Profile
6
Prototype | Wireframes & Annotations
MVP - Features prioritization | Now > Next > Later
PROJECTSList the Projects opportunities and show Project details.
● Users should be able to Add new Projects or Ask to join existing ones.
● Project “owners” should be able to manage projects> edit, update members, update status
Search & Filter
Users should be able to search and filter content: projects, people, and success stories
PEOPLE
List People looking for opportunities and show their Profiles
● Users should be able to Contact other persons through the App and see their portfolio (if they already have one)
● Users should be able to manage their profiles and visibility
STORIES
List and show success stories to engage other members of the community.
● Projects member should be able to add and manage a Story when the project is finished
Features for MVP
GA community AppHigh Fidelity Prototype
BEN | 2. Register
BEN | 3. Complete Profile
BEN | 4. Explore Projects (Browse and Search)
BEN | 5. View Project Details
5.1 View Team Member Profile 5.2 View Role Details
SARAH | 7. Receive notification
SARAH | 8. View requester Profile
SARAH | 10. Share the success Story
Next steps
● Present the idea to General Assembly● Build & test MVP
● “Digital” Board in GA Locations
● “Verified” profiles for recommendations. (Ex Teachers)
● Improve messaging inside the App● Companies posting and searching● Channels for posts: #UXDesign #iOS ...