LAURA
DESIGNS
Project Overview
The Product
Career Care is an app made for first-generation immigrants who need career counseling. This app primarily targets individuals who don’t have much free time and/or want to obtain a job.
Project Member(s): Laura Ortega, UX Designer
Project Duration: January - March 2023
The Problem
There are many first-generation immigrants who English is not their native language, they don’t have much free time, and they are looking for the right job but haven't found it yet.
The Goal
Design an app and responsive website for first-generation immigrants who are in need of career counseling.
User persona profiles
Understanding the User
I wanted to understand what features users wanted to have in our app specifically designed to offer career counseling services for first generation immigrants.
Personas and Empathy Maps
I conducted user interviews and most interviewees reported feeling too busy to work on improvements that would benefit their careers. They didn't want to spend their limited free time on this task.
Our findings revealed that it is important to develop an easy to use app that can also be used on the go. It was also observed that first-generation immigrants are in search of better job opportunities and would like any services that can help them.
User Research
I conducted a usability study and found some pain points users had when using the app. These included:
First-generation individuals like students do not have much free time to spend on additional activities like searching for jobs.
Some individuals would like a new job that fits their lifestyle better.
Competitive Audit
A competitive audit was performed on both direct and indirect competitors to gather a better understanding of what is available in the market.
Starting the Design
Ideation
I did a quick ideation process to come up with potential ideas of how to address gaps identified in the competitive audit. My focus was specifically on language availability and setting up an appointment to meet with the ideal career coach.
Sitemap
CareerCare would also has a responsive website and therefore a site map to help with navigation was needed. My goal was to make strategic information architecture decisions that would improve my overall design and navigation.
Sitemap of CareerCare website
Wireframe of "Home" screen focuses on the main app features
Wireframe will include personalized profiles of coaches
Wireframes
After ideating and drafting paper wireframes, I created the initial wireframes for the CareerCare app. The designs focused on simplicity to help manage navigation.
I worked on a variety of different devices as the target users would most likely access the website via different devices, making sure the site would be fully responsive.
Low Fidelity Prototypes
To prepare for usability testing, I created a low fidelity prototype that connected the user flow of the process of effectively booking an appointment with a career coach.
View the low fidelity prototype here.
Usability Studies
The first round of usability studies gave me insights on which features of the app I needed to improve for easy navigation. These included adding a "Back" icon, reformatting the "Results" page, and improving the flow of navigation throughout the website.
Round 1 Usability Study Findings:
There was no clear and simple way to book an appointment with a career coach
There is no visible confirmation page to ensure successful booking of an appointment
Refining the Design
Early designs demonstrated that the process of booking an appointment and including a confirmation page are needed for users. It was clear I needed to make improvements so users could complete their task of effectively booking an appointment simply and smoothly.
Based on the insights from the usability studies, I applied design changes like adding more icons and a confirmation page to ensure successful task completion. Additional design changes included adding a calendar for successful booking of coaches.
Mockups
Accessibility considerations:
Use of universal icons
Initial focus of the home screen of main app features to to help define the primary tasks of the user
Easy to find icons for language accommodations
High Fidelity Prototypes
The final high-fidelity prototype followed the same user flow, but presents cleaner user flows compared to our first designs. I also made sure to incorporate accessibility considerations when polishing the designs.
View the high fidelity prototype here.
I included considerations for an additional screen sizes including tablet and desktop devices.
Going Forward
Impact
Users shared that for those of them that didn’t have much free time, an on-the-go mobile app was very beneficial for them. Overall, an app that focuses on first generation immigrants was useful to users belonging to that group that were in search of another job/career.
Learnings
Regardless of the problem at hand, it is incredibly important to do the necessary user research and usability studies to ensure that you capture as much of the user pain points as possible to ensure your designs are effective and for the intended user group.