Redesigning SharedLane's Career Toolkit for Educators: Boosting Discoverability and Value.
Role & Team: Client project, working in a team of 3 UX designers
Platform: Website


I was brought on board by Shared Lane to figure out why educators and counselors were not using a newly published career toolkit. The toolkit served as a resource for counselors working with underprivileged youth to have meaningful career conversations.
CONTEXT
1
The toolkit was not discoverable
Problem
​We performed an audit and found that lack of discverability of the toolkit was one of the challenges experienced by users to explore the content.

PROBLEM: Users had to choose Connect in the menu to access toolkit
Two different domains created gaps in users' experience with content
Solution
Improving the discoverability of the Toolkit
I looked at the menu and information architecture to surface the toolkit more clearly:
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Relabel menu items with industry terms.
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Add a section that prompts users to contribute or purchase, which addresses the business goal to monetize.
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Consistent menus connecting both domains.
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Adding "Partner" gives a dedicated space for monetization opportunities.

Relabelled menu items to help user better connect with the services.
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Maintained Consistent Navigation Bar
Redesigned Toolkit Landing page/ Home Page
Problem
On the landing page of the toolkit, the value proposition was not clear
2

Users unclear on if it is free to signup or subscription model
Sign up page of toolkit with it’s unclear value proposition
Solution
Redesigning the landing page of the toolkit
Teachers and students were confused by the toolkit's unclear purpose and it’s offerings.
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I redesigned the landing page of the toolkit by providing:
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Clearer actions to points for users to access different services offered by the client.
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Experience filter that navigates the users to the respective resource materials.

The users can choose as to the type of user they would like to login as
Users unclear on if it is free to signup.
Interactive login process section for diverse set of users
The users can click on which career program they want to explore and once they login to the portal, based on this option, they can find suggestions of that particular feild

Easy and quick access to explore resources of SharedLane
Relevant to Educators, not to diverse group
3
Problem

Solution
Making the toolkit relevant for students, not just for educators
Although the toolkit was targeted for educators, the toolkit was being shared with students.
To address this, we developed a separate toolkit for students. The system would detect if you were an educator or student and serve up a respective toolkit.
The dashboard prioritizes user interactions by allowing them to:​
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Prioritize frequented sections.
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Have an option to Download Materials
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Progress tracking prompts for user retention.
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Pop-up of prompts like quizzes and puzzles to evaluate their knowledge of the topic viewed.

Progress tracking to prompt users to retain and encourage completion of course.
Suggestion of content based on the profile created during the filter option.
Teacher Portal

Progress tracking to prompt users to retain and encourage completion of course.
Student's Portal
Measuring and Validating Designs:
We tested the (1) discoverability of the toolkit, (2) the landing page of the toolkit and the new (3) student toolkit with X students and X teachers.
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Discoverability of the toolkit: Our participants discovered the toolkit inside the portal in a matter of seconds and not minutes
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Our participants understood the purpose of the toolkit with the redesigned landing page
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Students found the new content of the toolkit relevant.
We needed to address one issue: There is a discrepancy between the teacher's portal and the student's portal. In the student portal, prompts appear for them to participate in activities, while the teacher's portal provides access to materials and tasks that can be assigned to students. The concern raised is how to address student inquiries about being unable to access these resources, given the differences between the two portals, making it potentially confusing for students seeking assistance.
Next Steps to Scale the Product
Introducing “Partner” Monetization
Our client was interested in monetizing the toolkit for donations.
I introduced a "Partner" feature which served a dual objective: to create a monetization opportunity and to foster community.

Shared Lane CEO Review
"You've done a fantastic job understanding Shared Lane clients' real needs! The new site serves both audiences, that's exactly how I envisioned it! All the insights you gathered from your deep research will help me in my business development. Final version looks so bright and esthetically pleasing that I can't wait to this site!"
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Julian Cohen
CEO Shared Lane