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In an age where young professionals are increasingly seeking more than just a paycheck, finding fulfillment in the workplace has become a primary goal. No longer content with simply punching the clock, they crave roles that align with their personal values and aspirations, ones that allow them to make a positive impact on the world while also progressing towards their own life goals. Yet, navigating the vast landscape of career opportunities can be daunting. Recognizing this need, there arises a demand for a tailored solution—an app designed to empower young professionals at any career stage, guiding them towards growth, fulfillment, and a future they can truly enjoy.
User Research | Usability Testing | UI Design
When we delved deeper into understanding the challenges our users encounter, we initially outlined assumptions regarding their main difficulties when navigating their careers. Drawing on the adage “do what you love and you will never work a day in your life,” we presumed that individuals are dissatisfied with the trajectory of their careers and aspire to integrate their passions into their professional lives for enhanced fulfillment.
Following interviews and surveys with our users, we gleaned three significant insights:
Upon scrutinizing the data collected from interviews and surveys, we discovered that users are primarily interested in careers that facilitate personal and professional growth.
By contemplating their past experiences and future aspirations, we recognized the importance of achieving personal and professional objectives, instigating positive changes, and aligning their interests with their chosen career paths.
“Do I feel like my job is essential or important in the world?
I don’t think the world will stop if I can’t do my job.”
Interview Participant
Through a thorough examination of our competitors’ strengths and weaknesses, we pinpointed gaps within a crowded market that resonate with our users’ requirements.
Our users necessitate assistance in navigating new career paths that align with their personal and professional aspirations. By integrating functionalities like aptitude testing that facilitate exploration, we aim to empower users to discover enduring fulfillment along their career journey.
Drawing insights from an “I Like, I Wish, What If” brainstorming session and extensive market research, we analyzed the existing features of industry leaders while conceptualizing potential future capabilities.
This framework has provided us with a clear direction for designing the features of our app moving forward.
Immersing our user persona into a real-world scenario enabled us to unearth prevalent pain points within the user’s journey, shedding light on opportunities to address them effectively. This exercise also afforded us the opportunity to leverage the touchpoints gleaned from journey mapping, culminating in the creation of a diagram illustrating how the user would interact and engage with the application.
We embarked on synthesizing all our gathered insights about our users, integrating them into wireframe sketches to explore potential design solutions for their pain points. Each team member contributed ideas, and through collaborative brainstorming, we consolidated the best solutions into unified sketches.
Upon completing our final paper prototype, we transformed it into a clickable lo-fi wireframe, which served as the basis for our user testing sessions.
After conducting guerrilla testing with five users, we identified areas for enhancing the design and UX writing. Subsequently, we translated our findings into a priority matrix. Among the opportunities for improvement, we uncovered several low-effort, high-value prospects, such as streamlining the design and increasing white space. Additionally, we identified high-value, high-effort opportunities, such as ensuring the accuracy of the aptitude test, which would require consultation with an industry professional for long-term resolution.
For future iterations, we aim to develop a more robust and tailored user experience by expanding the aptitude tests to gather deeper insights into our users, thereby providing more accurate and helpful career guidance.
Furthermore, I plan to revisit the application to introduce additional delightful microinteractions. Additionally, I recognize the importance of conducting accessibility testing to ensure that career information remains accessible to all individuals seeking fulfillment in their professional lives. We are committed to ensuring that accessibility issues do not hinder anyone from accessing the resources they need for their career journey.
After refining our user flow, we revisited our design process and crafted a high-fidelity interactive prototype. Incorporating various microinteractions, we aimed to captivate users and enhance their engagement with the platform.
Our final design successfully addressed the primary pain points identified during initial testing:
Users reported feelings of dissatisfaction and a lack of fulfillment, a need for more comprehensive information about prospective fields before transitioning, and a desire for supportive work environments. Zenith tackles these challenges by guiding users to align their interests with their skills, thus identifying industries they would love. Through features like aptitude testing and industry insights, Zenith bridges the gap between potential aspirations and real-world opportunities. Moreover, the app facilitates users’ understanding of potential employers, enabling them to navigate towards cultures that resonate with their needs.
