Overview
Client Self-directed personal project.
Time 20 Hours
My Role Complete Process (Research + Design)
Tools Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, Zoom
Problem
Linkedin connections are unapproachable in regard to asking for any professional or career support. The available features lacks empathy and makes the overall experience dry and to the point.
Solution
Redesign the LinkedIn profile page with new features that allows the users to harness the power of their professional network in order to support their career growth with more meaningful connections.
Design Process
Research
01
Website Review
LinkedIn is a professional networking website thats is designed to help people make professional/business connections, share their experiences, find job opportunities and learn new skills. All of these features are quite useful for the user’s career development.
In the flow below, I have contextualised the different functions of Linkedin that are available to the users to support their business or individual career growth. These functions have further sub categories available to the users based on one’s subscription status.
02
Competitive Analysis
To determine the best solution, I explored other online platforms that allow users to professionally network and meet new people. The popularity of these platforms vary based on users & geography.
I focussed my analysis on the available features on these competitor websites that might be lacking on Linkedin. I led my research by identifying the strenghts and weaknesses of these platforms and from there on I extracted the scope for Linkedin.
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Virtually organised evets/meetings, Sharing large media files, Meeting people outside of one’s connections, supportive groups and communites.
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Subscription based features/benefits, Too many/irrelevant notifications, support options highly reliant on one’s location.
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Linkedin could benefit from having its own virtual meeting spaces, video & audio call options, mentorship or referral requests etc.
Credits : https://www.sirirosa.co/case-study-linkedin
03
User Surveys
64% of participants network online due to COVID situation.
52% of participants prefer online networking and 48% prefer in-person networking.
88% of participants are interested in mentorship opportunities
- 86.4% are interested in being a mentee
- 50% are interested in being a mentor
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The user research for this personal project is a combination of 7 interviews that I conducted myself and the research from a few Linkedin case studies available online. (with credits mentioned)
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The users feel the need of more features to harness the power of their professional connections on linkedin. for example - referral schemes, mentorship opportunities, project feedbacks, quick video/audio calls.
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1.) https://davisdesigninteractive.medium.com/linkedin-case-study-54236d13ae70
2.) https://www.sirirosa.co/case-study-linkedin
3.) https://www.soopark.me/linkedin
04
Research Insights
Since the Linkedin network is categorised as 1st, 2nd and 3rd level contacts - it was necessary to identify and organise the connections from a more broader perspective.
Also, I found that the users feel the need of more features to harness the power of their connections on linkedin through - referral schemes, mentorship opportunities, project feedbacks, quick video/audio calls etc.
Define
01
Empathy Mapping
I collected responses from 7 of my research participants in regard to their thoughts, feelings, actions and opinions of using linkedin and the usefullness of their professional connections online.
From there on I organised these responses on an empathy map to visualise the pattern of user motivations and pain points. Going forward, this activity was needed to identify the problem statement.
02
Crafting Problem Statement
03
Personas
Christina Holmes is a mid career professional who seeks support from her linkedin professional connections in order to help her grow into the career that she has chosen for herself.
Timothy Rodger is a senior career professional who has tons of industry experience and seeks to share his expertise and guide the juniors in the industry by offering them mentorship, feedbacks etc.
Design
01
Design Opportunities
02
Information Architecture
03
Wireframes
Present Design
Proposed Design
04
UI Style Guide
INTRODUCING
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INTRODUCING !
An Improved Profile Page
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Widgets and cards have been introduced on the profile to sort the user information in a more organised fashion. This makes the readability and visual scanning much more easier for the user.
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Enhanced networking features such a referrals, project feedback and mentorship opportunities have been introduced for the connections to support one another in the various stages of their career.
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The informations cards for text and images on linkedin have been re-designed to have an even grid spacing thereby implementing a visual change for well thought UI.
Task Flows
New FeatureRequest A Referral
This feature allows the users to ask anyone for a referral on linkedin whether from a connection or a complete stranger. This helps the users in getting support in either their industry or outside of their industry and thereby making them feel supported.
Anyone can add this feature on their profile whoever wishes to provide a reference and offer support to others in reaching their goals. This feature increases the empathetic value and trust within the linkedin networking experience.
New FeatureRequest A Feedback
This feature allows the users to ask anyone for a feedback on linkedin. One does not need to be in someone’s connections to be sending a feedback request. One may ask for feedback on essentially anything - work samples, articles, CV advice and much more.
This is an open feature and anyone can add this on their profile who wishes to share their expertise with others by offering advice and feeback. This increases the support quotient on linkedin not just with one’s connections but the wider community of professionals.
Other New Features*
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This information card is displayed on the side at all times and includes the top 5 contacts of the user. It is very wisely said that - “We are the average of 5 people that we spend time with”. This though is even significant on the digital space because the people we follow are the ones that inspire us and fuels our personal and professional growth.
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This is replacement of the “More” button on the linkedin profile. More as a word is not the ideal grouping title for the contents that were available under this button hence calling it Action gives a better understanding to the user in regard to the button’s use and available options within it.
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This feature allows anyone on linkedin to offer their expertise by being a mentor. This feature can be added on one’s profile by choice. The UI taskflow for this feature is under development and will be available soon to be viewed in this case study.
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This is a much needed feature that will eliminate the use of extra platforms that are required by professionals in order to organise virtual meetings and events. This feature is under development and will be availble soon to be viewed in this case study.
DeliverThe Final Design
The new features offer a wide array of networking opportunities for professionals thereby enhancing the overall experience with the connections on linkedin.
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The functional prototype showcasing all the new features is Under Development and will be availavle soon to be viewed here as a part of this case study.
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The users have had a particulary positive feedback in regard to having the features of referral, feedback and mentorship available on profiles.
The information organised in cards on the profile page has also been very well recieved by the users.
A more in-depth user feedback will be carried out once all the new feature’s UI task flow and prototye is ready.
“Self directed case studies offers a spectacular spectrum of knowledge that eventually benefits the growth of one’s critital thinking skillset and design capabilities.”
- Bharat C. (Product & UX Designer)