Google U·Connect UX Study Case — Viridiana Trujillo

U·Connect - Google’s Design Internship

This is an experience that allows mentors and mentees to discover each other and encourage experienced students to connect with new students and help them adjust to campus life.

Duration

1 Weeks

My Role

Research
UX Design
IxD Design
Visual Design
Prototyping

Tools

Figma
Adobe Xd
Adobe PS
Adobe AI

Team

Viridiana Trujillo

Google’s UX Design Internship Prompt for 2020

Restrictions: Take the project to whatever stage you want, no limit.

Your school wants to strengthen the community by encouraging experienced students to connect with new students and help them adjust to campus life. Design an experience that allows mentors and mentees to discover each other. Consider the needs of both mentors and mentees, including how someone may become a mentor and how to connect mentors to mentees.

00. context and prompt breakdown

As one enters college, we might encounter problems ranging from socialization to career paths. Mentors can always be helpful regarding these topics, however, reaching them might get tricky. Regarding familiarization and socialization, joining communities might help us as individuals to expand our social circles and feel more comfortable with our college experience.

With this in mind, the goal of this experience is to facilitate contact between alumni, mentors, and communities.

01. understanding

I conducted a user survey, evaluating and interviewing 55 classmates within my target demographic of students and mentors who have used the actual university system.

On communication

Mentors were hard to reach. (As in availability and as in using the university's platform was an issue).

On connections

Connections are impersonal even when they are face to face, as if they were forced upon us.

On motivations

People wanted subject-specific mentors to help them adapt and decide their career paths.

Afterward, a different interview that targeted mentors was applied to the same amount of people:

On communication

College doesn't have a platform, just a spreadsheet with names to try to locate around campus or by student email.

On connections

They want to get to know the mentee more in depth and they'd like a more human and smooth process.

On motivations

They became mentors so they could help others finding career paths and enhance college experience.

02. empathy map

Technology limitations

College traditional communication channels are hard to use (mail, Blackboard, etc.)
Technological contact without self-representations can be dehumanizing and create trivial relationships

Behavioral motivations

Social anxiety
Finding someone alike
Creating communities
Self-actualization through helping others

Frustrations

No self-representation
Intimidated by a system (mail, Blackboard, etc.)
Tedious process to acquire or become a mentor

Goals & Needs

Natural & human-like experiences
Open communication channels
Self-representation & guidance
Meaningful connections

03. design criteria

Accessibility

Enable students to access the mentor program in seamless way. Reducing technological limitations as software boundaries and enabling visible communication channels.

Humanizing

Connecting both ends in a more social and human way. Taking into account what makes anyone unique and satisfies their need for self-representation. Create communities in an organic way.

Empathetic & purposeful

The experience should take into account the needs of both end-users. Enable a tool that can organically motivate relationships between mentors, mentees and community peers.

04. points to target

Humans connecting with humans

Allow the users to select their mentors based on similar interests and likes, as one selects their group of friends. Connect by identifying with each other.

Power to the user

Allow mentees and mentors to access their program in the most convenient way possible (in their mobiles). Without having to understand traditional and complicated methods.

Synergy

Enable synergy by presenting the mentors, mentees, and communities in simple and effective ways that allow the self-representation that characterizes this generation.