Background
Problem
Throughout our experience, we have realized that mentorship is crucial to any UX career. Since UX is still a fairly new field with no clear-cut structure, it is important to have someone who can teach you the ropes and help guide your career.
Research
Research Methods:
Our research methods include the followings:
Semi-structured user interviews (interview students who are hunting for internships).
Users' reviews (find the common themes in user's reviews).
Competitive analysis (compare similar platforms).
Key Findings
Key Findings:
Awkwardness in networking:
Awkwardness and shyness, Difficulty in scheduling.
Keep conversations going.
Mentor being busy / Lack of time.
Calendar connection/Transparency issue.
Difficulty in justifying people's identity and authenticity.
Connection with LinkedIn, Anonymous review option Unmatched expectations from both ends.
Topics to cover during mentoring sessions: figuring out goals / portfolio crit / design challenge / Mutual support/effort.
Responsiveness of both mentors and mentees.
(Lack of) Diversity and customization in mentor search, professional level.
Design Process
Lo-Fi Prototypes
Mid-Fi
Mid-Fi Prototypes
Solution
Hi-fi Prototypes
We at UXelerator are determined to help people who are in any stage of their UX career not only seek guidance for their careers but also make meaningful connections with other professionals in the field.
Constraints
Regulations:
Some countries require that companies obtain the consent of users before collecting any personal data, while others allow companies to collect and use personal data without explicit consent from the user. For example, California's Consumer Privacy Act requires companies to get explicit consent from users before collecting personal data.
Constraints
Time:
Time constraints only allowed us to interview our peers, sacrificing the diversity of the collected data to some extent. Our peers' diverse cultural and professional backgrounds do ensure some degree of diversity. However, when interpreting the research finding, we must be mindful of the similarity in their language ability, educational level, and the financial capability of their family (considering the participants are all fluent in English, studying for master's degrees, and be able to afford the tuition of the higher education of the United States).