Resource Navigator.
Elevated website experience that enhances discovery and access to resources and strengthen mentoring practices
Overview
This project focused on supporting the scaling of a small nonprofit organization, The Mentoring Partnership (TMP), by improving how mentoring programs utilize its offerings. We designed a solution that streamlines program workflows by accelerating the navigation process of online mentoring resources and enhancing how results are being displayed for guiding discoverability and decision-making.
Collaborated closely with team members to conduct comprehensive user research, including interviews, usability testing, and contextual inquiry. Ensured team was aligned with project objectives
Worked cross-functionally with engineering teams, program leaders, and stakeholders to validate solution ideas and guide product vision
Managed a 0-1 design system and crafted high-fidelity prototypes to demonstrate product vision and potential implementation. Ensured brand consistency across platforms and alignment with project goals
Duration:
Team:
5 Product Designers
Skills:
Tools:
Figma
Google Forms
Google Sheets
Jump to solution
Problem Scope
TMP serves as a library of resources for local mentoring programs.
1.
2.
Clients are unaware of and underutilizing their vast range of resources.
4
out of 9 ppts
14
out of 32 survey respondents
How might we…
increase visibility of TMP’s broad range of services and resources so that mentoring programs can independently navigate and find useful and relevant information faster without taxing TMP's small team?
Digging Deeper
We've identified five stages users typically go through when searching for resources.
Insight 1
The already tedious navigation process is further complicated by TMP's current website.
3:16
min
Avg completion time to find a specific resource on TMP's site during usability testing
64
SUS score
Considered low website usability score
6
out of 9 ppts
9
out of 9 ppts
Opportunity
Address technical bugs on the current website to enable immediate access to resources and better support user independence with search and discovery.
Insight 2
Users value search assistance to support their exploration.
Values
Users want immediate access to resources, recommended resources that cater to their needs, and credibility by seeing how the resources are helpful to other programs.
Insight 3
Search bars are conventional gateways to find mentoring content, including TMP's website.
5
out of 5 ppts
6
out of 9 ppts
Why Search Bar?
Users want immediate access to resources, recommended resources that cater to their needs, and credibility by seeing how the resources are helpful to other programs.
Introducing Our Solution
Resource Navigator: Overview
A dynamic search solution that elevates the search experience for knowledge seekers.
The Resource Navigator is a redesigned 3-part solution that aims to streamline the navigation experience on TMP's website, which includes a more visible search bar, dropdown menu, and a categorized results page.
Centralized Search Bar
Providing AI suggestions to assist with search.
The search bar now lives at the center of the homepage, providing immediate access for users exploring or discovering resources across the website. In addition, a list of AI-generated content suggestions highlight TMP's diverse offerings for visitors unfamiliar with the organization. The suggestions would change each website visit to surface other offerings.
Our design
Current website
Search Dropdown Menu
Expanding awareness of TMP's offerings.
The dropdown further makes the search bar more useful by providing richer AI suggestions of resources and trainings to guide discovery. Autofill search results will update in real time as the user assembles their search queries, minimizing steps to come up with specific keywords.
Our design
Current Website
Results Page
Optimizing for skimmability and selection.
The results page consolidates all resources into a scannable list, each item showing a preview description and image to help users quickly compare and evaluate options. Additionally, the filtering system enables search options to be narrowed down further.
Our design
Current Website
Impact & Next Steps
Users feel more confident with using the website.
The Resource Navigator increased the confidence of users and facilitate greater website visits so that mentoring knowledge can be shared down the line.
66%
search time of resources
25%
improved website usability
<1
min
Avg search time with our solution
80.3
SUS score
high website usability score compared to 64 with the current website
After consulting with developers and designers, we developed a thorough short- and long-term implementation plan to hand off to TMP, detailing essential website issues that needed to be addressed right away and complex features for implementation later.
What I Learned
Communication is an essential skill for agility and negotiation.
This project gave me valuable insights on how communication was key to working cross-functionally more effectively. We had to balance organizational goals with user preferences in order to deliver a powerful solution that impacts both.
1.
Good design is heavily research-backed
Conducting extensive research really benefited our team to utilize our collected data to guide our product vision.
2.
Small improvements drive big impact
While the Resource Navigator was simply a package of website improvements, these quality-of-life changes led to greater usability and aligned with TMP goals and budget.
I want to thank every one of my team members who made our project experience so valuable and healthy!
Thanks for reading!
