Career Path
The Product Overview
Career Path is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping first-generation immigrants find and prepare for their ideal careers. Career Path helps immigrants navigate the job market and confidently build a successful career in their new home through personalized guidance, resources, and training.
Project Duration: 2 Months
The Problem:
The unique challenges faced by immigrants in their pursuit of meaningful employment in a new country. Our platform is designed to bridge the gap between job seekers and opportunities, offering tailored support to help you find your ideal job and build a successful career.
The Goal:
We aim to empower immigrants with the necessary tools and resources to thrive in the job market. We believe that diversity enriches workplaces and communities, and we are committed to creating an inclusive space where immigrants can showcase their skills and talents.
My Role and Responsibilities
As a UX designer, I designed the app from conception to delivery. From performing interviews, creating both paper and digital wireframes, developing low-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes, carrying out usability testing, and ensuring accessibility to final revising of the design. In the scheme below, I provided the list of the jobs I did for this project, and I will discuss the main points briefly in this presentation.
Target Audience and Research Results
I researched to determine the target market of our audience. They are first-generation immigrants, about 21-55, who recently came to the USA, are allowed to work here, have excellent English, and are willing to work hard to build a career.
After that, I conducted interviews and created empathy maps, clearly showing what our users need. They need to get correct information regarding what they must do to get their dream job. (For instance, one person in the interview said she was giving up on her nursing career because she thought she needed to study again to become a nurse in the USA, which is not true; you need to pass a licensing test and provide the prove that you already finished education in this field.) Also, it includes inclusive job listings, personalized support, skill enhancement, networking opportunities, educational resources, and financial aid.
Persona: Christina
“I would love to get a scholarship to study for certification”
Age:
Education:
Hometown:
Family:
Occupation:
30
Bachelor Biology
Tbilisi, Georgia
Married, 1 kid
Healthcare
Christina is a thirty-year-old immigrant from the Republic of Georgia. She moved to the USA a few months ago with her eight years old daughter to create a better life for them. She wanted to become a nurse, but after moving here, she realized she needed to study and get a license to become a nurse, which is time-consuming and expensive.
Problem statement:
Christina is an experienced professional immigrant and single mother who needs some job in the hospital and financial and/or mentor help to get a license to become a nurse because she needs a job ASAP and prefers to work in a hospital and after finishing the certification program and get a license to continue working as a nurse practitioner.
Goals:
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Find some entry-level jobs in the hospital.
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Become a nurse.
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Find a scholarship to financially support her and cover her study costs.
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Or find some loans to cover her education and living costs.
Frustrations:
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High leaving and education costs.
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Not to be able to take care of her daughter, work, and study simultaneously.
Persona: Jose
"I would love a mentor who would guide and help me get the job based on my experience.”
Age:
Education:
Hometown:
Family:
Occupation:
40
Master Degree
San Paulo, Brazil
Married, two kids
Marketing
Jose is a 40-year-old first-generation immigrant who arrived in New York recently. He has a master's degree in marketing and 17 years of working experience in this field. Unfortunately, after searching for a few months, he could not find the job he was looking for here.
Problem statement:
Jose is an experienced professional immigrant Who needs a mentor in his field who would guide him and give him referrals Because he wants to find a job in a new country. He needs help finding a suitable job for his knowledge and experience.
Goals:
● Find a competitive job based on his experience and knowledge.
● Find some professionals who can give him advice or guide him.
Frustrations:
● Can’t find a competitive job because he never worked or studied in this country.
● No connections that could help him find a job.
User research: main pain points
Networking:
The problem statement for helping immigrants prepare and find a job is that many immigrants lack access to resources, networks, and knowledge to help them find employment. This lack of resources and support leaves them without the ability to access the job market in a meaningful way. They do not have a network to help them find a job or give them referrals.
Information:
The problem facing many immigrants is a lack of information on preparing for and finding a job. Many immigrants may not be aware of the available resources or may not know how to access them. Additionally, they may not have the language skills or cultural knowledge to navigate the job market and be competitive in the labor market.
Mentorship:
To make the job hunt more successful, immigrants need mentorship to provide personalized assistance and guidance throughout their job-hunting journey. This mentorship should include help with resume building, job-hunting strategies, and navigating the job market. With the right support and guidance, immigrants can find the jobs they need and succeed in their careers.
Inclusive Job Listings:
Provide a comprehensive list of inclusive job listings that value diversity and welcome immigrants to apply. Provide job listings span various industries so that immigrants can find jobs matching their skills and experience. With our help, immigrants could feel confident in their job search and have the best chance of success.
Financial Aid:
Limited access to financial aid to support their studies. Immigrants need resources to help them gain the necessary qualifications and work experience to be successful in the job market. They also need financial aid to focus on their studies and help cover the costs of job-seeking activities. With the right resources and support, immigrants can become successful and better equipped to find a job and achieve their goals.
PAPER WIREFRAMES
Paper wireframes help visualize our future company's app/web main features and services. That's why we created them. In the picture, you can see five paper wireframe options for mobile home screens. I chose the best parts from each screen and put them all together on the sixth screen. So now we have a final home screen.
Digital Wireframes
Home Screen
After paper wireframes, it is time to make digital wireframes. You can see few examples down below.
Donation Page
You can see all the options we create for our donors on digital wireframes. They can choose payment methods, donor status, donation amount, etc.
Low-fidelity prototype
Lo-fi prototypes helped us to identify any potential problems with the page before we created mockups. they are an important part of web development, ensuring that the page meets the user's needs and helps to provide a useability study.
We create a low-fidelity prototype to let users understand how the page looks and feels on the device. The prototype includes all the web page aspects, from donation to enrollment in the program.
Usability Study:
We have recently conducted a usability study of our website to help immigrants prepare and find jobs.
Research goals
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Determined if the app is working without errors. Make sure everyone can easily navigate the app and find the information about our programs and/or their career guidance or requirements in the US market.
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Make enrolment easy to find and make the process simple.
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Make the donation process easy and simple.
Participants
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Participants are first-generation immigrants who are searching for a job and career growth in the US.
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2 males, and 3 females between the ages 21-45. One participant is a person with a visual impairment.
Methodology
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Unmoderated usability study
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Location: United States, remote
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Time: Sessions will take place June 20, during normal business hours
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Length: 15-20 minutes
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
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use of navigation vs. search
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user error rates
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conversion rates
Usability Study: Findings
Round 1 finding:
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The "Donate" button should be made more noticeable on the homepage.
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There wasn't a home button after registration.
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The donation page had a sign-in option that was confusing to users.
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Users found it easier to navigate the website when the site description was front and center.
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Users want a "Read More" button for each enrollment position to get more information before committing.
Round 2 findings:
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Altering the font to improve readability,
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Removing extraneous design elements for cleaner design,
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Incorporating an orange color scheme into the interface for better accessibility.
Based on the usability study, we made some corrections:
We added some company descriptions, added an enroll button, and highlighted the "Donate" button.
We added a “Read More” button to give more brief information for each of the roles.
Give undertanding about webpage to the user and call to action fast and easy.
High-Fidelity Prototype
Web Mockup
App Mockup
Home page for web and mobile
Donation page for web and mobile
Impact:
Our research helped immigrants prepare and find jobs and has tremendously impacted our users. The newly designed website and app are incredibly user-friendly, making the process of enrolling, donating, and searching for information straightforward. As a result, our customer base has grown significantly, and our users have found the resources they need to succeed in their job searches. We also have provided immigrants with the tools they need to gain economic independence.
What I learned:
The first ideas for the app were very useful for developing the final design, but throughout the process, many things changed. After conducting my research, I learned that many immigrants are unaware of the resources available to them to help them prepare for and find jobs. I found that job search assistance, resume help, interview preparation, and networking are all important tools for immigrants seeking employment. I also discovered that offering free or low-cost classes and workshops to help immigrants better understand the job search process and gain the skills they need to succeed is essential.
Next Steps:
After completing the research phase, the next step is to conduct an additional usability study to ensure users' pain points have been effectively addressed. This further testing will help to identify any overlooked issues or areas where the product could be improved. Following the usability study, it is important to conduct more user research to determine future pain points. This will help ensure that the product meets user needs and expectations. The product is ready for launch once the usability study and user research are complete.