Helping you discover your dream job
Role
Designer,
Researcher
Timeline
Jan - Apr 24
Team
Tech4Good Lab
Tools
Figma, FigJam
PROBLEM
Students lack the resources to discover desirable career paths
PROBLEM STATEMENT
How might we promote productive and personalized career exploration for high school students who lack guidance and organized resources?
RESEARCH
How can we personalize career resources by personal progress?
We learned that students are at different stages in their career exploration. Through our research, we came across the Meeus-Crocetti Model, a framework that categorizes students based on their level of exploration. This helps us tailor resources to better support each stage of their journey.
The Meeus-Crocetti Model
A framework that organizes career exploration into 5 stages based on commitment, exploration, and reconsideration
RESEARCH
How can we maximize engagement for high school students?
Our research on youth career exploration highlights social media as a powerful tool for both social and self-directed learning. This inspired us to incorporate "Day-in-the-Life" videos to give students an inside look at careers that aren't typically covered in school. We chose TikTok as our source, given its popularity among teens and the variety of relevant content it offers.
SOCIAL LEARNING
Social media forms an informal, communal environment for learning, allowing users to absorb knowledge outside of traditional lectures.
SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING
The appeal of social media for teenagers makes the content more engaging than traditional methods, encouraging them to explore concepts independently.
PLANNING
Organizing the User Flow of ExploreCareers
With the research and ideas on the table, it was time to organize the user flow of our prototype. This prototype was for a high school seminar, where 10 high school students would user-test our product so we could further improve it from there.
Initial Flaws
Final Revisions
Now, users receive their identity status first thing to understand their experience level before exploration. The dashboard acts as the main hub for all resources and activities. And, TikTok videos and reflectional prompts have been relocated to the major occupation page.
PROTOTYPING
Designing Engaging and Enriching Resources
I was tasked with designing the TikTok pages and Major Occupation pages. Let me walk you through my thought processes.
Room for Improvement
This was the first iteration of the "My TikToks" page, and changes needed to be made.
The design feels unbalanced with a small TikTok video player paired with oversized reflection boxes. The orange button lacks clear labeling. The relationship between the TikTok videos and career exploration is weak.
Final Designs for TikTok page
Final Design for Major Occupations
Now, collapsible panels let users choose what info they want to see, making it less overwhelming. Also, career info from the ONET database was cleaned up and modernized, with key points highlighted at the top using helpful icons.
Final Design for Minor Occupations
The minor occupations appear as a pop-up, making it clear it's secondary to the major occupations. These pop-ups also feature collapsible panels. Additionally, a question at the top gauges the user's commitment level to increase engagement.
RESULTS
User Testing with
10 High School Students
Our user testing results revealed that students found the TikTok videos and organized resources to be helpful, with no strong preference between the two. We're happy to discover that students believe the accessibility of the career resources can make up for a lack of career mentorship. Additionally, they appreciated how their interests could be connected to a financially promising career.
REFLECTION
My Design Debut
Initially, all the moving parts felt overwhelming. There were so many design files, research papers, and people to work with. But once I became more familiar with the team processes, it was smooth sailing from there. While at times, tasks felt tedious and repetitive, I found pleasure in decreasing the cognitive load on screen into something more user-friendly.
Any questions? Feel free to reach out!
Shout out to Tech4Good and the ExploreCareers team!
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