Mentor Flow

User Interview and Usability Testing Research Report

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Thrive Out Loud Phase 4

April 18, 2024

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Presentation Recording: https://youtu.be/X2StiIZBgWE

UXR Leads: Steffi Liem, Qianhui Hub

UXR Apprentices: Kate Aid, Cassidy Reiff, Gretchen Johnson, Julianne Gless Valera

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We completed Interviews and Usability Testing with 7 participants identifying as LQBTQIA+

The overarching goal of our research in this phase is to:

• Identify key elements that contribute to a welcoming and intuitive experience for potential mentor users.
• Uncover potential usability barriers encountered by new mentor users during the sign-up process.
• Explore the perspectives and preferences of mentors in the matching process.

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Our Research Goals

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Usability Tasks:

• Landing Page
• A friend recommends you to mentor others on Thrive Out Loud and you want to learn more about the organization
• Become a mentor → How it works:
• You want to learn more about joining TOL as a mentor
• Sign up
• Walk me through how you would join this platform as a mentor
• Mentor Onboarding Questions
• You are ready to move forward and share more about your background

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Matching Preference Exercise

We asked participants to:

• Consider 7 criteria in randomized order that could be used for matching mentors with mentees
• Rearrange those criteria from the most important to the least important as factors for creating a match
• Share their reasoning for the rankings as they placed the labels

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Overview: User Interview / Usability Themes

More information needed on platform expectations and mentor requirements

In matching, prioritize focus area and industry

Successful appeal to target audience

Increase interface intuitiveness and labeling clarity

Theme 1

Theme 2

Theme 3

Theme 4

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Breakdown of Terminology:

Terms we used and what they mean

Findings

Actionable Insights

Findings were created by analyzing and synthesizing data from participants to uncover underlying participant motivations.

Actionable Insights refer to implementation suggestions based on research findings to meet participant needs.

Audience

Note: Themes, Findings, and Actionable Insights are shown in order of priority

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Theme 1: More information needed on platform expectations and mentor requirements

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Findings

Actionable Insights

Potential mentors want clarity on the responsibilities of being a TOL mentor. They would like comprehensive details about the mentorship process (eligibility criteria, expectations, background checks) and mentoring sessions (templates, time commitments, resources to help them support their mentees).

• Develop a comprehensive mentor guidebook, outlining expectations and responsibilities. Include detailed information on mentorship logistics: eligibility, session details (length, frequency, overall timeline), and time commitments. Conduct research to determine desired time commitments among prospective users.

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• Create an FAQ page, utilizing insights from previous research to identify commonly asked questions.

Potential mentors need clearer communication regarding data privacy, safety measures, and platform features before they decide to join TOL. Data sharing and privacy policy transparency is important, as it affects their confidence in the platform.

• Whenever users are prompted to input sensitive data, ensure transparency by specifying how, why, and with whom the information will be shared.
• Analyze how similar platforms ensure safety, either by utilizing the research repository or conducting new research. Provide recommendations to enhance the design and implementation of reporting and other safety features.

Audience

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Theme 2: In matching, prioritize focus area and industry

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Participants prioritize Industry and Focus Area in matching because they feel this is the most important part of a match. This highlights prospective users’ understanding of TOL’s professional mentorship focus.

• Determine how the matching criteria will be weighed in the matching algorithm and clearly communicate this to users. This allows users to carefully complete those sections of the QRE to help them get the most out of their mentorship relationships.

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• While important to have numerous industry and focus area options, it’s equally important to have enough mentors for all listed options. TOL needs to support mentees interested in multiple different fields and affirm that they can find the support they need.

Potential mentors say the listed industries are too broad and desire more specific options. This is an important issue to fix as mentors are unsure which category their current industry falls under.

• Conduct analysis of industry labels across competitor platforms and update listed options relevant to TOL users. More granular options allows mentors to select industries better aligned to their backgrounds and can lead to more accurate mentee matches.

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• Make it obvious that users can manually add their industry with an open-text field so that they’re aware they can contribute their unique skills and expertise no matter what their background is.

Findings

Actionable Insights

Audience

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Theme 2: In matching, prioritize focus area and industry

Unmoderated survey participants (n=21) received the following prompt and instructions:

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“As a mentor, what factors are most important for you to match with a mentee?

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“Rank the labels (from 1-7) to show the most to least important factors for mentoring compatibility.”

*Gender and Mentee’s age tied in rank.

Survey Findings

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Theme 3: Successful appeal to target audience

Potential mentors like that Thrive Out Loud is specifically for the LGBTQIA+ community because they feel that this focus assures them of a safe environment for professional mentoring.

• To make sure Thrive Out Loud remains inclusive over time, continue to research identity-term evolution, preferences, and best practices. Update labels to reflect findings.
• Continue to use strong and inclusive LGBTQIA+ representation in images, copy, and tone, using the content shown in this interview and usability study as a reference.

Findings

Actionable Insights

Audience

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Theme 4: Increase interface intuitiveness and labeling clarity

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Users’ confusion about the functionality of certain buttons caused hesitation as they proceeded through the sign-up flow.

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Ensure that all design elements match users’ mental models for clickability, information hierarchy, and navigation.

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Findings

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General Design Recommendations

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1. Mentor onboarding questionnaire: focus area (high)

Add text field so users who can offer support in additional focus areas have the option to provide this support.

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• Landing page: cards (high)

Optimize functionality of three cards under header by making each clickable for further information.

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• Mentor onboarding questionnaire (high)

Ensure tooltips do not obscure the text nearby.

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• Mentor onboarding questionnaire (high)

Move buttons [Next, Save and Exit, Back] up closer to the text so the user understands they are related (follows the proximity principle).

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• Landing page (medium)

Adjust information hierarchy and navigation so that users can more easily locate the About Us section to discover more information about TOL and mentoring before committing to signing up.

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• Become a mentor page (medium)

Provide a faster way for users to gain the information from the ‘how it works’ section such as creating a brief explanation up top or switching from vertical to horizontal design to prevent long scrolling.

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• Mentor onboarding questionnaire welcome (medium)

Move the Home and Let’s Go buttons up to be closer together so the user understands they are related (follows the proximity principle).

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Q&A

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