Hiring a faculty consultant just got easier
We connect all the dots from discovery to delivery
University professors often consult on the side. However, there is currently no easy way for a prospective client to discover, hire, and work with faculty consultants. Our client PlanLeap sees an opportunity. They hired us to come up with a two-sided marketplace to bring academics and industry together.
MY ROLE
My main role was UX/UI design. As such, I owned all visual design. However my teammates and I worked closely and made critical decisions together throughout all phases of the project.
PROBLEM
“I don’t know where to look”
Right now there is no marketplace for faculty consultants. As such, the current hiring process is very tedious. Individual faculty must be identified and contacted directly to discover if they even offer consulting services. Meanwhile faculty consultants must self-manage invoicing and compliance with their university contract. It’s a mess!
SOLUTION
“It’s all right here”
Our solution provides a platform for prospective clients to discover, hire, and collaborate with faculty consultants. The platform also makes it easy for professors to offer consulting services and easy for universities to consider and approve each consulting job. Mess cleaned up!
RESEARCH
What is their goal and pain points?
Our client provided us a lot of information regarding the parties involved and their goals. To validate our client’s information we started off with secondary research. With all the information combined, we defined our archetypes.
How can we keep clients & consultants on the platform once we connect them?
Through interviews, we learned a collaboration platform and integrated billing system are essential. Consultants and clients are less likely to work off-platform if we make things easy for them.
How do we shape our MVP of a comprehensive platform?
Through our comparator analysis, we learned AI matching is the most streamlined and efficient way for potential clients to find a suitable consultant. Since this is where our platform can add the most value, we focused our sprint on this flow.
System Map: Click image to enlarge
DESIGN DECISIONS
Divide and conquer
With a comprehensive platform to tackle, we used a "divide and conquer" approach. Based on my experience using dashboards on a daily basis, I took on the role of designing the dashboard and workspace.
Iteration based on usability testing
To validate my initial design decisions on the dashboard, I did one round of usability testing with three users. The feedback reshaped my design decision.
1. Initially the notification icon was in the global navigation. I later combined it with the message pane to eliminate redundancy.
2. The original thought was to permanently display all messages on this card. I changed it to displaying notifications which disappear after being read to reduce clutter.
3. In usability testing, users asked “why do I have to see my profile picture twice?” So, removed it from the left pane to streamline.
4. I renamed confusing menu items and combined similar ones to further streamline.
5. This progress bar allows the user to quickly glance at the progress of the current project. However, the "Start" and "Completion" labels didn’t add value so I eliminated them and highlighted the upcoming milestone instead.
6. Originally, the "Add Project" CTA was underneath both active and pending projects. If a user had many projects, it would push below the viewport. To keep this CTA in view, I integrated it into the top of the column with a smaller footprint. To help guide the user, I also show the original version during the initial onboarding.
Dashboard Initial Version: Click image to enlarge
Dashboard Final Version: Click image to enlarge
Dashboard
The main purpose of the dashboard on PlanLeap is to allow users to manage their projects and to quickly view new messages.
To avoid a feeling of emptiness, when users first land on the dashboard, an "Add Project" card guides them to start a project and helps them recognize the Add Project icon on the dashboard. Also, a welcome message from PlanLeap in the notification area familiarizes the user with the notification feature.
Empty Dashboard: Click image to enlarge
Active projects will always remain on the top followed by pending projects. Each project card serves as a quick view of the project status and also the entrance to the project. The notification feature provides quick access to the message so the user does not need to click on the project card first in order to read the message. Once the message is read, the notification card will disappear from the dashboard.
Dashboard: Click image to Enlarge
Workspace
When the user clicks on an active project on their dashboard, they will enter the workspace for that project. All documents and information regarding the project are housed here. The user can also use the workspace to interact with the consultant through messages, voice calls, and video calls. All forms of communication are provided to both parties so they don’t need to work off the platform. They also get to see the current time zone for the other party, which will be helpful for remote collaboration.
The "Upcoming Events" feature serves as a reminder of what’s up next on this project. A "Schedule Call" feature is also provided — especially useful for remote collaboration. Once a call is scheduled, it will show up in the Upcoming Events section.
The "Milestones" feature provides a quick view of the progress on the project. The next milestone is highlighted so users can quickly see what’s next.
Consultant will upload all deliverables and these will be housed in the "Deliverables" section. Unread deliverables will be highlighted. Once the user clicks on the deliverable’s card, they can review the attached document and have the options to accept or request revision. If the deliverable is accepted, the milestone will get updated accordingly. After the user accepts the final deliverable, a modal window gives them the option to mark the entire project as completed.
"Project Documents" is similar to Deliverables, however both the user and the consultant can add documents to this section (only the consultant can add to Deliverables). Also, unlike the Deliverables section, adding documents to this section has no effect on Milestones.
Workspace: Click image to enlarge
Dashboard Features: Click image to enlarge
The finishing touches
Because this was a product from a brand new company, first we had to establish its visual identity. First and foremost, we wanted PlanLeap to be professional, clean, and elegant. But most importantly we wanted it to evoke trust and knowledge. So I selected a color scheme that represents these values based on research.
Since our target users are academics and professionals, the typeface need to be basic and legible. Therefore, I chose Lato as accent and Roboto for body throughout the platform.
CONCLUSION
Next Steps
Additional usability testing and continue to improve the workspace to create a delightful collaboration experience for both users and consultants.
Additional usability testing and continue to improve the workspace to create a delightful collaboration experience for both users and consultants.
What I Learned
Research is important but when time and resources are limited, as a designer we need to know when to take a lean approach.
Research is important but when time and resources are limited, as a designer we need to know when to take a lean approach.