LinkedIn Design Challenge
Prompt
Design an experience that helps LinkedIn’s novice contributors overcome the barriers to sharing.
Prep
CONSTRAINTS
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5 days to complete the challenge: 1 day for research, 1 day for ideation, 1 day for low-fidelity wireframes, 1 day for iteration, and 1 day to finish hi-fidelity designs.
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Not enough interview numbers to create a solid base of user learning.
ASSUMPTIONS
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The primary users are professionals who are novice contributors.
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Mobile application provides a more light-weight sharing /documenting solution than websites or services.
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The professionals are someone who own an LinkedIn account, and are also willing to use this application.
Quantitative Research
I analyzed 50 posts on my LinkedIn feeds to find out who are active contributors and what they are contributing.
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5
10%
individual
25
50%
Company
20
40%
Group
4
20%
Repost
15
75%
like/follow
1
5%
direct post
If using my feeds page as a sample of all LinkedIn feeds (but ideally the sample number should be significantly larger), it doesn’t seem to be a vibrant community where peer professionals actively contribute and share. This also leads to a lack of incentives and inspiration for anyone to share.
Competitive Analysis
There are many websites or mobile applications that provide a friendly and vibrant platform for professionals to share. Here are some highlights that they have in common.
1. More emphasis on the actual content, not the person’s title, company, work experience.
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2. Topic-driven model: it manifestoes in a question-and-answer forum, or grouping by the type.
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3. Easier to know the personal overall impact and contribution. Such as, “the number of answers”, “the total claps”, or a post gallery.
Qualitative Research
I interviewed 5 friends who are LinkedIn account owners, and it turned out that none of them is an active LinkedIn contributor, and the time when they are most active on LinkedIn is during a job search.
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They shared various types of reasons why they are not actively contributing to LinkedIn:
They are concerned that being judged by connections thus potentially harm their professional image, so they choose to share less instead of share wrongly.
Fear of being held accountable
The tight linkage of their accounts with the professional identity makes people link their opinions to what their company/ school stands for.
Unsure about appropriate content
For the novice contributors, it is hard to identify the unsaid rules on what they should or shouldn’t share on LinkedIn. They also tend to forget or procrastinate to share.
Not enough motivation or inspiration
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Interviewees don’t feel belong to the LinkedIn community, because they don’t see enough relevant topics, or their peers contributing to the platform.
I also learned that there are different stages in sharing, and I will focus on the first two stages in this challenge.
Ideation
After initial research, I conducted a solo brainstorming session. Here are some ideas that I had:
APP IDEAS
1. Duolingo-like application which integrates gamification to incentivize users to contribute.
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2. Close-circle Competition: A group of professionals compete against other groups to accomplish certain amount of sharing together.
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3. My Career Journal: A journal showcasing a professional’s growth and milestone in his or her own path.
Duolingo-like app
Close-circle Competiton
Career Journal
WEBSITE & SERVICE IDEAS
1. A question and answer forum / functionality integrated with the current LinkedIn website.
2. In-person brown bag sessions where the RSVP system is integrated with LinkedIn website, and it enables the group to share photos and videos about these sessions afterwards.
Final Idea
A light-weight journal mobile application where professionals get inspired and start sharing with the template of different types of sharing, such as professional activities, achievements, milestones, and etc. They can also choose to post them privately or publicly, on this app only or on LinkedIn, too.
How it helps professionals to overcome barriers to share?
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Reminds professionals the type of content they can journal about
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Provides a template to start sharing with
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Sharing is made easy and light-weight
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Makes a safe environment where professionals have control over what to disclose to a larger group
Sign up​
Journal
New Journal
Journal Group
Set Goals
Share
Initial Wireframes
Before creating lo-fi wireframes, I mapped out the task flow.
Sign up​
Onboard
My Journal
New Journal
Set Goals
Track Goals
Validation & Feedback
CARD SORTING FOR JOURNAL PAGE LAYOUT
I created 3 types of journal page, and to understand which layout better caters to users needs, I did a carding sorting excise with 3 people when they used elements from these pages to create their ideal page layout.
Results showed that:
#3 meets the needs for a Journal page,
while #2 works the best for a social page.
#1 Timeline-focused
#2 Instagram-ish
#3 Collection - based
GENERAL FEEDBACK
Other general feedback I got after I showed all the wireframes was:
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Not enough encouragement to share with bigger community.
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Lack of social network functionalities, which is very important in terms of providing motivation and inspiration
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Needs a more contextual and relevant prompt or inspiration to be able to contribute theirs
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Needs to start with a template for new content
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Needs to see their contribution over time clearly
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Iteration
Final Design
LINK TO THE PROTOTYPE
VISUAL DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
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Use illustrations and vibrant colors to cater to younger generations.
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Align with LinkedIn color palette and typography.
Convenient Log in & Personalized Onboarding
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An easy sign-in with LinkedIn account
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Sets up personalization at the onboarding
Supports log in with LinkedIn account
Personalization: journal type
Personalization: topics
the options are based on user's LinkedIn profile
A Feed that is Inspiring & Easily Shareable
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Inspiring feeds with relevant topics that users can take actions on
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New journal or repost with a template
All feeds are from the connections and the interested topics
Create a new post with a template
Easily share from others
Easily share from others
Share with a template
Option to share on LinkedIn
My Journal Page with Contextual Cues to Start Creating
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Gentle reminder of what types of journal to start with
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Quick creation from contextual cues with a new journal template
My Profile
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Showcase clearly the personal contribution
Stretch Goals
HOW I WOULD CREATE A MORE FRIENDLY COMMUNITY
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In-person group events where everyone shares thoughts/ photos/ videos within a group circle feeds
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Peers can give each other acknowledgment for their professional performance
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Experts can pair with a novice contributor to co-create a sharing