SkillSense: Making Quality Connections
SkillSense is a networking and freelancing platform that aims to connect early-career practitioners (students, recent graduates, career-switchers) with more established professionals looking to serve as mentors and clients with tight budgets or small project scopes. Students benefit from the guidance of a mentor, which is also visible to the client. Clients benefit from a competitive rate and quality work due to mentor oversight.
SkillSense developers approached my team to conduct a usability review of the site’s current version with a focus on their two main goals: to facilitate networking between early-career individuals and established professionals, and to easily connect those looking for work with those wanting to take on a new project and sharpen their skills.
solution:
A compilation of user testing insights and actionable recommendations for focused improvements to issues of clarity, messaging, and tone + value, which will vastly increase site usability and better communicate to users just why they should be using SkillSense.
client:
SkillSense
methods:
Heuristic Analysis
Usability Testing
Affinity Diagramming
understanding the opportunity space
heuristic analysis
Familiarizing ourselves with the site, we conducted a heuristic analysis utilizing Shneiderman’s Golden Rules for interface design.
Our initial review discovered several issues of usability:
The SkillSense home page lacked a clear message of what it does and why it matters.
Navigation and interface was difficult and inconsistent.
The proprietary messaging platform ignored convention.
The three user modes lacked distinction.
evaluation goals
With these findings, my team defined four evaluation goals for user testing:
Evaluate how well the site connects Students with Mentors and Clients
Evaluate the degree of credibility the site communicates to its users
Identify user pain points surrounding usability
Identify opportunities to strengthen communication of site value
Affinity diagramming to make sense of user roles, tasks, and all the goals!
usability testing
Equipped with these initial findings and goals for evaluation, my team scripted testing scenarios for each of the user roles (Student, Mentor, and Client). Conducting four in-person test sessions and six remotely, each participant was given one of the three user roles and a set of scenarios to move through on the SkillSense site.
Testing highlighted several areas for improvement, from user flow to site language and design. With testing complete, affinity diagramming and data logging helped my team to identify common themes across user scenarios, prioritize issues, and develop recommendations for improvements to the site.
evaluation insights
Users connected with the SkillSense concept, identifying the need for better connections between mentors and early-career practitioners and praising the site’s intent to fill the gap. Many users also commented on the site’s “clean, uncluttered” design.
However, this minimal approach to the site design is also at the crux of several usability issues:
clarity
The redundant and confusing registration page, lack of home base or dashboard, buried functions and false links, and overall lack of task flow guidance and wayfinding contribute to user confusion and put severe limitations on the usability of the site.
messaging
SkillSense is all about conversations, intended to connect users with one another and facilitate the sharing of knowledge and skills. But the site’s proprietary messaging platform defies conventions and lacks notifications, generating confusion and directly preventing the connection potential it set out to develop.
tone + value
Users stated that SkillSense's language feels ambiguous and odd, with a somewhat impersonal tone throughout. The home page features two paragraphs of copy, but no headline, imagery, or friendly tone to communicate the value of joining the site as a Student, Mentor, or Client.
recommendations
Users agreed that SkillSense has major potential to benefit users and fulfill a need in the freelancing and mentorship spheres, changing the way early-career practitioners network and enhance their skills. A few changes to those three main areas identified will vastly increase site usability and better communicate to users just why they should be using SkillSense.
I composed a Findings + Recommendations Report to identify the site’s major pain points for SkillSense developers and help the platform achieve its goals to better facilitate networking and to more easily connect Mentors, Students, and Clients.
Recommendations include…
Beginning with the Home Page, I recommended revising and shortening the opening paragraphs, adding a headline to draw visitors in and instantly communicate the purpose and value of the site. Incorporating a step-by-step registration process that helps new users determine their role on the site and guides them through profile creation will lend a greater sense of security and understanding to the onboarding process. Developing a ‘dashboard’ style landing page specific to each user role will inspire action and more effective use of the site.
Clearer hierarchy, notifications, and adherence to messaging conventions will greatly improve usability of messaging on the site, directly increasing the volume and quality of conversations and connections .
Consistent and clear copy and language choices will help users more easily and confidently navigate the site, while a warmer, more helpful tone will make them feel part of a supportive and friendly community.
REFLECTION
SkillSense has major potential to benefit users and fulfill a need in the freelancing and mentorship spheres, changing the way early-career practitioners network and enhance their skills.
My recommendations for focused improvements to issues of clarity, messaging, and tone + value will vastly increase site usability and better communicate to users just why they should be using SkillSense.
