PeopleGrove
Case Study
Role
Project Lead, UX/UI Designer, UX Researcher
Toolkit
Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Miro
Background
PeopleGrove is a career development platform that connects students, alumni, and professionals through mentorship, networking, and experiential learning. Designed to support career readiness and lifelong connections, it helps users grow their networks, access industry insights, and navigate their educational and professional journeys with confidence.
Research
Research Goals
Improve the usability of the PeopleGrove dashboard to reduce user error, increase application completion rates, and build trust in the capstone matching process.
Methodologies
The following methods were used in order to conduct the research on PeopleGroves current web application.
Usability Testing
User Persona
Empathy Mapping
Journey Mapping
Meeting Our User
Click Image to Enlarge
Jordan's Goals and Pain Points
Click Image to Enlarge
What did we observe during Jordan's Usability Testing?
Click Image to Enlarge
Analyzing the Application Process
Jordan's Journey
Click Image to Enlarge
Opportunities for Improvement
Click Image to Enlarge
Design Process
My Role
As part of our team’s project to create a mobile version of the PeopleGrove web application, my focus is on designing and iterating the process of applying for a project starting from the dashboard page. Due to time constraints, this will be the only user flow I refine, while my teammates handle other sections of the mobile app to ensure a timely launch.
Project Goals
Design and optimize the mobile user flow for applying to a project from the dashboard within the PeopleGrove application.
Design System
This design system, built on a short timeline, focuses on the most essential elements including buttons, tags, typography, colors, and effects, to maintain consistency and efficiency across the product. By prioritizing only what was necessary, it provided a clear foundation for designers and developers, reduced guesswork, and streamlined the design-to-development process. This lean yet effective approach allowed us to move quickly while ensuring a cohesive, user-friendly experience that can scale without sacrificing brand consistency.
Click Image to Enlarge
Wireframe Design
Click Image to Enlarge
Lo-Fidelity Prototype Design
Click Image to Enlarge
Usability Testing
Objective of Usability Testing
Evaluate the usability, clarity, and task success of the redesigned mobile experience for UX Design students applying to their capstone project via the PeopleGrove platform.
Jordan's Task Assignment
Jordan, a UX Design Student is attempting to apply for the final capstone project.
What Does Success Look Like?
The successful end state includes Jordan receiving a clear confirmation screen and returning to the project page.
Jordan's Usability Test on Lo-Fidelity Prototype
Click Image to Enlarge
Final Prototype
The final prototype currently in use by ARBOHQ went through multiple rounds of user testing in order to continue iterating changes and incorporating as much feedback as possible. In the end this was seen as a successful and user-friendly product.
Key Takeaways
Challenges Faced
To take on the project lead role and divide project goals amongst the team and organize our design sprint process
To make a huge effort in prioritization when creating an MVP
Incorporating business goals with conflicting user-feedback
Lessons Learned
The effort of keeping it simple can make a difference in the final outcome, starting form flowcharts up to the prototype experience.
The importance of a well-designed UI library/Style Guide, that is built up using components, variants and frames
Designing in a consistent way can truly help speed up the whole process
