Impact at a glance
Evaluative user research sessions led
Content pages and features designed
Complex flows prototyped for testing
Organic views earned in 1mo of soft launch
View the live site
I onboarded the project shortly after the assigned design team built a first draft of the product.
During concept testing, participants expressed confusion around the difference between 'career' and 'job' information.
After conducting a content audit on ontario.ca, I identified existing pages that delineated 'planning for a career' and 'searching for job opportunities' as distinct tasks. I recommended their integration into the product, and proposed design adjustments.
I prepared an interactive prototype for both web and mobile testing that replicated the intended experience as much as possible.
Limitations with Figma were a challenge as we couldn't prototype component patterns such as zooming on a map.
For these complex features, our developer coded a temporary web environment on glitch.io that participants could fully interact with to accurately understand its functionality.
For this project, we uniquely began synthesis in tandem with ongoing research to accommodate a tight revisions deadline.
Following each test, a team member would immediately identify surfaced issues that could be quickly resolved. We would then regroup to discuss alignment and potential solutions, mock them up in between sessions, and share with stakeholders for consideration in the approval consultation.
Less immediately actionable design recommendations were recommended for post-launch.
I was tasked with clustering the feedback for two key features: 1) the personalized guide, and 2) a new map tool that displayed regional demand for specific careers.
The latter was born out of a business goal to streamline in-demand careers to postsecondary institutions that offered related education pathways. During testing, we found that showing the location of these institutions on the map resulted in choice overload, where users often clicked out of the page rather than deeper into the desired flow.
I advised removing it from MVP to declutter the interface and help users complete their organic goal for the page: discovering what careers were in demand by location.
My biggest takeaway
Although people across an organization can agree on the importance of user research, specific needs will vary across roles. As a user experience professional, I've learned that it oftentimes isn't enough to simply relay what users tell you. Designs are more likely to gain buy-in if you are able to frame users' needs in accordance to stakeholder priorities.