Designing for community engagement in upGrad
Designing for community engagement in upGrad
Overview
Overview
Client & Poduct:
Client & Poduct:
upGrad
upGrad
Employer:
Employer:
f1studioz
f1studioz
Type:
Type:
Mobile application (Android)
Mobile application (Android)
Duration:
Duration:
June 2019 - Oct 2019
June 2019 - Oct 2019
About upGrad
upGrad is an online learning platform that enables professionals to acquire specialization in data science, machine learning, management, and other domains.
About upGrad
upGrad is an online learning platform that enables professionals to acquire specialization in data science, machine learning, management, and other domains.
Project goal
The challenge was to design a north-star vision for upGrad that included upcoming features of the application along with features from another application - an online community platform called Cohort Plus, which they had recently acquired.
Project goal
The challenge was to design a north-star vision for upGrad that included upcoming features of the application along with features from another application - an online community platform called Cohort Plus, which they had recently acquired.
TL;DR
A North Star vision was created for the app to include "community" features into the application from their recently acquired product "Cohort Plus".The information architecture of the application was redesigned to make it scalable and future-proof.The project allowed stakeholders of upGrad to get a product vision and build a roadmap for their product.
TL;DR
A North Star vision was created for the app to include "community" features into the application from their recently acquired product "Cohort Plus".The information architecture of the application was redesigned to make it scalable and future-proof.The project allowed stakeholders of upGrad to get a product vision and build a roadmap for their product.
The team
The team
My role
The project was a contract between f1studioz (design agency) and upGrad. I worked on this project as a sole designer from f1studioz.
My role
The project was a contract between f1studioz (design agency) and upGrad. I worked on this project as a sole designer from f1studioz.
Other team members (client side)
1 designer, 1 product manager, 1 engineering manager, CTO from upGrad
Other team members (client side)
1 designer, 1 product manager, 1 engineering manager, CTO from upGrad
Introduction
Introduction
Product requirement
upGrad wanted to enable their existing users to connect on the platform and thus increase user engagement and DAU. To achieve this, they acquired a product called "Cohort Plus" which was a community platform for professionals (much like LinkedIn) and wanted to merge the features of this application into their existing upGrad platform. Along with this they also wanted to improve the look and feel of the application with a better visual design language.
Product requirement
upGrad wanted to enable their existing users to connect on the platform and thus increase user engagement and DAU. To achieve this, they acquired a product called "Cohort Plus" which was a community platform for professionals (much like LinkedIn) and wanted to merge the features of this application into their existing upGrad platform. Along with this they also wanted to improve the look and feel of the application with a better visual design language.
Challenges
Just like any two platforms - upGrad and Cohort Plus used different tech for their platform and had different information architectures.Cohort Plus already had an active user base, so the new design had to fit their mental model as well. Also, the CohortPlus platform was an engineering-first product, hence some features were not in the right place in the IA.
Challenges
Just like any two platforms - upGrad and Cohort Plus used different tech for their platform and had different information architectures.Cohort Plus already had an active user base, so the new design had to fit their mental model as well. Also, the CohortPlus platform was an engineering-first product, hence some features were not in the right place in the IA.
Landing screen of Cohort Plus
Problem statement
Problem statement
How can we align the technology and IA of upGrad and Cohort Plus ensuring a user-friendly experience for both existing and new users?
How can we align the technology and IA of upGrad and Cohort Plus ensuring a user-friendly experience for both existing and new users?
New information architecture
New information architecture
Affinity mapping
The team conducted an open card sorting workshop to identify the new information architecture. The result is shown below:
Affinity mapping
The team conducted an open card sorting workshop to identify the new information architecture. The result is shown below:
Project highlights
Project highlights
Better onboarding
Onboarding experience was revamped to allow users to easily follow people and courses that they are intersted in.
Better onboarding
Onboarding experience was revamped to allow users to easily follow people and courses that they are intersted in.
Fitting in "Cohot Plus"
The IA was revamped and affinity mapping was done to figure out where would all the features of "Cohot Plus" would fit in "upGrad". New pivots were creted and the features were then distributed in appropriate places.
Fitting in "Cohot Plus"
The IA was revamped and affinity mapping was done to figure out where would all the features of "Cohot Plus" would fit in "upGrad". New pivots were creted and the features were then distributed in appropriate places.
Landing screen of Cohort Plus
Landing screen of Cohort Plus
Curated contents
upGrad also wanted to include a new feature called "Content" - a video platform where they would share curated contents to thier users.
Curated contents
upGrad also wanted to include a new feature called "Content" - a video platform where they would share curated contents to thier users.
Free courses
upGrad also wanted to showcase their learning experience to their users. Free courses were provided to the users to help them get a glimpse of what that experience looks like.
Free courses
upGrad also wanted to showcase their learning experience to their users. Free courses were provided to the users to help them get a glimpse of what that experience looks like.
