Project Background
I used to be an public relationship event designer when I worked in China. I found people come to these these summits for professional network development. I observed many conference attendees trying to build connections with other event participants or even speakers.
Award
This project have received the award for Best Graduate Final Project at Entelechy exhibition, SCAD's annual Interactive Design department showcase. So thankful to everyone who helped me and my work!
Challenge
LinkedIn is a business and employment-oriented social networking service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Professionals use LinkedIn to extend their network and catch industry news online.
People also enjoy offline trade conferences, exhibitions, and local meetups. It helps them encounter new people and opportunities, gain more in-depth industry knowledge, and have unique onsite experiences.
There are some limitations between LinkedIn online career service and these on-ground events for people to develop their network:
1. These events usually are temporary and short
2. Among hundreds of participants, it’s hard for people to reach out others who are not around them
3. It might be hard to find the old friends who are at the same conference
4. Sometimes the events last for two or more days, they may want an easy way to start a hangout with new friends.
So my design prompt was:
“How might LinkedIn better enable professional social networking in onsite events?”
IntroducingLinkedIn Onsite
This 45-second motion design showcases the problem and the brife intro of the solution. View the motion design process here.
Secondary Research
LinkedIn Product Analysis and Competitive Market Analysis
After listed all the apps developed by LinkedIn and other apps in App Store, I found that there is no one app tackles the gap of face-to-face communication for professionals.
Opportunity Map
An online survey shows that the most effective method for socialization are conferences, professional groups and LinkedIn.
Primary Research
Online Survey and Interviews
I designed an online survey and posted on my LinkedIn and Professional Group. 22 people's responses show that I also interviewed 6 people trying to understand their needs and behaviors during professional events. Then, I organized the data points.
Persona
Event-attending Experience Map
Stakeholder Map and Convergence Map
Feature Set and Interaction Design
Feature Set
Based on the primary research, I created the persona and map out his experiences before, during and after events. After charting the stakeholders and figured out the convergence relationship between the three main functions, I come up with the provisional feature set.
Interaction Design
Then, the information architecture and interactions are beginning to take shape. The home page is a list of events. After users selected an event, the three main function: posts, attendees, and messages are appear in the tab bar.
UI Design
I used LinkedIn Visual Identity System to ensure that the app fits well in the LinkedIn app family. I also followed the Apple iOS Design Guidelines to make sure that UI patterns are familiar to users.
Interfaces
First, I sketched the paper prototype and tested with people. It helped me build out the initial UI. Then, I made some iteration based on some AB testings and "think-out-loud" feedbacks.
Prototype - Flinto
I made three versions of prototypes. The first two are repid prototype for collecting user feedbacks using inVision app and Marvel app. The third prototype through Flinto has more detailed micro interaction which can be shown to developer for the programing purpose.
Timeline and Next Steps
Made with ❤️ by Qian