Library Hub
LIBRARY HUB
Case Study
Networking is an often overlooked albeit very important part of seeking new employment for many individuals. Harnessing the power and connections of another often helps with landing jobs or procuring higher paying positions or promotions. Although networking is advantageous to any job seeker, many of them are unaware of how to connect with those who could help them.
The Brief
As technology and automation are bringing about heightened risks of unemployment, there is a greater need for the library to help its community navigate social change. How can the library help improve patrons' skills and help them find employment? How can it be a resource to prepare young people for a new labor market?
Problem
When I first read the project brief - Tech for Better Lives: Libraries as Community Hub, I knew I was exited to help make a difference. I am very passionate about bringing people together as a community, and what better place to do that than the library? Coming up with a solution that would help job seekers utilize the power of their local library to catapult into the job market,was very fulfilling for me.
Approach
Our team worked in stages following the design thinking process.
Empathize, Define, Ideate, Solution. Test, Findings & Recommendations
My Role
• Competitive Market Analysis
• Expert Interviews
• User interviews
• Contextual Inquiries
• Low-fidelity wireframes
• Sitemap
• Usability testing
Empathize
Competitive Analysis
The purpose of the Competitive Analysis was to evaluate and understand the current state of the market space. This analysis helped in identifying users' needs and goals in order to provide a product that would be fit for the user. Also, it helped to identify gaps in the current market and what features to avoid. It gave us a divergent form of thinking which helped us to understand the exact problem and solution for the project. Although the research indicated that there is a trend in online learning, the market is not yet saturated.
The trends in online learning lean toward self-paced, customized, and flexible learning environments. The search by course or field of study, feature of Udemy both online and on mobile makes it simple for any type of user to find what they're looking for. This is especially useful for the online education market since the end user in this market varies from K-12 education to higher education and even industry professionals and others. In our field research with SME's interviews, we realized that some libraries have several resources at their disposal that people could benefit from but most of the time don't know about. The networking model that LinkedIn demonstrates is a very important community building feature. This idea could be streamlined to focus on mentorship as a way to facilitate the introduction and communication between potential mentors and proteges.
Recommendations
Many people in our communities are seeking answers specifically related to obtaining new careers, learning new skills, or starting a business from scratch. The library is already helping people with these inquiries to some degree, but they are very willing to expand and help people further. A key takeaway of our research is the fact that libraries don't have a strong digital presence, nonetheless they have some really interesting tools such as access to databases that would be particularly interesting for someone wanting to start their own business. They also offer different types of programs and resources that would help those who are seeking resources for continued education. Moving forward, our next steps would be to define, as best as possible, a solution that would help libraries have a strong digital presence and integrate all the different resources at the libraries disposal that would contribute to their users needs as well as help them differentiate themselves from the other online educational and job placement resources.
Expert Interviews
“Older adults tend to have difficulties coping with technology advancement.”
“I believe that they could do a better job of spreading the word around.”and edit me. It's easy.
“People often think that we have all the answers, but it’s more of us connecting people. The instant gratification world that we live in, the fact that we’re not that, can be kind of hard.”
“I think mentors would be really great, understanding the basics of accounting, and also business plans and models and all that.”
User Interviews
During our interviews, we found that most people value in-person connections.
“What's really going to get your foot in the door is who you know.”
“People have forgotten that the library exists or that it’s an option.”
“The library could do more outreach to people who are looking to get into the labor force”
Contextual Inquiries
Based on the contextual inquiries, users feel comfortable going to their mobile phones for the first resource. This gives them direct access to the internet which allows them to search for any resources that may be available to them quickly. Which translates to accessibility being one of the biggest motivators when it comes to the resources that the users are reaching for. The users are looking for a resource that allows them to navigate through information quickly and satisfies the desire they have to find that job or class to learn a new skill set.
Define
User Persona
Problem Statement
"A new job seeker requires connections with experts in the community who specialize in the field they are interested in so that one may gain insight and form a referral network which may lead to a more successful job search."
Design Principles
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Simplicity: As a public resource, the design will have simple, direct and primary information about the different topics covered to adapt to any member of the community using the service.
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Social/Community: We want the user to feel connected throughout the process and not feel alone when searching for a job or career change.
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Learning: The user should be able to find or get referred to places to find in-depth knowledge that pertains to any career field that he/she wants to move into.
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Opportunity: We want to provide opportunities to the people that might otherwise not be there if it was not for them visiting our website/app.
Competitive Analysis Update
After conducting exploratory research, profiling the user personas and defining the problem statement we have been able to narrow down to a more specific list of competitors, both direct and indirect.
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An updated list of direct competitors
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Direct Competitors
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LinkedIn
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SER Jobs
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Workforce Solutions
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An updated list of indirect competitors
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Indirect Competitors
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Springboard
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Udemy
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Meet Up
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Compelling features or insights
Originally we had included community colleges and online universities thinking that those institutions provide in a broader sense certain skill sets that contribute to getting a job, nonetheless we now agree that the main focus of our digital solution is to help people connect with a job opportunity and raise awareness of how technology can be a disrupting factor in every industry.
The companies that are now considered direct competitors provide services that help people directly connect with companies and job opportunities. As for indirect competitors, companies that provide users with new skills to be able to make a career change.
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Updated recommendations
In our recommendations, we have introduced two companies as direct competitors (SER Jobs and Workforce Solutions) because we consider that their services focus mainly on connecting the supply of labor with the demand of users looking for a job. On the other hand, we have considered Meet Up as an indirect competitor as it provides users the opportunity to find meaningful connections and it provides opportunities to test a prototype, network, take a class, learn a new skill or pitch to investors which can lead to a new job or career change.
Ideate
Low-fidelity Wireframes
Site Map
Prototype
Test
Testing Objective
To obtain feedback on the initial design and flow of the prototype for the Library Hub website. To test whether the functions and features conform to what potential users would expect in regards to the site’s navigation system, and scheduling flow. To understand whether their mental model for the product matches the design.
Findings & Recommendations
Typographical/grammatical errors
Navigation
Saved profiles & events
Undo favorites & event sign up
Inability to log out