Redesign the U of T Career Center Website

Summary

Background: As part of a Masters level capstone project, my team provided the University of Toronto Career Center with in-depth user research and a website redesign.

Objective: (1) Re-design the University of Toronto’s Career Centre website to match student needs (2) Provide the Career Center with a research summary analyzing their current services 

Deliverables: (1) High-Fidelity Prototypes (2) Affinity Research Diagram

Role: UX Designer

Problem: The Career Centre Wants to Fine Tune their Services

The Career Center approached my team in order to understand how they could increase their offerings, fine tune current services and learn more about their patrons. 

What does the Career Cenre know about their patrons?

Proto Personas were created based on information from stakeholders provided during an interview session. This process allowed us to understand stakeholder assumptions of users which we could confirm or reject during our user interview process.

How do students feel about the Career Centre?

In total, 10 stduents were interviewed in-person outside the Career Center.  Findings from the interview were summarized in an touch-point diagram. Results showed that students need a way to learn more about career opportunities in their specific field. They felt the website had too much information they did find relevant.

Collaborative Paper Prototyping (Crazy 8’s)

Based on the insights gained from our research, all 6 team members participated in a “crazy 8’s” collaborate prototyping session. Team members were then given 8 minutes (1 minute per square) to sketch 8 quick ideas. Group members agreed that students needed a way to connect with alumni in their field, find jobs related to their major and further develop skills in their chosen career area.

Three Iterations of User Testing

Based on results from the Crazy 8’s exercise, our group created a series of paper prototypes. Test participants provided reactions to concepts. Overall, participants agreed with the concepts and their value.

Hi-Fidelity Prototype

Hi-Fidelity prototypes were created based on low-fidelity paper iterations and presented to stakeholders during a 20-minute presentation. Our final prototype highlighted a focus on career, networking and personal development opportunities within a students specific field to provide students with a relevant information ecosystem.

Outcome

The research conducted by our team provided a deep level of insight to Career Center representatives regarding their services and where they could improve. Our prototypes provided the Career Centre with a new way to help students specifically explore opportunities within their academic area.