Timeline

November - December 2024 (6 weeks)

Role

UX Researcher, UI Designer

Tools

Google Docs, Figma, Google Slides, Canva

Mission

Refine, update, and enhance LinkedIn's usability by streamlining navigation and improving the user experience, making it easier to connect, engage, and showcase professional achievements. We aim to simplify features, improve accessibility, and foster meaningful interactions that empower users to build stronger professional networks with ease. 

Process

1. Define

2. Research

3. User Testing

4. Prototype

5. Analyze & Reflect

Define

What is LinkedIn?

- LinkedIn is a professional networking platform where users can create profiles, connect with colleagues, potential employers, and business partners, and share career-related updates. It allows individuals to build and maintain professional networks, search for jobs, recruit talent, and showcase skills and accomplishments. LinkedIn also offers opportunities for users to join industry-specific groups, engage with content, and expand their professional reach. It's widely used for career development and professional growth.

Research

Facts about LinkedIn

- Users: LinkedIn has over 830 million members worldwide, with the United States having the largest user base

- Demographics: 60% of LinkedIn users are between the ages of 25 and 34, 57% are male, while 43% are female. LinkedIn users are more likely to be from higher income households and have higher education levels

- Job search: More than 9,000 people apply for jobs on LinkedIn every minute, and 61 million people use LinkedIn to look for jobs every week

- Content: 2 million posts, articles, and videos are published on LinkedIn every day. LinkedIn posts with images receive 98% more comments than those without. Videos get shared 20 times more than any other content format on LinkedIn

Key Points about LinkedIn's UX/UI:

Strengths: Highly functional for professional networking, effective for job searching, well-designed for connecting with relevant people in your industry

Weakness: Can feel cluttered with information, search functionality can be frustrating, some users find the interface outdated compared to newer platforms

Mobile UX:

- The mobile version of LinkedIn features a clean, simple design with an emphasis on easy navigation. Its minimalist aesthetic maintains a professional tone, aligning with LinkedIn's brand identity

- The app is optimized for smaller screens, ensuring a smooth, responsive experience that's convenient for on-the-go use

- Navigation is streamlined with a set of universal icons positioned at the bottom of the screen, allowing users quick access to essential features like creating posts, viewing the news feed, checking notifications, and searching for job opportunities

- An added feature in the mobile app is the notifications system, which keeps users informed about important updates, messages, and connection requests

Desktop UX:

- The desktop version of LinkedIn follows a more traditional layout, reminiscent of Facebook, but with additional features compared to the mobile app. The larger screen allows for more detailed content and a comprehensive view of users' connections.

- In contrast to the mobile version, the main navigation is positioned in the header, with dropdown menus that provide easy access to all the platform’s key features.

Other Notable Features

- Search Tool’s filters are often inaccurate, returning random or irrelevant results. This makes it time-consuming and frustrating to find the specific job, company, or person you're searching for

- The Setup and Aesthetic seems cluttered and not well organized. The sponsored chats in the chat section just add to the confusion

User Testing

Conducting Card Sorts 

Each Participant was asked to complete an open card sort. There was a word bank of LinkedIn features and they were instructed to categorize those features how they see fit.

Onsite Ethnography Interviews

Participants: 6 students who use LinkedIn regularly

Questions Asked:

• Have the participant open up their Linkedin page, begin questions.

• Why did you choose to get a Linkedin? 

• Was there anything pushing you to make an account? 

• Were you at all hesitant? Why?

• What do you primarily use the website for?

• How often do you use it?

• In front of us I see your Linkedin homepage. Could you walk me through each part of the page?

• How do you use these elements?

• Are there elements you use more often than others?

• Are there features on this page that feel easy or friendly to use?

• Are there features that feel confusing or irrelevant?

Job Search Task:

- The point of this exercise is to see how we can improve the major stress-point of Linkedin; the Job Search Button.

- Participants were asked to search for a job in your field for this summer. The job should include information about potential pay, hours, and be either online or located somewhere you could work. It should also align fairly well with your current qualifications.

What we found:

- All participants are frequent LinkedIn users

- They use this platform to connect with other students, alumni, and potential employers

- All participants made their way to the search page and started to filter all of the requirements for their future jobs

- LinkedIn did a decent job at finding jobs according to their requirements but also added some not so helpful responses

Prototype

Analysis

- Planning and Flexibility: This project provided minimal guidelines, offering students the freedom to apply what we had learned in class and approach the task in our own way. While we appreciated this autonomy, our team quickly recognized that it also meant we were responsible for creating a structured plan to ensure we met our goal of presenting TechSmith representatives with suggestions for improving their User Experience. To stay on track, we developed a timeline with specific deadlines for each task. Despite following this plan, we faced setbacks that required us to adapt and adjust our approach, highlighting the need for flexibility to stay focused and deliver the best possible results.

- User-Centered Design: Before this project, I had experience in Graphic Design and User Research, but this project challenged me to combine those skills. I had to use the research, data, and client preferences we gathered to guide our design decisions. I found the process of using design to solve real problems particularly rewarding. Gathering user feedback, in particular, reinforced the importance of involving users in the design process. Ultimately, it's crucial to create designs that users find valuable, rather than relying solely on my perspective as the designer.