Case Study · 03
A UX design project for an online platform connecting career-changers with experienced mentors and curated upskilling resources — born from personal experience navigating a career switch.
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Usability Study Rounds
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User Pain Points Identified
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Screen Sizes Designed
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Careers Unlocked
The Project
MentorMentee is an online platform that helps individuals aspiring to build a career in a new field — connecting them with the right experienced mentors and providing curated training courses and live sessions by industry experts.
The journey of exploring a new field or growing in a specific one is always challenging. People struggle to find experienced guides who've walked the same path, and the right resources to upskill. I faced these challenges myself when I decided to switch careers — which is why this project is deeply personal.
"MentorMentee helps people like me who want to build a career in an unexplored field by connecting with experienced people and the right upskilling resources."
Mentor Matching
Connect with experienced professionals who have walked the same career path.
Curated Courses
Structured training programs and live sessions by industry experts.
Career Exploration
Understand day-to-day life in a role before committing to the switch.
Upskilling Roadmap
A clear, structured path to gain the competencies needed for a new career.
User Research
Surveys and interviews were conducted with college students, youngsters exploring career options, and professionals looking to change careers. Questions ranged from educational background to the specific challenges faced in making career decisions.
Since I had personally faced the same challenges, I was deeply empathetic to the problem. Speaking to people in my network revealed a clear pattern — almost everyone is in the same boat, whether they are fresh graduates or experienced professionals.
Pain Points
Research confirmed that career confusion and lack of guidance is a universal problem — regardless of experience level or background.
01
Lack of Career Clarity
Not only fresh graduates but experienced professionals are unaware of all possible career options and their future growth paths.
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Interest vs. Reality Gap
People can't imagine the day-to-day reality of a role — so they can't tell if it aligns with their actual interests before committing.
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No Clear Upskilling Path
Understanding the next steps to prepare for a new career is difficult — especially with so much conflicting content available online.
User Persona
Shlok is a fresh college graduate trying to understand career opportunities and chart a path to success. He believes a platform that connects him with multiple industry specialists could help him move in the right direction — but doesn't know where to start.
User persona — Shlok, fresh graduate navigating career decisions
Competitive Audit
To understand what problems users face with existing products — and what they expect from a new solution — a competitive audit of key players was conducted.
U
UStrive
Strength: Connects with mentors, supports admissions and financial aid.
Weakness: Focused only on high school and college students.
Opportunity: Partner with mentors for working professionals seeking career growth.
M
MentorKart
Strength: Good mentor base for the tech industry.
Weakness: Poor navigation; no mentors for non-tech industries.
Opportunity: Include non-tech mentors and broader course offerings.
Design Process
Taking time to draft iterations of each screen on paper ensured that the elements making it to digital wireframes were well-suited to address user pain points. For the home screen, I prioritised recommended mentors and courses front and centre.
Paper wireframes — exploring layout iterations for key screens
Digital Wireframes
As the initial design phase progressed, screen designs were continuously grounded in feedback and findings from user research — ensuring every decision was driven by real user needs rather than assumptions.
Digital wireframes — home, mentor discovery, mentor profile, booking, and sessions screens
Low Fidelity Prototype
Using the completed digital wireframes, a low-fidelity prototype was created to test the primary user flow — connecting with a mentor and booking a session — enabling early usability testing before investing in high-fidelity design.
Low-fidelity prototype — primary user flow for mentor connection
Usability Study
Two rounds of usability studies were conducted. The first guided the transition from wireframes to mockups; the second used a high-fidelity prototype to surface what still needed refinement.
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Multiple Events
Users wanted to add and manage multiple mentor sessions simultaneously.
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Customisation
Users wanted personalisation options for themes, preferences and session formats.
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Navigation Issues
The new event option was unclear, vendor selection was confusing, and returning to home was complicated.
Refine the Design
Early designs placed price information on the mentor details page in a way that wasn't prominent enough. After the usability study, pricing was moved to the bottom with a clearer layout, and a favourites feature was introduced to let users save mentors for later.
Before
After
Final Mockups
The final mockups reflect all iterations from research and usability testing — a clean, intuitive interface that makes discovering mentors and courses feel effortless.
Final high-fidelity mockups — home, mentor profile, and session booking
High Fidelity Prototype
The final prototype presents clean user flows for discovering mentors, browsing courses, and booking live sessions.
View Prototype →Responsive Design
Designs were optimised for mobile, tablet, and desktop — each tailored to the specific needs and context of that screen size and usage pattern.
Site map — information architecture overview
Responsive layouts — mobile, tablet, and desktop designs
Takeaways
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Impact
The app makes users feel like MentorMentee truly thinks about how to meet their needs. Peer feedback confirmed its potential: "The app looks simple to use and should definitely help people from various fields get the right mentorship."
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What I Learned
While designing MentorMentee, I learned that the first ideas are only the beginning. Usability studies and peer feedback shaped every iteration — proving that great design is an ongoing conversation with real users.
Next Steps
Conduct another round of usability studies to validate whether the pain points users experienced have been effectively addressed.
Conduct more user research to determine any new areas of need as the platform scales to new industries and user demographics.
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