Facebook Mentorship Implementation
(PhD Dissertation Concept)
“Our chief want in life is somebody who will make us do what we can.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Overview
Facebook has its job-search engine where people post job openings and find jobs. The Ph.D. dissertation focused on how social classes affect job seekers in the job search process. As the paper suggests, more privileged job seekers have an advantage. They know how to interact with people in authority, feel more comfortable in interviews, and hesitate less to ask for help from those in power. From there, the idea evolved into implementing the mentorship feature within Facebook.
​
Ph.D. Dissertation: The Main Topic
​
Problem Statement
How could the process of job search on the social networking sites (of Facebook) be improved, invented, or eased through a multi-purpose discussion tool/feature for job seekers to request help, such as referrals for hiring or interviews, mentorship, or chatting?
Project Duration
Partner
Team
My Role
Key Skills
8 Months
Phoebe (Ph.D Student in Informatics at the UCI)
Self-led UX design project
Product Designer
UX Strategy
Concept Ideation
User
Research
Interaction Design
Visual Design
Prototyping
Goal
The goal was to implement the mentorship feature on Facebook in a way that is easily approachable for people from unprivileged family backgrounds.
​
My Role
I managed to go through the end-to-end design process, from strategy, research, interaction, validation, to user interface design.
​
What do users need?
Users need to easily find mentors and mentees on the platform. They also need to receive adequate help when facing unprivileged situations due to their backgrounds.
​
My Takeaway
I was thoroughly able to think about the most popular social networking site’s information architecture and design system. It is good to know how to integrate a new design or a new feature onto an existing website or app. I came up with a strategy to understand the opportunities and risks, and how to expand ideas and prevent potential harms.
​
Summative Writing Click to View
Tools
• Sketch
• Adobe PhotoShop
• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe InDesign
• Mural
• Sketchbook
• Pen & Pencil
UX Research
• Two Rounds of User Interviews
• Summative Writing
• Idea Generation
•Service Model
• Concept
• Positioning
• Site Maps
• Concept Poster
• Empathy Map
• Jobs-to-be-done
• Creative Matrix
• Motivational Matrix
• Survey
• Usability Test
UX Deliverables
• Affinity Diagram
• Comparative Analysis
• Personas
• Current Facebook User Flow
• Suggested User Flow
• Information Architecture
• Wireframes
• Prototype
Dissertation Analysis
User Interviews & Affinity Diagram
I started with this user interview processed by the Ph.D. student. She interviewed sixteen people who had just gotten their first jobs as programmers. Based on it, I created an affinity diagram. The diagram was divided into three sections: parenting, strategy, and job search process. The evidence was clear that more privileged students—those taught by parents who had also gone through Ph.D. programs—knew how to interact with authority figures, held valuable information, and had networks from parents who had experienced similar situations. After understanding the need for it, I had to think about how I was going to approach the problem.
Strategy
After analyzing the affinity diagram and comparing the Social Networking Sites and the existing mentorship programs, I carefully strategized. I made ‘Idea Generation’, ‘Concept’, ‘Service Model’, and ‘Positioning’. These diagrams show how I was going to approach the project and suggest where I was supposed to head in the design process. This worked as an anchor where I returned to see my goals from time to time. The last image, ‘Concept Poster’, summarizes the project ideas, core values, and intentions
Idea Generation
Concept
Service Model
Positioning
Current Facebook Job Search Page Analysis
​
After I got a clear direction on where to go, I analyzed the current Facebook job search site map to see where to integrate the new feature. I also mapped out the current user flow of the Facebook job search page to fully understand it. It gave me some insights into how Facebook is structured. It helped me implement the new feature without disrupting the current web flow.
Site Map
User Flow
Feature Exploration​
​
The next step was to explore what features to implement on the mentorship pages. This list of features gave a clear sense of what and how to create the pages. It also gave me a clear picture of why people would use the mentorship, how it could attract users, and how it could make them stay on the website. It also gave me perspectives on psychology and helped me understand the opportunities and risks.
Research​
​
With additional research on many pieces of literature, five more supplementary user interviews, and the twenty-two results of my own survey, I started to see the needs and pain points of the users. I illustrated them on personas and empathy maps to better understand the users and to remind myself of the project direction. The mentees needed mentors to teach them how to get a job or advance in their careers. The mentors felt responsible, needed experience, and wanted to contribute to the community.
Empathy Map
Interaction​
​
To figure out the interactions within the new mentorship feature, I conducted a comparative analysis. Based on the previous research such as the current user flow, site map, and user analysis, I came up with the user flow to move toward wireframes. The comparative analysis gave me insights into what kinds of functions might be useful for the new feature. Eventually, this process enabled me to conceptualize the information architecture of the new feature. The information architecture helped me move on to the next step, wireframes. I also added the detailed IA at the end of this section.
Suggested Site Map
Wireframes
​​
After reading through the findings and insights from the previous research, I carefully came up with the initial wireframes. The main ideas here are to make it easier to navigate, rather than just blindly applying for jobs. It provides an online space to network. To do that, I tried to make it as interactive as possible. I also created a helpful feature for people from less privileged social classes. They could choose which background they are from to select mentors and mentees who are willing to match with them. This allows mentees to be mentored, and mentors to gain experience and a chance to volunteer.
It is easy to set up an account. The home page is where all the posts that users put up appear. There, you can see what others are doing. There is a high chance that users will gather information about job searching and receive advice for their careers.
This is the setup page for mentors. Mentors can enter their personal information to match with their mentees. The page will show the most relevant and important information first, which mentees look for. The page also has a section that provides adequate resources on how to do the mentorship and how to navigate through the app.
This is the setup page for mentees. It is similar to the mentor page, but they can choose to display their parents’ highest level of education to receive the proper help.
The second page, which shows the user’s matched mentor profile, will be helpful for tracking the user’s mentorship. The star icon indicates a review of how trustworthy they may be. The search page, where mentees or mentors look for a match, is similar to the Indeed search page. The circle indicator shows that they are willing to chat or help.
The network room at the end of this slide is where people participate in online social activity. They can gain information about job searching and also find mentors or mentees there. This room reflects the authenticity of the users. It is where they can build trust online. Users can create a room with any topic they choose, such as ‘Practicing Mock Interview’ or ‘How to Research About a Company’. It suggests trending rooms to users, helping them find relevant online spaces without spending much time searching.
Hi-Fi Mockup
​
By examining the data analytics from the research and the design patterns of Facebook to make this app as effective and user-friendly as possible and aligned with the Facebook design system, I carefully came up with this hi-fi mockup.
The first two pages are the home page where users can see others' posts. The first page shows the network room, which is one of the two hearts of this app, where users can help and exchange information with each other. The brief display of the network room can be folded, and the page will then show only the posts.
The mentor page provides the basic information about the mentor. Mentors can choose what type of mentees they want to help, including based on social classes. Facebook analyzes the personal information to automatically find a match. From there, both mentors and mentees can make the selections they want.
The mentee page is similar to the mentor page, except the information input needed is slightly different, and mentees can choose which social class they are from by choice.
Facebook will provide every piece of information on how to mentor, including how to set up a class, how to find a mentee, the training necessary to get the most out of the class for both mentees and mentors, and so on.
The mentorship matching and the network room features are the heart of this app, designed to help mentees and provide experience and self-fulfillment for mentors.
