Overview

The Future Talent Platform (FTP) is a corporate learning solution designed to help organizations upskill their employees effectively. Corporates can purchase the platform to deliver tailored training programs, add their courses, and track employee progress in real time.

Problems

The Future Talent Platform (FTP) faced a significant challenge in its skill progression system. Users, particularly those with expertise in specific skills, were frustrated by the rigid, linear learning path that required completing all prerequisite levels before accessing advanced content. This one-size-fits-all approach was hindering user engagement and learning efficiency. My task was to introduce a new feature in the platform to offer flexible skill-level access while maintaining system integrity and educational quality.

Solution

1. Intuitive Curator Interface: Developed a user-friendly interface enabling curators to manage and customize skill-level access effortlessly, streamlining the content management process.
2. Flexible Unlocking Options: Allowed curators to unlock skill levels for individual learners or entire groups, accommodating different learning needs and expertise levels.
3. Enhanced Visual Feedback: Integrated clear visual indicators throughout the platform. These cues provide immediate insight into course accessibility, indicating locked/unlocked status and skill level prerequisites before users even begin a course, ensuring transparency in the learning journey.

Research

Quantitative Analysis

We began by analyzing platform usage data from the past 12 months. Key findings included:

1. 40% of users abandoned courses after completing the first two levels
2. Only 15% of users completed entire skill tracks

These insights provided concrete evidence of user frustration and engagement issues.

User Survey

We distributed a comprehensive survey to 300 FTP users, achieving a 52% response rate. The survey included a mix of Likert scale questions and open-ended responses, designed to gather quantifiable data on user satisfaction and feature importance. It targeted both users new to specific skills and those with advanced expertise in certain areas. The primary aims of the survey were to understand:

1. Users’ frustrations and pain points with the current system
2. The reasons behind the low engagement rate

Key Findings

1. 65% of respondents found the current progression model frustrating.
2. 40% expressed a need to skip levels.
3. Only 20% of users felt the existing system adequately met their learning needs.
4. Experienced users reported spending an average of 3 hours on beginner content before reaching their desired skill level.

These results indicated that the rigid progression model was a significant factor in user dissatisfaction and low engagement, particularly for users with existing expertise in related areas.

Quantitative Analysis

User Interviews

We conducted 14 one-on-one interviews with a diverse set of users, including:

• 4 users new to the skill area
• 6 experienced professionals in the skill area

• 4 content curators

These interviews revealed nuanced insights and specific pain points:

1. Skill Transfer Challenges: 5 out of 6 experienced professionals highlighted difficulties in applying their existing knowledge to the platform’s structure. One UX designer noted, “I know the basics, but the platform doesn’t recognize my experience, forcing me to start from scratch.”
2. Content Relevance: All interviewed users new to the skill area expressed concerns about potentially missing crucial information if given the option to skip levels. One security analyst learning UX stated, “I’m worried I might miss something important if I skip ahead, even if some parts seem basic.”
3. Curator Dilemmas: 3 out of 4 curators expressed a need to create a path that’s flexible for experts but still comprehensive for newcomers.
4. Time Investment: Experienced professionals estimated they spent 30-40% of their learning time on content they already knew. One stated, “I could be learning advanced techniques in the time I spend proving I know the basics.”

5. Motivation Impact: 4 out of 6 experienced professionals mentioned that the inability to access advanced content immediately decreased their motivation to use the platform.

These insights provided a deeper understanding of the varying needs across different user types, highlighting the importance of a flexible system that can accommodate both newcomers to a skill and experienced professionals looking to enhance their expertise

Competitor Analysis

A thorough competitive analysis was conducted on other learning management systems (LMS) that offer similar unlocking features. Platforms such as Coursera and LinkedIn Learning were reviewed to gather insights into how they manage skill progression flexibility and what pitfalls they might have encountered. Our expanded competitive analysis covered:

• 2 EdTech startups: Upgrad and Unacademy
• 3 professional certification platforms: Coursera, Linkedin Learning and Udemy

Key Takeaways From The Analysis:

• Most platforms allow users to skip any lesson completely and move to completion, even if it doesn’t add any value to the user at the end of the course.
• Some platforms allowed for flexibility but required users to watch the entire course material for the certificate.

How Might We

Based on our user research, competitor analysis, and stakeholder insights, we identified four key challenges to address in the redesign of the Future Talent Platform. These challenges were framed as “How Might We” (HMW) questions to guide our ideation process:

1. How might we create a flexible progression model for both new learners and experienced professionals to accommodate diverse skill levels?
2. How might we reduce time spent on beginner content for experienced users to enhance engagement without compromising the learning experience for newcomers?
3. How might we design a content-skipping system for knowledgeable users to ensure genuine skill acquisition while preventing less experienced learners from bypassing essential material?
4. How might we implement intuitive visual cues for all users to clearly guide learners through their personalized paths, distinguishing between skippable and non-skippable content?

The Need for Curator Control

We discovered that empowering content curators with direct control over skill-level access would be the most effective approach, rather than allowing users the freedom to choose and skip. This decision was based on the following reasons:

1. Content curators have the best understanding of their course material and its prerequisites.
2. They can decide which users should be allowed to skip certain content based on their expertise.
3. This approach ensures that users are not skipping crucial learning material without proper justification.
4. It maintains the integrity of the learning process while still allowing for flexibility.

This realization shifted our focus towards designing a solution that would:

• Provide content curators with tools to manage skill-level access directly.
• Allow for individualized decisions on content accessibility.
• Ensure users are guided through an appropriate learning path based on their knowledge and skills.

This insight became a cornerstone in our approach to redesigning the skill progression system, balancing flexibility with the importance of thorough learning and proper skill acquisition.

User Persona

As part of our user-centred design approach for the Future Talent Platform redesign, we developed detailed user personas based on our extensive research. This persona was crafted from insights gathered.

Learning Curator Persona

Initial Wireframe and Concept Ideation

Using insights from stakeholder interviews, user surveys, and additional research, I developed a UI-based solution that gives curators control over unlocking and locking skill levels for users. This approach allows curators to manage skill-level access seamlessly, ensuring a more personalized and flexible learning experience.

A UI-Based Solution

• An intuitive user interface where curators could manually control access
• Allows for granular control over individual learners or specific groups

The Developer-Designer Disagreement Stage

After presenting the UI-based solution to the PMs, POs, and developers, it was determined that this approach might take too long to develop and launch. The team expressed a preference for a simpler solution that was already in use.

Following further discussions, the development team proposed an Excel-based approach, which would allow curators to upload an Excel file to process changes. Since this method was previously implemented in another part of the portal, it would require less time to develop.

However, I personally felt that the Excel-based approach was:

1. Outdated and inefficient.
2. Lacked real-time feedback on errors.
3. Violated several heuristic principles, including:
   • Visibility of system status
   • Error prevention

As a UI/UX designer, it is my responsibility to advocate for solutions that are not only easier for users but also scalable for the future. Despite my concerns, I decided to proceed with developing designs for the Excel-based approach, as shown below.

File Upload Method:

Since the A/B test showed a clear preference for the UI-based approach, I moved forward with that design and launched it quickly. Due to time constraints, I couldn’t conduct usability testing beforehand, so I opted to gather post-launch feedback instead. The results were as follows:

Key Findings:

Terminology Confusion:

Users found the term ‘Default Skill’ unclear and requested a more intuitive label for skill levels.

Updated Design

I updated ‘Default Skill’ to ‘Global Skill’ for improved clarity and user understanding.

Post-Launch Impact

These outcomes demonstrated the positive impact of our design changes, validating our approach to prioritize user needs and flexibility in the learning experience.

• 133% Completion Surge: Course completion rates saw a remarkable increase, rising from 15% to 35%. This surge indicated that users were more engaged with the content and able to progress through the courses more effectively.
• 50% Fewer Dropouts: We also achieved a 50% reduction in the course abandonment rate. With users now able to skip levels that they already mastered, they felt less frustrated and more motivated to continue learning. This shift not only improved user satisfaction but also contributed to a more dynamic and responsive learning environment.

After launching the new UI-based approach for skill-level access on the Future Talent Platform, we observed significant improvements in user engagement and course completion rates over the following three months.