NORIKO GONDO

GUEST ME offers an intuitive platform that seamlessly connects guest speakers with educational organizations.

GUEST ME is a user-friendly platform that simplifies the process of connecting guest speakers with educational organizations throughout Canada.

As a lead UI/UX designer, I effectively demonstrated my ability to lead a team, managed the entire design process, and delivered a successful product that met the needs of the target audience with a seamless user experience and engaging design. I achieved this on a college project, collaborating with two junior designers and four developers within just 12 weeks in Q3 2022, using an agile methodology for efficient communication.

My responsibilities included conducting extensive UX research, formulating a distinctive branding strategy, creating a comprehensive UI kit and mockups, and overseeing the entire development process.

My responsibilities ;

The Background

The seed for GUEST ME was planted through a combination of personal encounters and insights from my family. I met enthusiastic individuals seeking speaking opportunities to share their passions. Concurrently, my father, part of an entrepreneur network, expressed the challenges they faced in securing guest speakers. These experiences coalesced into the vision of GUEST ME – a platform aimed at bridging the gap between aspiring speakers and organizations in need of fresh perspectives.

Key insights:

Research

To ensure GUEST ME resonates with educational institutions and guest speakers, we went beyond assumptions and engaged in extensive user research and market analysis. This not only confirmed the initial insights from the background but also revealed new avenues to make GUEST ME shine.

User interviews

We conducted interviews with educational institutions and potential speakers to ensure our platform met the needs of both targets. This research helped us reconfirm our goals and identify key areas for focus.

Key findings from our user interviews:

• Motivated Speakers
• Self-employed speakers and newcomers are often eager to offer their speaking services at a volunteer or reasonable fee basis, which creates opportunities for more speaking engagements.
• Institutions Seeking Expertise
• Educational institutions actively search for a diverse range of speakers with specific expertise, aiming to find professionals who align with their budget constraints and enrich their programs.
• Overwhelming Web Platforms
• Existing web platforms tend to be intimidating and difficult to navigate due to their text-heavy visuals and complicated registration processes, which can deter potential users from engaging with the platform.

Competitive Analysis

We analyzed competitor websites to understand their strengths and weaknesses. As you can see, many existing platforms suffer from these challenges:

• Overcrowded landing pages with excessive text and images
• Insufficient white space, leading to an overwhelming user experience
• Poor information hierarchy, resulting in difficult navigation
• Inadequate quality of speaker photos

Through this research, we were armed with insights into what users really need and the gaps in the current market. This knowledge was invaluable in guiding our design decisions for GUEST ME to create a platform that is both user-friendly and meets a real need in the market.

Goals

Our platform aims to provide a more intuitive navigation experience, with a bright and user-friendly design that simplifies registration, searching, comparing, and booking for both targets. We strive to offer more useful options to enhance the overall user experience, ensuring a seamless and efficient process.

User flow for an organization side

User flow for a speaker side

Wireframe & Notes

Solution

My design solution addresses these challenges with an intuitive and visually friendly platform that simplifies the registration, searching, and booking process for both speakers and organizations. GUEST ME ensures that everyone has an equal chance to share their knowledge and skills, making it easier to connect students with inspiring guest speakers.

Engaging design:

Our design strategy focuses on creating an inviting and user-friendly experience that encourages users to explore the platform.

Key design elements:

• Bright, friendly colors and appealing photos
• Sufficient negative space for a clean and uncluttered layout
• Visually appealing grid format for search results
• Concise speaker profiles with name, photo, area of expertise, and bio
• Filter options for organizations, such as speaking fee and availability

For speakers, we implemented a streamlined and intuitive profile creation process that highlights their expertise, experience, and accomplishments in a visually engaging manner.

Clear call-to-action:

Easy to search:

Intuitive profile:

Key Findings and Improvements

Usability testing played a crucial role in our commitment to ensuring that GUEST ME was user-friendly for both audiences. By gathering feedback from a small group of users, we made valuable improvements to the platform’s usability and user experience.

Positive feedback

Areas for improvement

To enhance overall usability, we refined the navigation and optimized the user interface based on user feedback. For instance, we noticed users had difficulty finding their schedule and bookings on the “My Page” section of the mobile platform due to a confusing dropdown menu.

To address this issue, we:

• Replaced the dropdown menu with simple and intuitive icons
• Made menu options easily accessible on both mobile and desktop screens
• Added a badge to icons for updates and users’ current location

Success Metrics

• Increase in guest speaker bookings
• Reduction in time spent coordinating guest speakers by teachers
• Improved user satisfaction with the platform experience

If given the resources, I would also measure the impact of guest speakers on student engagement, learning outcomes, and overall satisfaction to further optimize the platform and enhance its value proposition.

Conclusion

GUEST ME was a challenging yet rewarding project that showcased the power of design in fostering connections and knowledge-sharing. Through user research and usability testing, we created an intuitive and visually appealing platform that received positive feedback from coaching service providers and speakers for its easy navigation.

Key elements contributing to the project’s success:

• A modern and inviting brand identity
• Carefully chosen color schemes and fonts that convey GUEST ME’s values and vision
• User-centered design principles guiding the entire process

This project deepened my understanding of UX design and emphasized the importance of creating meaningful designs that positively impact people’s lives. I am excited to continue designing solutions that make a real difference in the world.

Branding and UI kit

Please visit our branding & UI kit and design system to see our visual strategy!

Project Proposal

Please visit our project proposal document to see more information!