BootUP: Tech Scoping

TL;DR

A startup needed to build out their new website in a short timeline with some significant tech constraints, so I completed a competitive audit and mapped the user journey to identify the biggest gaps, created low-fi wireframes to put into kano analysis, and turned the most desirable into high-fidelity wireframes for their developer to build out.

Team: Angela Stensrud, Anisa Osman, Elena Anderson

Role: Researcher, UX / UI Designer

Methods: Competitive Analysis, Journey Mapping, Low – High Fidelity Wireframing, Stakeholder Interviews, Feature Concepts, Tech Scoping, Kano Analysis

The Problem

Today, there is a 2 - 5 million person talent gap in the tech industry. By 2030, this gap is expected to reach over 85 million. Now is the time to get into tech, but for some, making that leap can be scary—especially when it seems like digital bootcamps are a dime a dozen.

At the same time, wages are stagnant and cost of living has spiraled out of control, causing upward economic mobility to become less and less attainable.

Enter BootUP.

BootUP is a startup focused on making it easier to get folks into tech roles by making connections between prospective students, training programs, and the employers that will ultimately place them in their first roles. Driven by their values of access and including, BootUP aims to help marginalized communities make the leap into tech.

The website itself went live in June of 2021, and my team was tasked to identify how they might build out their candidate portal to focus on providing support throughout a candidate’s entire experience, from scoping out the tech industry, to sorting through bootcamps, to landing that first gig. 

How might we create an inclusive, accessible process for prospective students who are curious about moving into the tech industry?

The Solution

After meeting with the stakeholders and conducting a kano analysis, I decided to focus on the largest gaps for prospective students in the current website experience— exploration, application, in-program and job search. For Exploration, I created a Bootcamp Comparison Tool— a quick scannable table that shows prospective students the most important information and allows them to make an informed choice. For Application, I created a Scholarship Finder— an easy solution to connect prospective students to available money and provide opportunities for their target demographic. For In Program, I created a Resume Builder— a standardized tool for candidates that reduces the burden of creating their first resume And for Job Search, I designed a Company Profile Page— a one stop shop where curious candidates can find reviews from fellow BootUP users, location, and BootUP alumni currently employed there.

The Process

Understanding the Competitive Landscape

To inform ourselves with the expectations that users may bring to their BootUP experience, my team and I conducted a competitive audit, looking at the competitive landscape for bootcamp finders, job placement tools, and resume builders. We each took a pass at identifying key features on each website, then used affinity diagramming to come up with our comparison criteria. Going a few steps further on the spheres of influence, we also looked at websites that had highly rated onboarding experiences to understand possible new feature delighters. Interestingly, we weren’t able to identify a site that was walking a prospective student through their entire journey into tech, affirming that could be a major differentiator for the client.

We then used this information to inform the stakeholder meeting, which uncovered two key things: 

1. They’ve conducted significant research already, specifically with the primary user group, prospective students. 

2. They are a team of four— because resources are constrained, features must not only align to their business goals, but also have significant impact for the primary users in order to be prioritized. 

Understanding the Current Journey

Due to time constraints we were unable to do observational or primary research directly with that user set, so the stakeholder meeting and competitive analysis were used to inform a journey map for a prospective student. For this example, I created a scenario for Maggy, a frustrated barista who’s heard that tech might be a good career switch, but has some reservations. 

Right away, it was apparent that the beginning phases of ‘Exploration’ and ‘Application’ were currently lacking on BootUP’s website. For Maggy, there’s no way to determine if Tech would be a good fit—does her work style and mindset fit the industry? If she knew she was interested, she still wouldn’t have a way to identify what’s the best bootcamp for her, nor get any help with identifying financial aid. It wasn’t until the job search section where BootUp’s current website came in to play. The easy apply button—a standout feature— democratized the application process. Once the user’s resume was uploaded, it only took one click to apply to any job. This matched user’s mental model and expectations to the “Easy Apply” feature on LinkedIn. 

Brainstorming Potential Solutions

Reviewing the learnings from the stakeholder meeting paired with a general understanding of BootUP’s business goals, I brainstormed around each of the opportunity areas to create five distinct feature concepts. Remembering that this was a resource constrained team, we met with the developer to gain and understanding of how long each feature set would take. She allocated 50 points (where 1 point = 4 hours) for the new features concepts. With all that data in mind, 10 feature concepts were prioritized and put in front of users using kano analysis methodology. 

As a team, we analyzed the survey responses to uncover user satisfaction of each proposed product feature. We uncovered that half of our feature concepts ranked as “Attractive” or differentiating features that delighted the primary user subset.

I then prioritized each feature based on the business goals of the client, findings from the competitive analysis, and results of the Kano study.

The Findings and Recommendations

Proposed New Features

1. BOOTCAMP COMPARISON TOOL

GOAL: An easy, one stop shop that details the stark differences between bootcampprogram offerings to help prospective students determine what they want and make the most informed decision.

RATIONALE: Currently, there are no options for prospective students on the BootUPwebsite. Providing a comparator tool, similar to Career Karma, would decrease frustration & confusion when looking for a school. It also translates into helping bootcamps increase enrollment for the right candidates. Rated as “Attractive” in Kano Analysis (i.e. Likes having a feature that is not expected).

2. SCHOLARSHIP FINDER

GOAL: Reduce the burden on prospective students to find available scholarships and grants by creating one form to match students with eligible funding. 

RATIONALE: BootUP wants to help more marginalized folks make the transition into tech and increase economic mobility. Providing an easier solution to connect prospective students to available money can provide opportunities for the target demographic. Rated as “Attractive” in Kano Analysis (i.e. Likes having a feature that is not expected).

3. RESUME BUILDER

GOAL: Reduce stress of creating a resume by stepping candidates through the process, line by line. 

RATIONALE: For candidates moving into tech, they may have never needed a resume in thepast. Providing a standardized tool for candidates reduces the burden, keeps candidates coming back to your site, and provides BootUp (and employers) with easily searchable backend data to better match candidates with employers. Rated as “Attractive” in Kano Analysis (i.e. Likes having a feature that is not expected).

4. COMPANY PROFILE PAGE

GOAL: Encourage transparency between employers and candidates by creating a company overview page where they can find reviews from fellow BootUP users, location, and BootUP alumni currently employed there.

RATIONALE: Competitive sites (I.e. LinkedIn) have created mental models around company information in on scannable page. Differentiate by focusing on company mission, vision, and values.  Highlight BootUP community members currently working there, building out the existing community page for all three users: candidates, educators, & employers. Rated as “Attractive” in Kano Analysis (i.e. Likes having a feature that is not expected).  

The Next Steps

Utilizing the above prototypes, I would conduct additional usability testing for the proposed new features with primary users to see whether users can complete tasks successfully, assess their performance as they try to complete tasks, and uncover additional features and opportunities to make information more accessible. 

• Lower fidelity option: Use existing screens and quickly sketch low-fidelity wireframes for paper prototype usability test

• Higher fidelity option: Build out missing screens to create clickable prototype. Follow think aloud protocol to identify what is intuitive and what needs to be clarified.

We also learned of a new feature on their candidate profile page where BootUP users upload a 90-second video describing themselves. This video is then shared with potential employers. I would spend some time testing desirability of this feature, as well as understanding unintentional bias that might be created with a video.