MY ROLE

UX Design Intern: Ideate design solutions

UX Research Intern: Conduct usability tests

TOOL

Figma

DURATION

March, 2025 - June, 2025 (4 months)

STAKEHOLDERS

Product Manager

Engineers

MY TASK @ ACE MENTORSHIP

Designed an internal admin system

of Ace Mentorship - an educational organization providing career mentor services - to manage mentee and mentors workflows and updates.

01. DISCOVER

02. IDEATE

03. DEFINE

04. DESIGN

05. VALIDATE

01. DISCOVER

Realizing all mentors, mentees, and PMs

are facing difficulties on keep tracking notifications and progress

— PROBLEM

Inefficiencies and communication gaps due to reliance on external tools

Ace Mentorship now supports 150+ mentees enrolled in various programs and services. Each mentor is responsible for managing 3–5 mentees while also working full-time at the agency.

All updates and assignments are handled through Google Sheets, Google Docs, Notion, Gmail, and Slack.

Through interviews with 3 mentors and 2 PMs, I discovered that they face significant challenges.

Mentors are too busy to update PMs, leaving mentees without guidance

No standardized system for tracking mentee progress → Disorganized

Managing updates across too many tools is time-consuming

— PROBLEM STATEMENT

Ace Mentorship is struggling to effectively manage and monitor mentee progress due to disorganized workflows, the absence of a standardized tracking system, and time-consuming processes spread across multiple platforms.

As mentors juggle full-time jobs, they often miss reporting updates to project managers, leaving mentees without timely support and guidance.

— HOW MIGHT WE…

…streamline the mentorship workflow to help mentors track mentee progress with ease?

…ensure mentees consistently receive the guidance they need to thrive?

02. IDEATE

Introducing Mentor Lab

an internal platform that allows communicating, reminding deadline, submitting assignment, and keeping track all documents at 1 place

— WHY MENTOR LAB?

3. View deadlines clearly for each assignment

1. Send messages directly through the platform

5. Allow PM to easily track progress between mentors and mentees

2. Receive real-time notifications for alerts, updates, and messages

4. Keep all meeting notes, documents, tasks, and communication in 1 place

03. DEFINE

From sketch to final design

involves 4 rounds of iteration, including in-person usability testing and follow-up interviews

— LO-FI FIDELITY

Simplifying steps users need to do within the platform

From the very first step, users select a specific course or service (in case they are enrolling in 1+ services/ courses)

→ Users can easily access and navigate the task they want with that chosen service

(users view “Other Course” and “Other Service” right on the Home page)

(pop up a new page when users click “Progress” on the menu bar")

— USER TESTING #1

Focusing on if user flow is intuitive and easy to use

During four testing sessions, I allowed users to navigate the platform independently and noted their expectations on each page.

Feedbacks were mostly about they could not find the information that they were looking for and felt confused about how to get back to the previous pages.

“Does this platform have a Help page? I just want to know where I can contact my mentor or PM, but I can’t find it anywhere.”

→ Feedback 1: The “Help” page is difficult to locate since it is in the "Progress" page

“Wait… why did this open in a new tab? I thought it supposed to open like the other sections.”

→ Feedback 2: The “Progress” page opens in a new page, which causes confusion as users are unsure how to return to the main menu.

“I clicked the home page and assumed that all the courses details will appear there but then they’re not.”

→ Feedback 3: Users want to access basic information about their selected course but cannot find it within the platform; they expected it to be on the home page, but it is not.

— ITERATION #1

Old vs. New User Flow

Based on user feedbacks, there are 4 major updates that I have made for the user flow.

Firstly, users can easily view basic course information on the “Home” page. Secondly, since the homepage now is entirely used for displaying course information, “Other Services” and “Other Courses” will be moved to a new section on the menu bar, called “Explore”. Third, the “Progress” page is no longer be a pop-up page anymore. Lastly, there is a new section on the menu bar called “Inquiry” where the communication will be happened.

— DESIGN SOLUTIONS

How my designs address users needs?

Users can easily send messages and stay connected without needing to use external tools

→ Communication becomes more seamless

→ Easily view past conversations if needed

SOLUTION 1

Streamlined Communication

All key documents, including meeting notes, assignments, and announcements are stored and easily viewable.

→ Avoid lost

→ Save time finding past documents

SOLUTION 2

Centralized Information Hub

This feature helps mentees stay on track with their learning, while also allowing PMs to monitor mentees’ progress more effectively.

SOLUTION 3

Efficient Progress Tracking

— USER TESTING #2

Testing sessions with hi-fi prototype

I tested the prototype with 5 users. After collecting their feedback, I synthesized the data to identify common patterns and began the iteration process, which consisted of 3 steps: noting down which design areas need to be adjusted, implementing improvements, and conducting follow-up interviews with users.

I repeated this process many times and there were 4 iterations in total. Here are major enhancements I made as a result of these usability testing cycles.

1. Making the “Explore” page more captivating

By including visuals and only the essential information for each course, users mentioned that the page now feels more engaging. Additionally, when users hover over a card, a shadow appears to indicate that the card is clickable.

2. Simplifying the “Contract” page

Empathizing with users who found the page hard to read and navigate, I streamlined the front page to show only the most essential information. I also added a “Documents” section with a clear “View Here” for quick access and a recognizable button for download.

3. Organizing the “Inquiry” view

I added a small menu bar at the top to give users more control over their messages, with options to view “All,” “Unread,” and “Groups.” This helps users easily spot unread messages and prevents them from getting lost or forgotten as more messages come in.

04. FINAL DESIGN

Ta-da! We have made it!

1. “Home” Page

2. “Contract” Page

3. “Mentors” Page

4. “Progress” Page

5. “Explore” Page

6. “Inquiry” Page

05. VALIDATE

What I learned after this work

1. Iterate after the low-fidelity stage

Early feedback was a game changer. By testing user flows and structures right after the lo-fi wireframes, I was able to catch problems before they became costly. This saved me time later and gave me more confidence moving into high-fidelity designs.

2. Align well between users and stakeholders needs

During the design process, I had to carefully balance what users needed and what stakeholders prioritized. Some features that users loved were not scalable for the company, so I had to make thoughtful trade-offs. Keeping the company’s mission and values in mind helped me advocate for solutions that aligned with both sides.

3. Iterate and Iterate until I meet the users’ expectations

It wasn’t enough to stop at the first good-looking design. I had to constantly test and refine based on user feedback. Each iteration brought me closer to a solution that felt intuitive and seamless to the people using it.

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